Reviews

Travellers by Helon Habila

elienore's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.75

andrew61's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? N/A

4.5

I found this book from a quote in "A spell of good things" and was so glad to discover a sensitive and compelling portrayal of the diversity and sadness of the modern immigrant experience.
A Nigerian man and his American wife are staying in Berlin for the wife's art exhibition. In a series of encounters which make up the book the man meets a number of individuals who have emigrated from their native home. All are forced  to flee because of prejudice, war , and the potential marriage of 10 year old daughter to a warlord.
Whether is the doctor who works as a bouncer who takes his daughter to checkpoint Charlie every day to see if his wife and other child survived, the young man at the centre of immigrant protests at the Berlin police breaking up home who hides a secret, or the man he meets on a train with his silent son who has a sad story to tell, these are heartbreaking stories of people forced into a life they have not sought. 
A book that gives colour to the voices and lives of individuals labelled pejoratively as immigrants. An excellent piece of storytelling.

itsnidh's review against another edition

4.0

A very depressing book to start off the year with. But i am a depressed child so

isabelshep's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-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? Yes

3.0

A really interesting look at the different facets of the refugee experience and feelings of displacement more generally, but femininity/female characters are so poorly written

khizirqureshi23's review against another edition

adventurous emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

books_coffees_wines's review against another edition

3.0

3.5✨

jennamcclendon's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

anjolaoluwa's review against another edition

5.0

This book is so beautifully written wow I have no words. I picked this book up at the beginning of quarantine but abandoned it I don’t know why exactly but starting it again was the best thing ever. I like the narrations from different characters and how their lives are interwoven. It sheds a light on the lives of immigrants and I’m really glad I got to share a piece of that.

w_t_effi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

shonatiger's review against another edition

4.0

Reminds me lots of Donal Ryan's From a Low and Quiet Sea. Just as devastating. Also thinking this is what Johnny Pitts's Afropean could have been: feeling the compassion in this, and that reminds me of the disconnect in the other. Liked the middle best.

Watched Helon Habila at AfroLit Fest, and he struck me as very cerebral. Comes through in the book too, I think - very literary in many places.