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beckyjzw's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Rape, and War
booksillremember's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
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? No
5.0
An excellent novel - I hope it’ll win this year’s Women’s Prize. I almost couldn’t stop myself from sobbing while reading it on the train. It was a unique reading experience for me - the warmth the characters feel for each other steeped in constant threat, the moral complexity that turns into pure horror. It also depicts the civil war in a very human, nuanced way without expecting any previous knowledge.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Genocide, and War
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Abortion
nov_ella's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, War, Violence, Grief, Death, Rape, Suicide, and Murder
happyknitter2020's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Absolutely brilliant book. Read as shortlisted for The Women's Prize 2024...think this is the clear winner. The writing is beautiful, strong & clear. Learned so much about the civil war & complex trauma experiments. A definitive 5 star book, will be at the top of my 2024 books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Trafficking, Death, and Murder
jouljet's review
challenging
emotional
informative
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Genocide, Body horror, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Racism, Rape, Suicide, Violence, War, and Injury/Injury detail
hannahbailey's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was an intense and evocative look into the Sri Lankan civil war from the perspective of one woman, whose life and family were torn apart by it.
The narrative takes a journalistic approach to storytelling, to the point that I felt I was reading a factual eye-witness account of the horrors of the past. Despite the first-person POV, the narrative is pointedly lacking in human emotion and reaction. The recounting of events is direct, so no facts or details are hidden or sugarcoated to protect the reader. This makes for a heavy read as things go from bad to worse, with little reprieve. These aren’t criticisms — in fact, I felt it was a deliberate and powerful choice to convey the story in this way. The narrator experiences unspeakable losses within her own family and witnesses many more atrocities of war. The only way she can tell the truth — which is her aim from the beginning — is to remove much of the heightened emotion she must be feeling.
There is less dialogue than I would expect to find in a novel, but the nature of the plot allows for it. I’m not sure this narrative style is necessarily for me, but it’s refreshing to read something different. I learned a lot about Sri Lanka’s recent history and politics which I found really interesting. The novel spans about 30 years, but follows the narrator and the decisions made by those around her, rather than taking a wider lens to the world at the time. It was particularly poignant then when the author brings in the United Nations towards the end of the novel — after so much ‘avoidable’ conflict and death, the UN’s ambivalence towards civilians’ lives was the final nail in the coffin of what was a horrific and drawn-out war. I was shocked to discover the conflict was still going on in 2009. An informative read if your history education was as white-washed and colonised as mine.
If you enjoyed this, you may enjoy Moth by Melody Razak for similar tone of voice and the depiction of war through one family's experience.
Thank you to NetGalley for the free e-arc in exchange for an honest review
TW: war, death, murder, child death, rape, violence, sexual violence, fire, blood/gore, injury detail, kidnapping, torture, genocide, grief, suicide, animal
The narrative takes a journalistic approach to storytelling, to the point that I felt I was reading a factual eye-witness account of the horrors of the past. Despite the first-person POV, the narrative is pointedly lacking in human emotion and reaction. The recounting of events is direct, so no facts or details are hidden or sugarcoated to protect the reader. This makes for a heavy read as things go from bad to worse, with little reprieve. These aren’t criticisms — in fact, I felt it was a deliberate and powerful choice to convey the story in this way. The narrator experiences unspeakable losses within her own family and witnesses many more atrocities of war. The only way she can tell the truth — which is her aim from the beginning — is to remove much of the heightened emotion she must be feeling.
There is less dialogue than I would expect to find in a novel, but the nature of the plot allows for it. I’m not sure this narrative style is necessarily for me, but it’s refreshing to read something different. I learned a lot about Sri Lanka’s recent history and politics which I found really interesting. The novel spans about 30 years, but follows the narrator and the decisions made by those around her, rather than taking a wider lens to the world at the time. It was particularly poignant then when the author brings in the United Nations towards the end of the novel — after so much ‘avoidable’ conflict and death, the UN’s ambivalence towards civilians’ lives was the final nail in the coffin of what was a horrific and drawn-out war. I was shocked to discover the conflict was still going on in 2009. An informative read if your history education was as white-washed and colonised as mine.
If you enjoyed this, you may enjoy Moth by Melody Razak for similar tone of voice and the depiction of war through one family's experience.
