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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A short and powerful novel; it's violent, traumatising, and visceral (literally). Memorable.
Catching up on my reviews about 4 months after reading this book, I have no memory whatsoever of it. Neither of the plot nor of what it made me feel.
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
While I tore through this striking and thoughtfully crafted novel, At Night All Blood Is Black left me strangely unmoved. The circular, repetitive prose that Diop's proponents have described as "hypnotic" felt ornamental to me, took me out of this world and its horrors. Even acknowledging this is a story of colonialism and war, the violence against and objectification of female bodies throughout felt gratuitous. I also wish Diop had given himself more space to explore the magical realist (or is it?) turn in the final chapters.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Words cannot explain how much I loved this book! I listened to audio book via Libby and it was incredible. You feel within the audiobook that you are there in No Man's Land as Alfa looks at Mademba and decides not to commit mercy killing, fast forwarding to being there inside his mind as he spirals into madness. This was a short book that had a lasting impact, and I still remember this a year on in Aug 2025, as I pressed 'borrow' again in the Libby library to listen to it one more time.
This is an incredible exploration of one man's descent to madness and the lengths that he would go to avenge the death of his more-than-brother. It is a story about grief, pain, and the lasting impact of the Great War on the voices that often are not heard or considered during the superficial study of the time period that we all had.
David Diop's work 100% deserved the win of the International Booker Prize in 2021.
I remember I clicked 4 stars as the rating for this book back in 2024, and now looking back I feel this was a 5 star read for me; but I am now writing this review very conflicted as I am not sure where to fall on the scale, so I have decided upon 4.5 stars for now (which on Goodreads doesn't show very well but on Storygraph it is clear)
This is one of the books that I would love to read again for the first time. I am so excited to re-listen to this one again now in 2025!
This is an incredible exploration of one man's descent to madness and the lengths that he would go to avenge the death of his more-than-brother. It is a story about grief, pain, and the lasting impact of the Great War on the voices that often are not heard or considered during the superficial study of the time period that we all had.
David Diop's work 100% deserved the win of the International Booker Prize in 2021.
I remember I clicked 4 stars as the rating for this book back in 2024, and now looking back I feel this was a 5 star read for me; but I am now writing this review very conflicted as I am not sure where to fall on the scale, so I have decided upon 4.5 stars for now (which on Goodreads doesn't show very well but on Storygraph it is clear)
This is one of the books that I would love to read again for the first time. I am so excited to re-listen to this one again now in 2025!
sentimientos un poco encontrados con este. creo que al leerlo en el francés original no he notado tanto el problema de la repetición continua del que se quejan todos los que lo han leído en inglés, y la primera mitad del libro con su exploración de la violencia y del paralelismo entre la guerra y el colonialismo me han gustado bastante. pero claro: en un final casi de sueño febril que me costó entender, el libro acaba con un último acto de violencia contra la mujer blanca, la metáfora de the rape of the nations, el gran shock. otras reviews hablan de que, en realidad, no estamos siendo tan subversivos como creemos. el mensaje hubiera sido aún más potente si la violación hubiera sido al comandante blanco, o al doctor blanco; pero, por supuesto, el autor no sigue este camino.
blood and guts on top of a haunting narrative about how close anyone can be to becoming an eater of souls. absolutely gorgeously translated, to boot.