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kalobar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Genocide, Rape, Violence, War, Sexual assault, Death, and Child death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Alcoholism, and Blood
Minor: Infertility
rcmooty's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Rape and War
dezzella's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Overall really well written. I liked how things ended and I am glad I tried a book outside my usual genre. If you're looking for historical fiction that has a more literary feel, I recommend this.
Graphic: Infidelity, War, Death, Child death, Violence, Racism, Rape, Slavery, and Injury/Injury detail
mirandahedvik's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Racism, Death, Murder, Violence, Rape, War, Genocide, Colonisation, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Child death, and Alcohol
Minor: Excrement, Infidelity, Death of parent, Classism, Vomit, Sexual content, Gun violence, Pregnancy, and Infertility
claire_riach's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: War
rachela_7's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: War, Racism, and Rape
crazysecondname's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
and I still don't know how many stars I want to give...
but generally uff
what a book
first off all: I learned thinsg about nigeria I didn't know before and I am very grateful for that
and I did like the characters until they did certain things which made me extremely angry
so then I only liked ugwu.
and then page 366 happened. by that I liked olanna and richard and odenigbo again more or less. but ugwu? yeah i still hate him for that
and then he died and I was like oh come on. I hopehe suffered
and then he wasn't dead after all and I was like oh come on. but at least he also regretted it?? but still i hated reading about that part and felt it was very unnecessary.
i don't care that it's a war and people did that in reality. I don't want characters in books to do it. especially not when I liked them for 360 pages.
which i why I can't give this book 5 stars, but not giving it 5 stars feels wrong too?????idk man
Graphic: War and Violence
Moderate: Rape and Infidelity
florenceassetto's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Death of parent, Genocide, Animal death, Death, Grief, Rape, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Sexual violence, War, and Child death
Moderate: Blood and Colonisation
fionafsw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There's not much more I can say about this powerful novel except that Adichie manages to weave humour throughout to help the reader get through the horrors of war and to present something so alien to readers like me who have had the dumb luck of knowing nothing but peacetime through an individual, human lens rather than statistics or political or military manoeuvres. And for readers like me who had no idea about Nigeria, her fantastic writing brought to life every smell, taste, and sensory input.
But where the book really excels, I think, is in describing tension between individuals in the most subtle way that still makes it obvious. Tension (sexual and otherwise) that you could cut with a knife, as if you were there, in the room, as the protagonist. As Richard might say, it's really quite fantastic.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Infidelity, Colonisation, Genocide, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, War, Blood, Murder, Police brutality, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Classism and Grief
Minor: Pregnancy
jogg1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: War and Rape