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theti's review
I’m hoping to pick it back up at another time.
Graphic: Rape and Slavery
paperquilt's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Misogyny, Violence, Death, Murder, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and War
terriandree's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Rape
books_n_pickles's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Rape, Murder, Violence, and Sexual violence
angharadmiller's review
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, and War
brogan7's review against another edition
3.75
Perhaps the difficulties with this book lie in the difference between the expectations as set up by the blurb versus the reality of the story as it is told?
Maybe this is meant to reflect the difference between war propaganda and the realities of war itself?
I'm not one to say: well, you can't like a book if you don't like what happened in it. If that were the case, there would be no books about incest, war, sexual assault, and a good number of other things. But then again, when you have a book that is so graphic and so detailed...not only in elements of historical veracity, but also in details that are to do with the fictional world that she created...I don't know, maybe it takes someone with less sensitivity than me to read such things? And if so, what is the point of writing them?
In Jarhead, the military guy says: there's no such thing as an anti-war movie. The military guys watch anti-war movies like they're porn, to get themselves hyped up for a battle.
I have a feeling that this book suggests to me there is a point where an anti-war, anti-violence-against-women book becomes itself an object of violence against women. (The (male) commentator on the cover says: "Beautiful and devastating." I wonder by what objective measure you can call this book beautiful? There were parts, certainly--I read it because of the beginning, because of how Mengiste pulls you in and the character of Hirut is so strong and so compelling and so downtrodden, that you are already caring about her before you even have a chance... but this book is not beautiful. In fact, I hate that he calls it beautiful because in a way I find this story hugely patriarchal. It says, it doesn't matter what you do to women, they will survive. It doesn't matter how trashed they are by men, they will survive. They won't be broken, they'll be survivors. And I just have a little more rage left than that, this kind of "all-forgiving," very martyr-mother-Mary kind of legend, where at the end of it, she's still standing, as though that is okay, then, that we as human beings read all of the ravages done unto her and other women, we're still goddamn well forgiving the heinous crimes of the men around her, because she comes out triumphant.
I call bullshit.
The book jacket says this book is "an unputdownable exploration of female power."
I would have to say, at close of reading, that if that is the extent to which we can imagine female power, we are in major trouble. It is an examination of power, certainly. But an exploration of female power? No. It is overwhelmingly about male power and the will to exterminate and destroy. It is about, as she says more than once in the book, those who are born to own things and those who are born to be owned.
I wanted to like this book so much more than I did. I wanted to learn something about the history of Ethiopia that would help me understand what is happening in the Tigray, now.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, War, Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, Violence, Rape, Vomit, and Misogyny
Moderate: Child death
annreadsabook's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Something I found interesting was Mengiste’s characterization of certain players on the Italian side, particularly a young Jewish Italian photographer who usually complies with his orders out of fear of being returned to a dangerous situation at home and occasionally finds himself questioning the morality of his position. I don’t think Mengiste means to absolve folks like this man of their culpability and complicity in the human atrocities that took place during the invasion—instead, I believe she sought to show the complex nature of evildoing. In this same vein, Mengiste depicts the leaders of the Ethiopian factions as being deeply flawed characters themselves. Even the people we tout as heroes, Mengiste shows us, are humans who, behind closed doors or even in the open, can be destroyers.
Still more fascinating is the fact that Mengiste modeled this story on the experiences of her own great-grandmother—I can imagine the kinds of emotions Mengiste must have felt during the writing process. This novel is a challenging, beautifully written tribute to the Ethiopian women whose contributions and experiences have often been overlooked.
I would definitely recommend this to people who enjoy historical fiction—a word to the wise, though, that this is very heavy on the historical component! Please also be sure to check out The Storygraph for content warnings on this book, as it deals with some heavy subject matter.
Graphic: Death, Sexual assault, War, Rape, and Violence
tenten's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, and War
Moderate: Physical abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual assault
Minor: Child death and Antisemitism
magalis's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content warnings for rape and pedophilia (child brides in their early-teens).
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, and Death
Minor: Mental illness, Child death, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Misogyny