Reviews

Le pays des autres by Leïla Slimani

Only show reviews with written explanations

eddalyd's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

sian_m's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I’m giving this book 3.5 stars. I erm’d and ahh’d about my rating, whether to give it 3 or 4 stars, so I decided on 3.5. The book is filled with scenes throughout so beautifully described and I’m always up for that.

The actual content it holds is painfully uncomfortable. With the mix of abuse, tragedy and war, there is a variety of situations, that fill me with sadness and seeing the children being exposed in these ways, makes it even more upsetting to me. It stirred up a mix of emotions, especially knowing that people do experience these outcomes and worse.

I was gifted this book via a year’s subscription from Daunt books. I hadn’t actually heard of this book before, or the author, so they did well in choosing this for me. I’m looking forward to what else they send me.

All round, a well written book. I would be happy to read more from this author.

short_for_alexander's review against another edition

Go to review page

informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

mustarastas's review against another edition

Go to review page

reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

katie_archer's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative reflective sad

4.0

lilanye's review against another edition

Go to review page

slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

1.0

I did not like this book one bit. The narrative structure is uneven, descriptions often rambling and uninteresting, characters flat.

But my biggest problem with this book is its blatant racism. It is riddled with racist stereotypes. I saw someone describe it as ”French colonial propaganda” and I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. Ick.

I cannot recommend this book to anyone.

Content Warnings