Reviews tagging 'Blood'

War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi

6 reviews

zombiezami's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.25

I read this for a book club. It was hard for me to get into, but I did eventually get there. The part I liked best about this book was the worldbuilding. I especially enjoyed the author's approach to imagining tech that really doesn't work the way you want it to, or that you have to McGyver to make useful, or that wasn't made with you in mind. Even in other dystopias involving inadequate technology, I feel that Onyebuchi's approach is uniquely nuanced. 

All of the big emotional inflections in the book definitely hit, for example, "

Chinelo's death, Agu's death, finding out that Onyii killed Ify's mother and lied about where she came from

. Even so, there were a lot of characters, in my opinion, and I kept forgetting who was who.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Gun violence, Death, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Torture, Hate crime, Murder, Confinement, Cursing, Violence, War, Death of parent, Body horror, Bullying, Abandonment, Medical content, Stalking, Animal death, and Addiction

Moderate: Racial slurs, Islamophobia, Drug use, Drug abuse, Slavery, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Cancer

Minor: Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, and Sexism

lanid's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Addiction, Animal death, Racism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Violence, Physical abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Bullying and Cancer

ne0n_ange1's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child death, Blood, Violence, Slavery, War, Racism, and Death

bookbrig's review against another edition

adventurous challenging medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

If you're in the mood for action packed sci-fi with intricate world building and real world parallels you should absolutely pick this up. It's got amazing mech fights, fascinating and heartbreaking interpersonal stuff, and wonderfully complex teen girls. Also it's set during a civil war, so the violence feels guttingly realistic at times (hi, when you get to the part with roses call me if you are also VERY UPSET).

My favorite bit is the first of the 3 segments, as I got to know the main characters and learn about the technology and world. I particularly love the balletic and cinematic way Onyebuchi writes the mech fights and the other battles, giving the story a hectic and overwhelming feel during those scenes. For my taste, some of the later parts a little slow after the opening action, but ymmv depending on how you like your sci-fi. I also have some spoilery thoughts about frustrations with a few characters' motivations, if you do read this and want to talk!

Finally, read the author's note. I knew so little about the actual history that inspired this story, so I'm planning to read several of the non-fiction titles referenced in the note. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, and Blood

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Violence, Gun violence, War, Genocide, Colonisation, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Drug use, Grief, Medical content, and Slavery

Minor: Cancer, Misogyny, Racism, and Vomit

goblingirlreads's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a really difficult book for me to review. After thinking for awhile I've decided to go with the solid 4/5 rating.
Let's talk about what makes this book amazing: This is a sci-fi is based on a real conflict: The Biafran War, also known as the Nigerian Civil War. The book has incredible world-building. I had a complete picture of how war was waged in this world through the use of droids, child soldiers that are fully synth, soldiers having augmented parts that replace what human parts they've lost in battle and of course the mecha that are piloted in huge epic battles. I grew to really love the characters. The world was incredibly bleaI but I felt it gave a clear picture of how war affects people, soldiers, children, entire countries, the planet

That said, I had a huge issue with the pacing in the book. The first section of the book was absolutely perfect to me but the second section jumped back and forth between two characters in two different locations. The chapters were so short that it felt a little whiplashy and like I couldn't get really excited about one story before it jumped back to another. Finally, the third section could have been its own book and felt extremely rushed. I wish this book had spent a little more time in the editing phase to smooth out some of these pacing issues because overall it's incredible and has so much to offer.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use and Animal death