Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Night Diary

Glad to have started with this book for the year for my resolution to read more books this year 💝
I honestly liked the format of this book. The title of the book is accurate, as it's a historical fiction featuring a young 12-year-old girl named Nisha. She writes to her mother, who had passed away. As the topic of grief has been something I've reflected more on recently, it made my experience reading this more emotional.
The focus of this story's plot revolves around the Partition of India in 1947, a topic I had not been informed about. This book helped me grasp it more, and I'm thankful that the author included a note and questions to (younger) readers to discuss the more heavier content described in the story.
Suprisingly, I found myself (specifically, my younger self) relating a lot Nisha, and I loved the bond and feelings of love she expressed towards her family members and the people she met.

"Dadi washing and mending my clothes, Papa kissing us on our foreheads before bedtime, Amil making a drawing of me. Kazi making my favorite paratha stuffed with fried onions and potatoes. Every day had been filled with things like this. All love, even between Papa and Amil. Why hadn't I seen this before, Mama?"

The author did a great job in creating such a human story. The descriptions of food from another culture were also delightful and tied the story together well. Gulab jamun, chapati,biryani, rasmalai, sai bhaji, etc. The terms for them and a recipe are also included at the end of the book, which was very nice.
Overall, this was a good story to be introduced to the topic of the Partition of India for younger audiences and older alike.

Content Warnings

vaguely_reading's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

Name of Book: The Night Diary
Author: Veera Hiranandani
Series: none
My rating: 5/5
Age rating (in my opinion): 11+
Representation (out of 5): 5/5
Warnings: death, sickness, mild violence

Review: (no spoilers)
wow. I am in shock. I had to wait a few days to even think of a review. This book is so amazing and the authors style choice of having Misha process everything that's going around her by writing to her mother. The characters were lovable- they were relatable. It's a really good book if you really want to visualize what it was like for the people of India and Pakistan during the partition.

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jayoz15's review against another edition

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emotional

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

A really impactful read about a topic that is not talked about enough- the Partition of India, into India and Pakistan in 1947. We follow Nisha and her family as they travel from Pakistan to India over the newly created border. Her story is told in letters to her mother that she keeps in her diary. We watch Nisha struggle to try and understand what is going on, and have to come to age during a difficult time. I think a lot of the emotions Nisha feels of uncertainty will resonate with middle grade readers. I would say this is better aimed at older middle grader readers as there are some difficult topics discussed.

Content Warnings