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janeneal's review against another edition
1.0
I feel as if most of this novel might have just went over my head. All of the characters were very flat and the plot quite slow, even as the civil unrest grew.
There was an awful rape scene that wasn't in relation to the country being at war and the unfortunate consequences of that. It was a gang-rape committed by the main character's father and farmers from around the area. Instead of maybe using that to highlight the terror women in countries of unrest go through or just how deplorable it is that rape happens as Adichie does in Half of a Yellow Sun, it just happens and is just swept under the rug. I feel silly having to say rape is an incredibly serious issue, so it definitely matters how it is portrayed. This book just wasn't for me.
There was an awful rape scene that wasn't in relation to the country being at war and the unfortunate consequences of that. It was a gang-rape committed by the main character's father and farmers from around the area. Instead of maybe using that to highlight the terror women in countries of unrest go through or just how deplorable it is that rape happens as Adichie does in Half of a Yellow Sun, it just happens and is just swept under the rug. I feel silly having to say rape is an incredibly serious issue, so it definitely matters how it is portrayed. This book just wasn't for me.
helenmcclory's review against another edition
3.0
A hard book to read. Relentless in fact. I enjoyed the chilled, clipped sentences, but the anonymity of the setting was hard when the topic was colonial violence and de-colonialising chaos. Surely that's a topic that demands acute specificity?
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