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lbelow's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
tense
5.0
I stepped into this book knowing nothing about the ongoing Uyghur oppression in China. Having read this book, I can think of nothing else. This is not a happy story and it does not have a happy ending. I find myself thinking of all the people who did not escape China, the people in those "study" camps and labor camps. The people left behind to wonder where their lives ones are, if they are alive, if they will ever come home. This is such an intimate and moving read. I'm glad it included some of his poetry, too! I hope to one day be able to read an English-language translation of his poems.
Graphic: Police brutality, Islamophobia, Colonisation, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Confinement
Minor: Pregnancy and Alcohol
tigerkind's review
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
4.25
Hamut Izgil‘s account skillfully paints a picture of Uyghur life under the repressive system of the Chinese government, interweaving a personal report on the advancement of the genocide with anecdotes of everyday life and his own poems. It is a heartbreaking and infuriating book but also filled with so much love – for his family, his friends, his culture and his homeland. I highly recommend.
Graphic: Colonisation, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Cultural appropriation, Genocide, Racism, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Torture, Police brutality, Grief, Hate crime, and Violence
Minor: Trafficking and Alcohol
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