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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
It was ok.
Before I got this book (bought with a target giftcard when I was running early to meeting a friend - needed something to do, picked up a book on the way there), all I had heard about it was from facebook reviews from friends who normally share a similar taste in good reads with me. It was pretty hyped up.
I normally don't like books that are written in dialect, but I think the liveliness of the Jamaican Yevette almost has to be told that way. I was able to get past it with few hold ups. Unfortunately, I almost always hate characters who cheat on their character significant others, so Sarah was instantly on my list. I felt like she was a bullshit character from a Jennifer Wiener novel (some glossy magazine editor who started off as a ink-smudged journalist and is moving up the corporate totem pole, who married a fellow truth-seeker but now their love has faded so she gets involved with some dude and they are living on the brink of getting caught because (SHOCKER!) they are both married!) Turns out, her husband catches her (weird, how that always seems to happen) and they try to go on a romantic holiday to NIGERIA (seriously? Maybe because I live in the US, but I have NEVER heard for someone going on a little Springtime vay-cay to NIGERIA) to try to re-season their marriage.
While in Nigeria, they throw a hissy fit to a security guard, end up on the beach and the "terrible choice" (back cover) that one of them has to make is strange. Sarah's narration is even kind of annoying. She makes herself seem very heroic, while Little Bee, on the other hand, seems much more delicate, like someone who is telling a story for sake of telling it, rather than telling it to give herself all of the excuses she needs for 1) still cheating on her husband, 2) being a flakey mom and 3) being a shitty wife.
Little Bee's stories are crushingly sad, but when matched up with Sarah's pathetic Carrie-Bradshaw-ness, the book ends up being pretty dang flat.
I also don't like the end - I don't like how it leaves you there, watching the waves of the Atlantic Ocean wondering if they are going to take you under or if someone is going to drag you off the beach.
Rumor is, they are making it a movie. I will probably Redbox it. Surely it is worth a dollar, right?
Before I got this book (bought with a target giftcard when I was running early to meeting a friend - needed something to do, picked up a book on the way there), all I had heard about it was from facebook reviews from friends who normally share a similar taste in good reads with me. It was pretty hyped up.
I normally don't like books that are written in dialect, but I think the liveliness of the Jamaican Yevette almost has to be told that way. I was able to get past it with few hold ups. Unfortunately, I almost always hate characters who cheat on their character significant others, so Sarah was instantly on my list. I felt like she was a bullshit character from a Jennifer Wiener novel (some glossy magazine editor who started off as a ink-smudged journalist and is moving up the corporate totem pole, who married a fellow truth-seeker but now their love has faded so she gets involved with some dude and they are living on the brink of getting caught because (SHOCKER!) they are both married!) Turns out, her husband catches her (weird, how that always seems to happen) and they try to go on a romantic holiday to NIGERIA (seriously? Maybe because I live in the US, but I have NEVER heard for someone going on a little Springtime vay-cay to NIGERIA) to try to re-season their marriage.
While in Nigeria, they throw a hissy fit to a security guard, end up on the beach and the "terrible choice" (back cover) that one of them has to make is strange. Sarah's narration is even kind of annoying. She makes herself seem very heroic, while Little Bee, on the other hand, seems much more delicate, like someone who is telling a story for sake of telling it, rather than telling it to give herself all of the excuses she needs for 1) still cheating on her husband, 2) being a flakey mom and 3) being a shitty wife.
Little Bee's stories are crushingly sad, but when matched up with Sarah's pathetic Carrie-Bradshaw-ness, the book ends up being pretty dang flat.
I also don't like the end - I don't like how it leaves you there, watching the waves of the Atlantic Ocean wondering if they are going to take you under or if someone is going to drag you off the beach.
Rumor is, they are making it a movie. I will probably Redbox it. Surely it is worth a dollar, right?
This is a story about two very different women and how their lives intersect. Both women have courage, both women are weak in their own ways, both women seek peace, and both women go through such hardships so they can then realize their own inner peace. This is a story about identity and the search for it, even for a little boy...
May have moved into best read this year. Important. Excellent characters, especially Bee. I know her, I love her, I will never forget her.
Cleave should stick to journalism and fact-reporting. This incredibly poorly fleshed-out novel (that checks out on itself and any semblance of a halfway decent story line about 2/3 of the way through) reads like someone desperate for literary popularity. The voice of not just one, but two simultaneous female narrators and their predominately female supporting characters is a bumbling, arrogant attempt that never feels genuine. The presumably well-intentioned (if not blissfully ignorant) literary audiences that are responsible for the success of this novel would have better spent their time reading and researching the stories of actual refugees and taking up local action instead of buying into the half-assed fictional whistle-blow that is this novel.
The book I read was called "The Other Hand" - same book though. Very interesting to get inside the heads of refugees.
dark
emotional
reflective
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
This was a beautifully written story of the pain and hope that immigrants walk through the minute they chose to leave their country behind them. I loved this book! Little Bee's heart will stay with me as the world navigates these challenging times and closed attitudes on immigration and those who leave home to seek out justice and freedom as a basic right.
This is a reread for me, but it's the first time I've listed the book on Goodreads. Last time, I was reeling too much from the horror of it all when I reached the open-ended conclusion, and I was entirely without words to describe my reading experience....a feat in itself!
This time, I've gathered my wits about me:
-Beautiful and powerful writing.
-Uncomfortable, timely topics tackled with aplomb.
-Unsettling ending from the POV of white privilege--I notice that this does not sit well with many Goodreads reviewers. Actually, feeling that discomfort is an excellent starting point to raising awareness of the socio-political issues tackled in the novel (and expanded upon with additional historical/factual information/list of resources provided by the author in the Afterword).
-Sometimes just reading a book is not enough.
This time, I've gathered my wits about me:
-Beautiful and powerful writing.
-Uncomfortable, timely topics tackled with aplomb.
-Unsettling ending from the POV of white privilege--I notice that this does not sit well with many Goodreads reviewers. Actually, feeling that discomfort is an excellent starting point to raising awareness of the socio-political issues tackled in the novel (and expanded upon with additional historical/factual information/list of resources provided by the author in the Afterword).
-Sometimes just reading a book is not enough.
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
Interesting story about a Nigerian girl escaping the oil wars in her homeland. Each chapter vacillates between the voices of Little Bee and Sarah, an English woman that she met under not so fortunate circumstances.
I found the chapters told from Little Bee's point of view easier to read, and she was overall a more likeable character. Perhaps it was her inner strength and courage as a young woman that was so touching to read. Sarah came off as more indecisive and immature, though a woman of high standing and in her early 30s. The author, at times, used such flowery language for Sarah's voice that it was difficult to follow the meaning.
Overall, a nice, original story that gives way to good discussion.
I found the chapters told from Little Bee's point of view easier to read, and she was overall a more likeable character. Perhaps it was her inner strength and courage as a young woman that was so touching to read. Sarah came off as more indecisive and immature, though a woman of high standing and in her early 30s. The author, at times, used such flowery language for Sarah's voice that it was difficult to follow the meaning.
Overall, a nice, original story that gives way to good discussion.
I enjoyed reading about the story of these two women, however their meeting was just so extreme it didn’t seem realistic to me.