Thank you to NetGalley for the free e-arc in exchange for an honest review
TW: war, death, murder, child death, rape, violence, sexual violence, fire, blood/gore, injury detail, kidnapping, torture, genocide, grief, suicide, animal
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Murder, Torture, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Kidnapping, Confinement, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, War, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Xenophobia, Genocide, Suicide, Animal death, Blood, and Gore
bookmaddie's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I had heard this book would be amazing, and the people were not wrong! Even though I wouldn't say the pacing is fast, it's a book that slowly, but consistently, draws you into the story so that you just want to keep reading to see what'll happen next. Ganeshananthan's writing is thoughtful, reflective, and offers sophisticated examinations of emotions, motivations, and memory during a fraught period of Sri Lanka's history.
This story follows Sashikala as she studies for medical school before and during the Sri Lankan Civil War. I didn't know much about this conflict before reading this book, which is at once believable and unbelievable. The West didn't seem to be involved much, and it was horrible to see how most of the world ignored such a drawn-out, violent, and disastrous conflict. Through Sashi's eyes, Ganeshananthan underscores how unpredictable and complex the Civil War was. After reading such an evocative novel, I definitely want to pick up a longer nonfiction to read about the war—I feel as if I've just scratched the surface.
Ganeshananthan handles such a serious and dark subject matter so well, and also manages to deeply explore family, betrayal, and love. How a family can morph before your eyes, how a person grows up, how morals and visions of the future are tested—all during a period of intense trauma. This story is vast, but still feels deeply rooted in daily life. It felt immediate, yet reflective; tender, yet eviscerating.
I just loved this novel, and now I really want to go back and read Ganeshananthan's previous work, Love Marriage. Her writing is superb, and I want to immerse myself in it as much as possible!
Some quotes:
"I didn't know how old one needed to be to read the whole of a violent story. I didn't know if the whole of any violent story could be told." p13
"What can I tell you about being in the presence of such a warm person? No one looking at the sun thinks about how swiftly it can be eclipsed." p290
This story follows Sashikala as she studies for medical school before and during the Sri Lankan Civil War. I didn't know much about this conflict before reading this book, which is at once believable and unbelievable. The West didn't seem to be involved much, and it was horrible to see how most of the world ignored such a drawn-out, violent, and disastrous conflict. Through Sashi's eyes, Ganeshananthan underscores how unpredictable and complex the Civil War was. After reading such an evocative novel, I definitely want to pick up a longer nonfiction to read about the war—I feel as if I've just scratched the surface.
Ganeshananthan handles such a serious and dark subject matter so well, and also manages to deeply explore family, betrayal, and love. How a family can morph before your eyes, how a person grows up, how morals and visions of the future are tested—all during a period of intense trauma. This story is vast, but still feels deeply rooted in daily life. It felt immediate, yet reflective; tender, yet eviscerating.
I just loved this novel, and now I really want to go back and read Ganeshananthan's previous work, Love Marriage. Her writing is superb, and I want to immerse myself in it as much as possible!
Some quotes:
"I didn't know how old one needed to be to read the whole of a violent story. I didn't know if the whole of any violent story could be told." p13
"What can I tell you about being in the presence of such a warm person? No one looking at the sun thinks about how swiftly it can be eclipsed." p290
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, War, Death, Murder, Rape, and Sexual assault
hilaryreadsbooks's review
5.0
Set during Sri Lanka’s civil war, V.V. Ganeshananthan’s BROTHERLESS NIGHT follows a young woman, Sashi, as she seeks to protect both her dreams of becoming a doctor and the lives of her loved ones in the wake of escalating violence and discrimination. As war rages around them, Sashi struggles to survive amidst death, fear, and endless brotherless nights, as she begins to lose the boys she loves the most. These boys—dead, or gone to join the Tamil Tigers and other militant groups fighting for a Tamil homeland, their changing values turning their leaving into another kind of loss, and a moral crisis for Sashi as she determines how she wants to resist, fight, and show her power. At the same time, she is clear that her condemnation of violence is a complicated thing, as all things are in impossible situations. “You must understand: that word, terrorist, is too simple for the history we have lived…” she says. “Whose stories will you believe? For how long will you listen?”
