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bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
The story takes us through generations of Kosawa residents with switching POVs from Thula, different members of her family, and the children of the village. Their stories are emotional but contain glimmers of hope as they fight to get their land back from an oil corporation poisoning their families.
How Beautiful We Were has beautiful writing and well written, complex characters. I just love her storytelling style and ability to create such depth with all of her characters, giving each their own unique voice.
The chapters are a little too long for my taste making it feel slower/harder to read here and there, but as I got further into the novel, the chapters started to go by faster.
Overall a heartbreaking but enjoyable, groundbreaking novel! I can’t wait to see what Mbue writes next.
Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Gun violence, Violence, Confinement, Sexual assault, Miscarriage, Grief, Death, Death of parent, and Child death
Moderate: Slavery, Blood, and Rape
Minor: Religious bigotry and Fatphobia
zombiezami's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Animal death, Child death, Murder, Grief, Terminal illness, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Blood, Chronic illness, Gore, Incest, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Death, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, War, Confinement, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual content, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Ableism
Minor: Homophobia, Deportation, and Fatphobia
environmental destruction, saneismnoahsingh's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? N/A
4.0
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.
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
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, Police brutality, Child death, Kidnapping, Sexual harassment, and Torture
Moderate: Colonisation and Confinement
seawarrior's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
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
plumquin's review against another edition
- 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
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
kylieqrada's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Violence, Torture, Terminal illness, and Rape
Minor: Slavery
now_booking's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Genocide, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence