Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris

17 reviews

apthompson's review against another edition

emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Deportation, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Child death, Colonisation, Confinement, Genocide, and Violence

heidiho's review against another edition

emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I loved this book. Although of course a poignant subject matter, it was also so lovingly written that I didn't want it to end. I was truly invested in the characters. It was a real page turner.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, and Gore

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

astronautin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War and Confinement

Moderate: Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Xenophobia, and Grief

Minor: Rape, Genocide, and Religious bigotry

minniepauline's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I couldn’t put this novel down. Set at the beginning of the war in Sarajevo in the Spring of 1992, it’s propulsive in a way that the war feels to the characters. One day it’s unbelievable and then suddenly you’re in the midst and bombs are falling. It’s claustrophobic at times, at times hopeful. There is beauty and pathos. The novel is written in a very close third person, present-tense, and I felt as though I was in the action, experiencing everything that Zora did. Given what is going on in the world today, this feels like a necessary book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, Violence, Infidelity, War, and Death

Moderate: Islamophobia and Religious bigotry

kirstym25's review

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, War, and Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Grief

amyford's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, War, Grief, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Confinement, and Excrement

bookbinbaby's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

A world I would not know or recognise myself, but an insight to what other people do experience when war installs itself in their homes, villages, towns, countries and lives. Emotionally shattering as you see Zora's world ravaged and turned upside down by powers outside her control but having a very real and increasing impact on her life and those around her, and showing how when environments change unexpectedly what it can do to a person/people. Harrowing to read in most parts, but you're carried along as Zora and her small tight knit community look after one another and try and maintain their sense of community and self expression in times of hostility, uncertainty and senseless violence, as best they can. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement and War

Moderate: Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Grief, Islamophobia, Child death, Vomit, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Excrement

Minor: Infidelity and Rape

deedireads's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

All my reviews live at https://deedispeaking.com/reads/.

TL;DR REVIEW:

Black Butterflies is a well-researched, captivating, deeply moving novel about war and art set during the siege of Sarajevo. I couldn’t put it down and ultimately loved it.

For you if: You like books that handle heavy topics with beauty and care.

FULL REVIEW:

I would probably never have read this book if it hadn’t been shortlisted for the Women’s Prize — it’s not published here in the US — but wow, am I glad I did. It was actually my pick to win among the (very strong) shortlist). What a stunner; I can’t believe it was a debut. (Pro tip: If you're in the US, you can get a paperback from Blackwells for about $15, including free shipping.)

Black Butterflies begins in the early days of what became known as the Bosnian War’s siege of Sarajevo in 1992. The main character, Zora, is a painter and art professor. She sends her husband and elderly mother to stay with their daughter in England and stays behind to work and keep watch over their apartment, thinking the conflict will be short-lived. But as weeks turn into months and phone service, food, heat, electricity, and water all become impossible to find, survival becomes a matter of both desperation and unity within the found family of neighbors.

This book isn’t very long, but it’s expertly researched (based, in part, on the lived experiences of her own family members) and deeply moving. I also found it transportive and captivating, despite the fact that it’s quite heavy. Zora’s emotions, from fear to joy, are palpable. It’s about community during crisis, small joys, the power and persistence of art, and art as an act of personal resistance. It’s also impossible to read this and not think of folks currently under siege in Ukraine — a reminder that the peace and security of our homes can vanish overnight.

Give this one a go; you won’t regret it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and War

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Rape

ciaomara's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, War, Violence, and Confinement

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Body horror, Infidelity, and Mass/school shootings

Minor: Rape

rochelles_reading_journal's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Grief, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, War, Death, and Infidelity