Reviews with content warning for Colonisation - Minor Detail

This is such an incredible piece of literature. Non-linear history, unreliable narrators, research barriers, and so many small details that make a sad yet beautiful story. I had avoided this book because I heard it started with a brutal rape and murder, but Shibli manages to tell this story without the voyeurism I usually anticipate in writing about rape or violence.

This is a difficult story, yet there is still humor and a wryness in the contemporary narrator's journey. I especially appreciated the utter Leo-ness of fixating on an early August birthday, and even dwelling on the potential narcissism involved, which she made a compelling argument to support.

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maiahhtratchh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.0

I love sad and emotional novels and yet never in my life have a read a book that caused such dread that the contents of this book settled deep in me like a stone. Current events and the books proximity to Rafah do play heavily into how impactful it was but, even without that, this novel would still evoke such strong emotions in me. The first part actually gave me nightmares of this happening to my loved ones. If anyone is wanting to read about the Palestinian experience, specifically a more historic view point, I would recommend this book. I am glad it was so short though because I don’t think I could’ve handled much more of the intensity specifically in the last two pages it really got to me. I wanted to read it twice in a row because of how short it is to fully catch everything but I think I need to take a break and read something lighter.

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