Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Half of a Yellow Sun by CN ADICHIE

40 reviews

mariahjaved's review against another edition

dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

It was Brutal and Morbid but so beautifully written. Adichie’s writing always draws you in with such a strong force. The character development was brilliant and the descriptive nature of Adichie’s writing alwayd manages to leave me awestruck and well immersed into her books. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Violence, and War

lenni_sc's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, and Grief

Minor: Pedophilia

nicolep's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed the book and I enjoyed the historical backdrop. The pacing felt a bit slow to me and for a book that felt character-heavy, there were times where I was really frustrated by the characters. But for the most part, I thought the writing and the story were great and I knew very little about the history and this book really encouraged me to research it further.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Rape, and War

sydzans's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, and War

areadingstan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book absolutely floored me. I didn’t know much about the Nigerian-Biafran war when I started this, but I feel like I’ve learned so much from the story of the characters Adichie has crafted. 

While it is a fictional story, I think one of the most effective ways we can make history more humane and increase our empathy with those who have lived and suffered through it, is to explore personal stories rather than just the facts. 

I felt really connected and attached to all of the characters, and the movement from early sixties to late sixties is really effective at showing the differences between before and during the war. Adichie doesn’t shy away from being political as well, by highlighting the complicity of the British in this war.

An incredible book that will be with me for a while. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Racial slurs, Rape, and Sexual content

rebeccaloveless's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Grief, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Violence

erenreads12's review against another edition

challenging dark informative 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

4.5

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie does not disappoint with this book. The high expectations I had for this after reading Americanah were well and truly met. What started off as a gentle, intimate account of life in 60s Nigeria became a horrifying, tragic, brutal portrayal of the civil war, inspecting closely the ways we carry war inside of us when it is happening around us. The ending, through lacking the closure one would normally expect from a novel, drove home the very point - there is no closure in war, or happy endings. I deducted .5 of a star simply because I saw some of the betrayal plotinus coming - but it was nowhere near enough to ruin the experience. This is a hugely important and heartbreaking book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Rape, and Mental illness

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, and Pedophilia

kylieqrada's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

Note: I had the displeasure of finding out about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's particular brand of trans-exclusionary feminism shortly after finishing this book. With that in mind, I will not be supporting her work in the future. Trans women are women. 

4.5 ⭐s. I can definitely see why this is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's award-winning-est (is that a word?) work. Not only did I enjoy this immensely just from a writing perspective - the characters, plot, world-building, symbolism, narrative devices, all flawless - I also learned so much about an aspect of history that I was relatively clueless about up until this reading. This book is unflinching, and subsequently has trigger warnings for just about every trigger on the books, but it is a very impactful, emotional, and educational read. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia

barefootamy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Death, Excrement, Gun violence, Grief, Misogyny, Rape, Violence, and Vomit

helenar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I found this to be a difficult read emotionally and ended up reading it in small amounts interspersed with much gentler books. The author describes the realities of the Biafran war and the deep suffering of the main characters, who are by no means flawless, and those around them, left me reeling. I knew very little of the events in Nigeria at a time in the late 1960’s/early 1970’s just before I was born  and so I did some factual research but nowhere I looked came close to the way the author portrayed the very complicated nature of this war and the human or seemingly inhuman acts that took place and the affects and scars that they leave. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence