Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

25 reviews

nfoutty's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Police brutality, Colonisation, Grief, Murder, Child death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, War, and Violence

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Miscarriage, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Slavery, Infertility, Sexual content, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Incest, Torture, Trafficking, Death of parent, Classism, Kidnapping, and Homophobia

Minor: Alcohol and Abandonment

noahsingh's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? N/A

4.0

This was really well-written, I enjoyed the character perspective jumps (which I normally don't to be honest), I love how they were used to expand upon a singular familys perspective on both each other and the events in Kosawa and it's a really heartbreaking but realistic depiction of neo-colonialism/capitalism/etc
The reason this was only four rather than five stars for me is this (spoilers ahead and tw for rape/sexual assault):
1.  What was the need to write the twins doing that to Thula? Seriously. It doesn't help the cause if any real way, she doesn't even end up realizing she's pregnant or having the child, she isn't even aware anything happened to her. Instead we just get the off-screen sexual assault of the main character with the complicity of some of the people she trusts most. Is the point just that women suffer from the short-sightedness of misogynistic men? If so, that was already made clear throughout the rest of the book. It was just upsetting for no reason in my opinion.
2. By the end of the book you're stuck with only Juba's perspective and the children who didn't rebel. I understand that the ending was realistic in terms, things like this often don't get fixed. What I didn't understand was the need to finish the book with the perspectives of those who conform to, and even benefit from, the oppression of people who they were once like. There was just, a bit too much sympathy for the oppressors in this book, I mean, what was the need for the Leader to have a tragic backstory as well? I'm sure lots of people who participate/benefit from oppression had some tragedy in their past, that doesn't make being complicit in the deaths of dozens of children okay?  People do desperate things in desperate situations, sure, but why not focus more on solidarity? On potentially building resistance with the labourers at the oil pipes, rather than against them?  I suppose my issue with this book is that despite the fact that I loved 90 percent of it, those last 40 or so pages of the book really lets it down. There's also quite a bit of skipping key/plot-important moments in the novel while instead lingering in the moments of depression/fear/terror. Which wouldn't be a problem if there was any payoff at the end, even if that had just been seeing the Five/Thula fight back against the soldiers, rather than hearing about it all third hand. Yes its brilliantly written, but the ultimate perspective jumps into Juba and the other Children, means that the final message of the book seems to be one of assimilation into systems of western/capitalism/neocolonial oppression. It lets down the rest of the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Rape, Child death, Death of parent, Violence, and Police brutality

Moderate: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Mass/school shootings, Infertility, Grief, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Classism

Minor: Animal death

dominicangirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

• 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Police brutality, Child death, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, and Torture

Moderate: Colonisation and Confinement

qqjj's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Colonisation, Medical content, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Rape, Sexual assault, Genocide, Medical trauma, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Police brutality, and Terminal illness

carol_c26's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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? No

3.75

dark and sad and mysterious but was sometimes difficult to keep moving through 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death of parent, Genocide, Violence, Child death, Mass/school shootings, and War

alanaefarrell's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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? No

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Misogyny, War, Police brutality, Death of parent, Child death, and Miscarriage

Minor: Rape

booksonadventures's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

“If not for solidarity, what would we do with all this anger.”

This stunning novel introduces a chorus of voices in the fictional town of Kosawa, where big oil company Pexton has destroyed the land and lives of the local community. Frustrated by their inability to protect their families, the people decide to take drastic action, kidnapping some of Pexton's men to demand their health and safety be taken seriously. 

Starting this book felt like a punch in the gut, but the writing drew me in completely. I'm not usually one to shy away from heavy books, and I tend to feel a sense of responsibility to bear witness to the harm and exploitation "Western" countries have caused, but I knew this story wouldn't be easy. The environmental racism described here is infuriating. Mbue uses a variety of first person perspectives, but perhaps the most heart-wrenching is the collective (we) voices of the village children. 

And yet... How Beautiful We Were transcends trauma. Mbue deftly explores the balance of greed, guilt, and grief that surround capitalism and colonialism. And yes, this is heavy and slow-paced but there's power in the way Mbue gives a voice to the people and plants the seeds for a better future. 

How Beautiful We Were is a reminder that although the world makes me so damn angry, there’s strength in solidarity and power in resistance even when it feels futile. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Death of parent, Child death, Police brutality, and Racism

seawarrior's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

How Beautiful We Were is a tragedy, but one that demands the reader not to feel sympathy, but to reflect on our role in the poisoning and exploitation of villages like Kosawa. Mbue pits hope and reality against each other repeatedly throughout the novel, gifting Kosawa with tiny victories the characters and reader both must learn are more akin to sedatives and insults than progress. I felt the writing throughout most of the book was illustrative and sharply observant, though there were times where it lacked detail and lagged as the novel progressed. Mbue defied my expectations with the book's ending, initially making me feel disappointed and almost angry. Yet after reflecting further, her unflinching depiction of the humanity, homelands and culture that colonialism and capitalism has stripped from our world of is more striking through use of an unsettling finale in the modern day. I would recommend this story to others, but please be warned that it pulls no punches with its descriptions of environmental degradation and the horrors that unfold in its wake. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Grief, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Colonisation, Death of parent, Child death, Murder, Classism, Confinement, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Ableism, Rape, and Sexual content

courtneyfalling's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

This was so good and I am in such awe that a living, breathing person has enough insight and talent to write this novel. It is absolutely breathtaking, all of the characters are so multidimensional and well-crafted, and it is so perceptive and sharp on globalized exploitation. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Child death, Death of parent, Gun violence, and Colonisation

Moderate: Rape, Child abuse, and Kidnapping

Minor: Miscarriage, Infertility, and Misogyny

plumquin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Sexual violence, Violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Racism, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Kidnapping, and Grief

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, and Genocide

Minor: Stalking, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Infertility, Infidelity, Alcohol, Body shaming, and Homophobia