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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
spaghetti75's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very good and touching book - shocking what has been happening and is happening in Europe in our times. I got inspired to read this after having read "A Constellation of Vital Phenomena" by Anthony Marra - which is by the way and absolutely excellent book, with wonderful "casually poetic" writing.
allabaranovsky's review against another edition
3.0
While I have to give Asne Seierstad credit for going into the Chechen war looking like a swimsuit model and coming out alive to write a book about it, I think she cuts a few corners by either imitating Anna Politkovskaya (the interview with Kadyrov jr, for instance, has quite a few questions borrowed from Politkovskaya's earlier interview with him) or concentrating on the minute cultural differences and thus sounding like a typical clueless westerner. The stories are, however, heart-wrenching, and the book is well put together. I bet it was a hit in Norway.
puglover's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, and War
Minor: Genocide, Hate crime, Torture, Islamophobia, Mass/school shootings, and Murder
ella_hempstock777's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.75
witchhazelwoods's review against another edition
5.0
Incredible insight, this book really shows just how far hatred can consume people. A majority of the characters in this book are blinded by their own distrust and anger at everyone around them and they will never be "free" until they learn to let themselves heal.
lgwritermn's review against another edition
3.0
This was a little harder read for me. I didn't have the time that I have in the past to read it straight through, so maybe that is why. There were some parts that I zoned out. This book contains a lot of political background, which is good for the most part so the reader can understand the conflicts and history behind the war between Chechnya and Russia. Seierstad once again goes inside the lives of those affected by horrible atrocities between two ethnic groups.
dkeane2007's review against another edition
3.0
I know very little about the Chechan war and this provided a nice summary of the events of the last 15 years. Not always an easy read, but very informative.