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tastelessgoose's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Trafficking, Torture, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Genocide, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Child abuse
mom22boys's review against another edition
3.0
Tough read, but I felt like I had to read it because the content is so raw and horrifying, and the stories needed to be heard.
anneshamitha's review against another edition
5.0
I wish there were more books like this; ethically reported, beautifully written, and most importantly, centering the women and rescuers that it is about. In these pages are the direct testimonials of many raped & rescued Yazidi women, as well as the men who rescued them. These testimonials form the backbone of this book, and it is their words that travel this distance into the minds of the reader. I'm a Western (American) reader, and whenever I hear about the captured Yazidi women it is consistently sensationalized. In some ways, this is understandable - what's happening is sensational, not normal (& far too normal), a kind of terror that few who have not lived through it can imagine. But in these cases the women are the horror stories, the guilty "glad it wasn't me," a statistic. Here, they are women. Complicated. Healing. Suffering. Exhausted. Reunited. Lost. Found. Mothers. Daughters. Sisters. This is how conflict should be reported - from the point of view of those closest to it, those in most desparate need for a voice. Throughout these testimonials are the fascinating conversations between Mikhail and the "Beekeeper," an unassuming man who has singlehandedly coordinated efforts to rescue hundreds of women, as well as Mikhail's own thoughts about the violence in her home, an extension of the same violence that led her to exile so many years before.
stephaniejnl's review
3.0
5 stars for shining a light on these undescribable experiences and the people who risked so much to save others.
The book itself consists mostly of transcriptions of telephone calls between the writer and mr. Abdullah Shrem, the beekeeper turned rescuer. This made it a rather cold and distant way of telling the story. Would have liked more background information and general information, e.g. how did he pay for all the recue missions? How were the people who worked with him able to do what they did?
This book tells a very important story but in my opinion, it does so in the most minimal way.
The book itself consists mostly of transcriptions of telephone calls between the writer and mr. Abdullah Shrem, the beekeeper turned rescuer. This made it a rather cold and distant way of telling the story. Would have liked more background information and general information, e.g. how did he pay for all the recue missions? How were the people who worked with him able to do what they did?
This book tells a very important story but in my opinion, it does so in the most minimal way.
antoniamorzenti's review against another edition
5.0
Everyone needs to read this book. The crimes committed by ISIS/Daesh against the Yazidi people of Iraq are stories that are rarely told. A beekeeper turned rescuer recounts horrific stories of women across Iraq who were kidnapped between 2014-2017.
fionayule's review
5.0
Beekeeper of Sinjar
Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for an advance ARC in return for an honest review.
This is not a long book.
In fact, when I got to the end I was left feeling is that it? But short though it may be its harrowing reading. Sometimes almost with your hands over your face in shock and horror.
The book is a compilation of recollections of (mostly Yazidi) woman kidnapped by ISIS (Daesh), helped by the Beekeper of Sindjar, Abdullah Sharem who smuggles escaped woman to safety. Before the war in Iraq he was a Beekeper hence the title.
This is not written by an author but a poet, it is also based on the women’s recollections some made in person, and some over the phone. What this novel achieves is being an oral narrative of these women’s horrific experiences. Being kidnapped, raped in front of their children. Watching their sons become radicalised by ISIS. Watching their elders being murdered.
(Apparent) rumours of woman and children not sold as sex slaves being sold for body parts.
What is also achieves is being an oral narrative of the kindness of strangers who helped the woman (and children) get to freedom. The dressmaker who hid a woman and her two children in her shop for three months.
The others who lent cell phones to allow them to call home and arrange their rescue.
This is recent history, this is not the dark and distance past, and its an important story that needed to be told. It’s not a novel though its an important recounting of women’s experiences in the recent past which makes this an important read.
Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for an advance ARC in return for an honest review.
This is not a long book.
In fact, when I got to the end I was left feeling is that it? But short though it may be its harrowing reading. Sometimes almost with your hands over your face in shock and horror.
The book is a compilation of recollections of (mostly Yazidi) woman kidnapped by ISIS (Daesh), helped by the Beekeper of Sindjar, Abdullah Sharem who smuggles escaped woman to safety. Before the war in Iraq he was a Beekeper hence the title.
This is not written by an author but a poet, it is also based on the women’s recollections some made in person, and some over the phone. What this novel achieves is being an oral narrative of these women’s horrific experiences. Being kidnapped, raped in front of their children. Watching their sons become radicalised by ISIS. Watching their elders being murdered.
(Apparent) rumours of woman and children not sold as sex slaves being sold for body parts.
What is also achieves is being an oral narrative of the kindness of strangers who helped the woman (and children) get to freedom. The dressmaker who hid a woman and her two children in her shop for three months.
The others who lent cell phones to allow them to call home and arrange their rescue.
This is recent history, this is not the dark and distance past, and its an important story that needed to be told. It’s not a novel though its an important recounting of women’s experiences in the recent past which makes this an important read.
crayolagoodness's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0