Reviews

Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie

magratajostiernos's review against another edition

5.0

Este libro me ha gustado muchísimo.
Con un estilo muy poético y sutil, la autora nos narra la vida de Hiroko, una joven cuya vida estará marcada por los bombardeos en Nagasaki durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Con ella viajaremos a la India de la partición, al Pakistán de los años 80, al Estados Unidos paranoico tras el 11S y finalmente de la mano de su hijo conoceremos el Afganistán de aquellos años.
Es una historia que pasa de puntillas por todos estos acontecimientos, porque está más centrada en los personajes que en los propios acontecimientos Históricos, pero aún así la ambientación y el contexto es muy importante, y la mirada política y social que hace la autora me parece profunda a pesar de su brevedad.
Es una historia que habla especialmente de la familia y de la amistad, de dos familias destinadas a encontrarse, de Ilse e Hiroko, de Harry y Sajjad, de Raza y Kim. Una saga familiar breve que ahonda en las diferencias culturales y en la sensibilidad de sus personajes.
Un libro que aunque no es perfecto por muchas cosas (y cuyo inició disfruté mucho más que su final) me ha dejado tanto poso que no puedo dejar de recomendar encarecidamente.

enigmadame's review against another edition

4.0

 What an infuriating ending to a wonderful book. Wonderfully written; wonderful development; wonderful questions explored; but HOLYCOW. UGH. The story follows two interwoven families for two generations with Hiroko, survivor of the atomic bomb in Nagasaki, as the central character. The novel travels from Nagasaki to India to Pakistan to NYC and causes the reader to reflect on their views of pigeonholing people into their (the reader's) view/biases of the population.

SO glad this book was chosen by my book club. I'm far better to have read it and find it cosmical (is that a word?) that I started reading the book during the on-going Syrian exodus and finished a few days after the terrorist bombings in Paris. 

nimra_nazim23's review against another edition

3.0

3.5⭐
The start was so promising and the ending was good, but it felt like that the story was dragging in some parts of the story!

ivannna_u's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

grapefruitjuice's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

elleinadarat's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I picked this up and put it down again several times. Kamila Shamsie is one of the best authors I've ever read, but I knew this book would be very heavy, and it was. From the first pages you know something bad is about to happen (I mean, this is not a spoiler, the first part takes place in Nagasaki), and the way the author is able to turn heartbreak and destruction into beautiful words absolutely draws you in to the story. I adored Hiroko, and I wanted to give her a hug. I loved how Konrad was a steady thought throughout the whole book. Sajjad and Elizabeth/Ilse and Raza and Kim and Harry were all excellent characters. But I loved that even though there were so many characters who we got to know over the years that the book takes place, Hiroko was the center of it all. 

kglasgow001's review against another edition

What this book made me think about: when there are terrible awful things that happen they are happening to normal people who have feelings and families and dreams and lovers, desperation can be destructive,  terrible things can't be compared to each other to pick a worse one, how things can never be like they were before

the atomic bombs left the shadows on the ground and when people survived the atomic bombs they went to look for the shadows of their loved ones {I think I'll think about that forever}
HOW COULD THE PRESS OF A BUTTON, THE CHOICE OF A GROUP OF PEOPLE, LEAD TO SOMEONE HAVING TO LOOK FOR THEIR MOTHER'S SHADOW BECAUSE THE REST OF HER IS DECIMATED
WHAT IS WAR WHAT IS PEACE 
Abdullah's brother on the peace he wants: "To watch my sons measure hand-span of a pomegranate, not a grenade."

rebeccagrnwd's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

tuufa's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

elensius's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

4.25