151 reviews for:

Beyond the Door of No Return

David Diop

3.65 AVERAGE

lokroma's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 32%

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Bad writing, heavily clichéd, with some passages downright cringeworthy; I didn't understand why the author included the superfluous material in the beginning about the daughter refurbishing her castle then finding her father's notebooks and reading them, instead of having the father narrate the story while he was alive in Senegal. I didn't empathize with the characters and found the plot implausible. It's difficult to believe a mid 18th century white man expending so much energy to find a Black slave woman. 

There were also times when the writing got a bit diatribey about how mean white people were to Blacks. I prefer to be shown, to see through the eyes of the characters, rather than to be told.

sonofachipwich's review against another edition

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An interesting and emotionally moving narrative of colonialism, complicity, and guilt. I hope Diop's other works get translated!

bibliotecabecca's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

lizk922's review against another edition

3.0

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

bookographic's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous emotional sad 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: Complicated

katrachum's review against another edition

4.5

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

zatannacomic's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH: 29%

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Ik blijf constant denken aan het andere boek van deze auteur, dus misschien lees ik beter dat boek. Dit was absoluut geen slecht boek. Gewoon niet wat ik wil.

collinsca30's review against another edition

4.25

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

thereseb's review

3.5

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

bluepoohreads22's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional tense