Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

36 reviews

nikolas_fox's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad 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? Yes

5.0

This book is absolutely a must read. Please please read it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Colonisation, and Sexual assault

bandysbooks's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.5

This was one of those books that is incredibly sad and also based in reality, but so well written that you can’t put it down. The fictional village of Kosawa was very compelling and at points I wanted to step through the pages of the story to help them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Sexism, Terminal illness, Violence, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Chronic illness, Grief, Gun violence, Infertility, and Genocide

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

raenyreads's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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

3.0

The subject matter of this book was what drew me into reading it and I'm glad I did. I think if you don't know much about this aspect of the world its a really important read and shows how unfair the world can be. However, the jumping back and forth in timelines and points of view made this a bit boring and difficult to read as it felt like the story was progressing at a snails pace even without all the flash backs. So that's why my rating is a little lower than it would be if this was not the case.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Grief, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Sexism, and Sexual assault

brogan7's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Genocide, and Kidnapping