Reviews tagging 'Blood'

I Will Die in a Foreign Land by Kalani Pickhart

3 reviews

dizzzybrook's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.5

I Will Die in a Foreign Land is a great example of what happens when authors write outside of their own cultural identities; the information is there but the story lacks authenticity and heart. Pickhart does a fine job at demonstrating how academically versed she is in Ukrainian history but was unable to convince me that she fully understands how deeply the political tensions between Ukraine and Russia have effected those directly involved. The four central characters of this book felt very superficial and driven by stereotypes. There was no need for there to be any kind of romantic plot, let alone multiple sex scenes, in a book that is meant to educate the reader about very heavy, devastating historical events. Stylistically, it felt like Pickhart was torn between wanting to write a nonfiction piece about the Euromaidan protests and a dramatic tearjerker set in the forefront of said protests. The fragmented structure of the book did not work for me at all and so much of the writing felt expected and cliche. The fact that this book was written and published so close to the happenings at Euromaidan also slightly rubs me the wrong way in that it feels all too timely for Pickhart to have released a debut novel. Being of Ukrainian heritage myself, I find it immensely important to hear the experiences and stories of Ukrainian life and culture from Ukrainians themselves and unfortunately that is not a privilege you will find in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Blood, Death, War, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual content

srm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Sexual content, Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Homophobia, Child death, Cancer, Trafficking, Torture, Terminal illness, Suicide, Police brutality, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

sjanke2's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Child death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gun violence, Medical content, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Rape, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Trafficking, Abandonment, Biphobia, Blood, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Murder, Addiction, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Cancer, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Outing, Confinement, Cursing, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail