Reviews

River Spirit by Leila Aboulela

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kathryn_reads_paiges's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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margardenlady's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

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

3.5

Aboulela has woven a complex web of history and sacrifice in this novel. Each chapter is labeled with its 1st person narrator's identity and the year. The multiple personae tell us their stories in this tumultuous time when the Sudanese were fighting for their freedom from Egypt and also England. Tyranny, living through a war, racial conflicts all played a part in this horrifying tale. Intense novel, written in the author's 3rd language!

helenlivesslow's review against another edition

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challenging informative medium-paced

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

3.25

I found it easy to lose concentration reading this book, something about it just didn't capture my attention fully. It was really interesting to learn about the history of Sudan from these characters though