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sprinkledwithwords's review against another edition
4.0
Stars = spoilers start and end points.
A Brighter Fear is the story of Lina, a bright, young girl, living in Baghdad under the reign of Al-Qaeda. Her mother, taken 3 years before, is not around, and her father has to join them for a job, seeing as they are Christians. **********Then, one day, her father is shot and killed whilst working as an interpreter. Lina goes to live with her Aunt Hana and Uncle Aziz, but she isn’t allowed to go to University any more, after there have been a series of bombings. However, she begins to make friends with a soldier, Steve, after Aunt Hana sends her to deliver soup. Their relationship progresses, but then Steve has to go back home. He gives Lina an address, so she can get out of the country, for $15000. She’s going to do it, but then Aziz is kidnapped – and the ransom is $15000. Lina gives up her hope of leaving, and uses her ticket out to pay for her Uncle’s life. When she goes back to her old home to pick up some belongings, it is hit by a bomb – and a man called David, who shot her mother when she was asking for death, returns a necklace to Lina, and tells her the whole truth; thus, the book ends.**********
A Brighter Fear is a story of love, life, fear and hope. I did enjoy it, although it made me terribly angry at war, and how it effects innocent people, like Lina’s mother and father. After finishing it, I just wanted to sit down and cry, for how completely and utterly unfair everything is; and how people can’t see that war is not the answer.
Lina was a truly brave girl, going through losing her family and having to move into a new one. Not only that, but Steve left, she wasn’t allowed to continue her education, and she couldn’t even practise her faith.
On the subject of Steve, I did feel that their romance was hyped up on the blurb, and in the front cover, as it was a bit of a whirlwind, and nothing really came of it. Lina even got rid of her contact to him, so she couldn’t find him again. I understand that she hadn’t had much of a chance at romance before, but I didn’t think it was written very well.
Not mentioned above is Lina’s friendship with Layla, who was a Muslim and, effectively, scared of Lina. She stops contacting her, until one Christmas, when she comes over and gives her a present. Their friendship really heightens the fact that these are two teenage girls, scared for their lives because they are friends, and I think that Drewery really portrayed this well. I loved their friendship – they really loved each other, which made it all the more better.
Overall, I would give this 4 stars. There were aspects I liked, such as Lina and Layla’s friendship, but other ones I didn’t so much, such as Lina and Steve’s relationship – I feel that it could have just stayed as friendship, as it felt that the writer was trying to hard. However, a very good read, and I still recommend it!
A Brighter Fear is the story of Lina, a bright, young girl, living in Baghdad under the reign of Al-Qaeda. Her mother, taken 3 years before, is not around, and her father has to join them for a job, seeing as they are Christians. **********Then, one day, her father is shot and killed whilst working as an interpreter. Lina goes to live with her Aunt Hana and Uncle Aziz, but she isn’t allowed to go to University any more, after there have been a series of bombings. However, she begins to make friends with a soldier, Steve, after Aunt Hana sends her to deliver soup. Their relationship progresses, but then Steve has to go back home. He gives Lina an address, so she can get out of the country, for $15000. She’s going to do it, but then Aziz is kidnapped – and the ransom is $15000. Lina gives up her hope of leaving, and uses her ticket out to pay for her Uncle’s life. When she goes back to her old home to pick up some belongings, it is hit by a bomb – and a man called David, who shot her mother when she was asking for death, returns a necklace to Lina, and tells her the whole truth; thus, the book ends.**********
A Brighter Fear is a story of love, life, fear and hope. I did enjoy it, although it made me terribly angry at war, and how it effects innocent people, like Lina’s mother and father. After finishing it, I just wanted to sit down and cry, for how completely and utterly unfair everything is; and how people can’t see that war is not the answer.
Lina was a truly brave girl, going through losing her family and having to move into a new one. Not only that, but Steve left, she wasn’t allowed to continue her education, and she couldn’t even practise her faith.
On the subject of Steve, I did feel that their romance was hyped up on the blurb, and in the front cover, as it was a bit of a whirlwind, and nothing really came of it. Lina even got rid of her contact to him, so she couldn’t find him again. I understand that she hadn’t had much of a chance at romance before, but I didn’t think it was written very well.
Not mentioned above is Lina’s friendship with Layla, who was a Muslim and, effectively, scared of Lina. She stops contacting her, until one Christmas, when she comes over and gives her a present. Their friendship really heightens the fact that these are two teenage girls, scared for their lives because they are friends, and I think that Drewery really portrayed this well. I loved their friendship – they really loved each other, which made it all the more better.
Overall, I would give this 4 stars. There were aspects I liked, such as Lina and Layla’s friendship, but other ones I didn’t so much, such as Lina and Steve’s relationship – I feel that it could have just stayed as friendship, as it felt that the writer was trying to hard. However, a very good read, and I still recommend it!
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