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4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
This book is so beautifully written and if I wasn't assigned to it I probably wouldn't have read it. But definitely a must read and really enjoyed the characters and the voice.
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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:
Yes
Maybe a bit overstuffed - teenage girl coming of age story, complex family dynamics, religious oppression, Nigerian revolutionary upheaval. Best stuff - family ambiguity, complexity and empathy for even challenging characters like the father. Underwhelming ending that did not necessarily feel earned.
Strong character development:
Yes
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book since I've only read Adichie's nonfiction, but there's so much here to unpack. There's this unsettling current of discomfort from the first few pages with the narrator's father, and you pretty immediately know that something is wrong. But it takes time to uncover what that wrongness is centered on exactly. Seeing post-colonial Nigeria through this lens is really helpful for someone who doesn't know much about Nigeria on the whole.
Some Quotes:
“We did that often, asking each other questions whose answers we already knew. Perhaps it was so that we would not ask the other questions, the ones whose answers we did not want to know.”
“I was familiar with fear, yet each time I felt it, it was never the same as the other times, as though it came in different flavors and colors.”
“When do we speak out, eh? When soldiers are appointed lecturers and students attend lectures with guns to their heads? When do we speak out?”
I have a feeling that if I read this with a book club and had a good discussion, I'd probably be moved to make this five stars. This book is so well done, and every word seems carefully chosen. There is so much darkness, but it's shared so matter-of-factly. I loved seeing Kambili come into her own, in her own slow and quiet way.
Wow, I did not expect to love this as much as I did! This is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's first novel and the first novel I have read by her and I cannot wait to read more of her work.
Adichie's writing style is so beautiful and detailed. The different settings of Enugu and Nsukka were so vivid and descriptive.
My favourite thing about this book was the characters. They were fleshed out and felt real. I especially loved Kambili, Jaja and Aunty Ifeoma.
Adichie's writing style is so beautiful and detailed. The different settings of Enugu and Nsukka were so vivid and descriptive.
My favourite thing about this book was the characters. They were fleshed out and felt real. I especially loved Kambili, Jaja and Aunty Ifeoma.