Reviews

I loved reading about war and how people felt and what was happening with them for a change. Ive never read a book like this so it was very fascinating. Oval all I think the book had great storyline but was maybe not written the way i had expected. I also loved many of the characters and even though the end was the right way to resolve the conflict, just like lina, there was a part of me that wished the mother is alive and lina would escape.

freyaelliott's review against another edition

Go to review page

3.0

I love fiction books that are based at times of real events. This book had a lot of happenings that were completely unnecessary for example after she became friends with Layla again you though "Oh okay we're going to hear more of her now" and you didn't. There were also things that needed more of a build up and more afterword explanation. Other than that it was good It was nicely and things like flashbacks were used appropriately. The charecter's feelings were portrayed well.

giulianat91's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I enjoyed reading this more than I thought I would. But don't fool yourself—it's not an easy read. Kerry Drewery managed to write a heartbreaking and yet beautiful story set in the 2000s Iraq with the war and the north-american ocupation as backgroud. Even though it was a little hard for me to connect with writing at the beggining, I think the author did such a great job at depicting Lina's feelings. I liked to be in inside her head most of the time and I believe it's due to how genuine and human her thoughts were portrayed. You could feel love and hope growing, and then feel them being shattered to pieces. You could feel her struggles, her indecisiveness and her fears. I felt claustrophobic to an extent sometimes and overwhelmed by all of the tragedy going on. And that's not necessarly a bad thing—the whole scenario of war could make you feel that way and Kerry was a genius for being able to making me feel like that by just reading a book.

The one thing I didn't enjoy much was the few flashbacks telling what had happened to Sacha, Lina's mother. They were also well written and painful to read, but I reckon it broke the linearity of the main story and its flow.

Overall, it was a good read and I really recommend picking up this book if you're interested in expanding your views of the world and diversing your reading list.

curlyhairedbooklover's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Great book awesome plot and writing

sofiasaghir's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

I have owned this book for almost a month now but I have been putting off reading it simply because I was a bit worried about reading a book based solely on war. Not a fictional dystopian war but a real war that actually happened. I’m not a fan of history as a subject so therefore I don’t know much about the Iraq war but I didn’t need to.

This book tells the story of a Christian in Iraq called Lina and how the war affects her.The story has no overall riding plot because it is a story about many different things all at once. It is just simply about Lina’s life during the war and I really enjoyed that aspect of it.

Read more of my review at: https://thereadingfangirl.wordpress.com/2015/02/18/a-brighter-fear-by-kerry-drewery/

missr6's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

3.75

bluedilly's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

More...