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demeryg'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? It's complicated
4.5
I found the topics in this book really educational and relevant to other genocides happening at the hands of USA and Britain. It was informative and also a beautiful story between the mix of characters and their interpersonal relationships.
Graphic: Infertility, Grief, Gore, Genocide, Colonisation, Xenophobia, War, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Racism, Gun violence, Blood, Violence, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Mass/school shootings, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Slavery, Sexual violence, Rape, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Infidelity, Child death, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, and Death
fionafsw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There's not much more I can say about this powerful novel except that Adichie manages to weave humour throughout to help the reader get through the horrors of war and to present something so alien to readers like me who have had the dumb luck of knowing nothing but peacetime through an individual, human lens rather than statistics or political or military manoeuvres. And for readers like me who had no idea about Nigeria, her fantastic writing brought to life every smell, taste, and sensory input.
But where the book really excels, I think, is in describing tension between individuals in the most subtle way that still makes it obvious. Tension (sexual and otherwise) that you could cut with a knife, as if you were there, in the room, as the protagonist. As Richard might say, it's really quite fantastic.
Graphic: Death, Gore, Infidelity, Colonisation, Genocide, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Rape, Violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, War, Blood, Murder, Police brutality, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Classism and Grief
Minor: Pregnancy
the_last_bookshelf's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Genocide, Misogyny, Racism, War, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Sexism, Violence, Classism, Death, Rape, and Child death
Moderate: Racial slurs and Infidelity
laedyred's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Torture, War, Sexual violence, Rape, Infidelity, Death, Misogyny, Gun violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment
betag1013'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? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Misogyny, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Colonisation, War, Abortion, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Animal death, Gore, Infertility, Rape, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Medical content, Pedophilia, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Confinement, Sexism, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racism, Child death, Classism, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Toxic friendship
ciarammeyer'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
4.5
overall, though, i loved this book. adichie shines light on a war id never even heard of before (western education proving insular yet again), and does so in a way that feels uniquely personal. the characters are deeply flawed—with the text exploring adultery, rape, elitism, and the brutality of war—but you never feel like they are irredeemable.
Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, War, and Violence
Moderate: Gore, Blood, and Misogyny
nannahnannah's review against another edition
Representation:
- almost every character is Nigerian
I got to page 203 when I got an uncomfortable feeling from the description, “[his] voice was unmistakable; it was vibrantly male …” and had to look Adichie up. Sure enough, this is the transphobic author who, among things like bullying a trans author under her mentorship, approved of Rowling’s "TERF Manifesto”.
I thought I had deleted all her books from my to-read list, but I must have missed this one. Stopping here doesn’t make me upset; I disliked most of the characters in this book and only didn’t mind the rest.
I’d much rather read someone else’s work.
Moderate: Misogyny and Sexual assault
Minor: Fatphobia and Incest
perfectphlaws's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
It was a well written book, but reminded me why I don't usually stray too far from romance. So much rape. War is ugly indeed, maybe I'll just read about it in the news rather than rehashing past horrors.
Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexism, War, Vomit, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Infertility, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Blood, and Chronic illness
gabrielad'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? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Child death, War, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, and Hate crime
Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Racism, Misogyny, and Incest
kylieqrada'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
4.5
4.5 ⭐s. I can definitely see why this is Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's award-winning-est (is that a word?) work. Not only did I enjoy this immensely just from a writing perspective - the characters, plot, world-building, symbolism, narrative devices, all flawless - I also learned so much about an aspect of history that I was relatively clueless about up until this reading. This book is unflinching, and subsequently has trigger warnings for just about every trigger on the books, but it is a very impactful, emotional, and educational read.
Moderate: Abortion, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and Xenophobia