BROTHERLESS NIGHT is an invitation to question the narratives we are told, to restructure the course of history we have mapped out in our minds. It is a powerful tribute to the resistance and bravery of women. Most of all, it is an account of terrible things that happened to many people. As Sashi grieves, she says: “I wanted the four clean walls of my Jaffna childhood, the courtyard with its cup of sunlight, the small and dear lane where I had grown up. Give me a house that hasn’t burned, I thought: an upright home full of people who consider me precious.” I ached for her throughout this book, for the lost lives and futures and would-have-beens, for the ways that hate can make others forget that life should be treated as precious.
Sashi’s resilence and courage are miraculous; and yet I wished for another impossible miracle: to rewind the course of history, to un-burn libraries and markets and homes, to un-do death and starvation, to put the light back in young eyes, to erase blood from hands that were never meant to kill. Listening is a powerful thing, in that it is also a reminder that we cannot change the past, but amplify its stories and work to a changed future.
[Thanks to the publisher for a review copy. This is out now]
BROTHERLESS NIGHT is an invitation to question the narratives we are told, to restructure the course of history we have mapped out in our minds. It is a powerful tribute to the resistance and bravery of women. Most of all, it is an account of terrible things that happened to many people. As Sashi grieves, she says: “I wanted the four clean walls of my Jaffna childhood, the courtyard with its cup of sunlight, the small and dear lane where I had grown up. Give me a house that hasn’t burned, I thought: an upright home full of people who consider me precious.” I ached for her throughout this book, for the lost lives and futures and would-have-beens, for the ways that hate can make others forget that life should be treated as precious.
Sashi’s resilence and courage are miraculous; and yet I wished for another impossible miracle: to rewind the course of history, to un-burn libraries and markets and homes, to un-do death and starvation, to put the light back in young eyes, to erase blood from hands that were never meant to kill. Listening is a powerful thing, in that it is also a reminder that we cannot change the past, but amplify its stories and work to a changed future.
[Thanks to the publisher for a review copy. This is out now]
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, War, Hate crime, Suicide, Murder, Violence, Death, and Torture
annreadsabook's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
BROTHERLESS NIGHT is a truly stand-out book that I’ve read recently, and one that really I hope gets more attention. It’s a beautifully and compellingly told novel about a young woman who finds her dreams of becoming a physician interrupted by the escalating Sri Lankan Civil War, which quickly overtakes both her own life and the lives of her four brothers.
I was blown away by this novel; the writing is at the same time powerful and straightforward, which I felt made it hard for me to put this book down. Sashi, the main character, is a strikingly complex individual who is presented with fraught choices at every turn. I loved the way Ganeshananthan depicted Sashi’s personal convictions and inner turmoil as the people she loved most in her life often asked her to take on some truly difficult tasks, putting her own career and wellbeing in jeopardy. Throughout the novel, we consider the lengths one will go to protect their loved ones—the sacrifices one is willing to make for love.
I think this book has a bit of something for everyone: it has excellent character development for fans of more character-driven books, as well as a gripping storyline that will have you returning to the pages. It’s an intense and powerful read.
This is one of the best pieces of fiction I have read in a while, and absolutely a 2023 favorite. This is definitely one you’ll want (need) to add to your reading list.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, War, Violence, and Murder
atsundarsingh's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? Yes
5.0
I couldn't put this down. It was incandescent. It was searing. It made my heart physically ache, and made me do a thousand searches for nonfiction follow-ups. I am 100% going to read Ganeshananthan's previous book. the writing for this just completely gripped me, and once I got going in earnest, it just snowballed.
The family of the novel's protagonist Sashi is complex, and the book spends the entire time slowly unwinding the moral complexity of strongly held beliefs, and unravelling the word 'terrorist'. I was struck by the way Ganeshananthan made the entire cast of characters possible to understand, and you could see consistency of character even as motivation and ideologies changed. Truly can't wait to insist that everyone read this in 2023 and beyond.
*Thanks to Random House, NetGalley for the ARC. Book release: 3 Jan 2023*
The family of the novel's protagonist Sashi is complex, and the book spends the entire time slowly unwinding the moral complexity of strongly held beliefs, and unravelling the word 'terrorist'. I was struck by the way Ganeshananthan made the entire cast of characters possible to understand, and you could see consistency of character even as motivation and ideologies changed. Truly can't wait to insist that everyone read this in 2023 and beyond.
*Thanks to Random House, NetGalley for the ARC. Book release: 3 Jan 2023*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Genocide, Violence, Torture, Death, Sexual violence, Blood, Hate crime, War, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Police brutality