ballgownsandbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional fast-paced
This is an absolutely heartbreaking memoir chronicling Qaderi's childhood in Afghanistan, during first the Soviet-Afghan War and then the rise of the Taliban. She describes the atrocities experienced by her family and neighbours during this time, and also paints a fascinating and horrifying picture of the way extremism can infect an entire culture. Qaderi's strength and resilience shines through every chapter, but her desperation and grief is palpable too, making this an incredibly affecting and devastating read.

With regard to writing style and craft: the narration in the first few chapters is absolutely gorgeous and evocative - credit to both Qaderi and her initial translator, Vanisa Saffari - though I found the dialogue to be somewhat stilted and unnatural. The writing style in the later chapters also felt a little choppy; presumably a consequence of the fact that these were done by a different translator.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

tita's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative inspiring sad medium-paced

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

tabitha_isabelle's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.25


Expand filter menu Content Warnings
More...