Reviews tagging 'Racism'

The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste

20 reviews

unfiltered_fiction's review against another edition

challenging dark informative slow-paced

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

2.75

I read The Shadow King for my work book club, and it provoked such an interesting and varied discussion - definitely one I'd recommend for a group read! 

I have mixed feelings about this book myself - there were elements of it that were phenomenal, and aspects that felt quite underdeveloped.

I found several of the structural and stylistic elements a little frustrating. A lack of quote marks and use of first person present tense, two of my pet hates in literature, made it difficult for me to properly lose myself in the story. The story is also presented in a highly stylised way, with interludes and choruses, with references in both style and content to Homer's Iliad. I really applaud Mengiste's aim of writing back to the male, Western and white dominated tradition of epic, but I found these framing techniques emotionally distancing and a little forced.

One of the key things I found frustrating was how little agency women maintained throughout the story. In her author's note, Mengiste says that "The story of war had always been a masculine story, but this was not true for Ethiopia and it has never been that way in any form of struggle. Women have been there, we are here now." Whilst she's absolutely right, this book really didn't feel to me like it put women right at the centre of the story.

However, the writing is stunning. It is philosophically rich, immaculately researched, and a distinctly valuable resistance to Western-centred narratives of conflict. It's an especially important text because Mengiste reminds the reader of the very, very recent brutality inflicted on people and nations of colour by European regimes; I have spent years in classrooms learning about the World Wars and their historical, but I did not know a thing about Mussolini's campaigns on Ethiopia.

It's a very important story, but overall, I wasn't a huge fan of how it was told. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Torture, War, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Genocide, and Colonisation

margauxhdz's review

I think that this story is an interresting one for sure but the structure and narration were all over the place which made it diffucult for me to really get into it. I got to a point where despite being curious about the rest of the story, I wasn't interrested enough to finsih the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racism, Antisemitism, Death, and Torture

lucyreading's review

challenging dark informative sad tense slow-paced

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

Its very violent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Racism, Gun violence, Genocide, and Death

natalieabigail's review

challenging dark inspiring reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racism, Murder, Gun violence, Violence, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Antisemitism

sarrasegway's review

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Antisemitism, Child death, Confinement, Excrement, and Gun violence

brgntteva's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Confinement, Death, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Torture, and Violence

anditsreal's review

challenging emotional inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Gun violence, Racism, and Rape

curatoriallyyours's review

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The positives: I learnt a lot from reading this book, even though it is a work of fiction, about Ethiopia and the Italian invasion under Mussolini. I intend to read some non-fiction on this topic as a result of reading this story. 

The negatives: Though I pitied the main character for all she endured, I did not warm to her. The author's style was also quite off-putting and made it hard for me to sink into the narrative until well into the book. If I hadn't been reading this as the final book in a reading challenge (with only a few days to go) I'd probably have abandoned it. The author's refusal to use speech marks to denote speech baffled me and made me resentful for the re-reading I needed to do every time I realised someone had started speaking without the usual indication that this was the case. I don't care to read any more from this author as a result. 

I feel that the story itself was worthwhile but the author's style really bothered me throughout the book and stopped me from ever truly being enveloped in the narrative.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Excrement, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Antisemitism and Drug use

icfasntw's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Torture

This book is set during Italy's invasion of Ethiopia during World War II, and is primarily told from the perspectives of an Ethiopian woman, a Jewish Italian photographer/soldier, and an Italian colonel who is the head of a prison camp for Ethiopian citizens. It prominently features scenes of battle and the deaths of Ethiopian prisoners (elderly, men, women, and children) held by the Italian military.

bookarino's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Genocide, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence