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afterttherain's review against another edition
4.0
“There are people, she once wrote, who think that we cannot rule ourselves because the few times we tried, we failed, as if all the others who rule themselves today got it right the first time. It is like telling a crawling baby who tries to walk, and then falls back on his buttocks, to stay there. As if the adults walking past him did not all crawl, once.”
Gripping, heart-wrenching, and stunning. Just what I expected from Adichie.
Gripping, heart-wrenching, and stunning. Just what I expected from Adichie.
nerdie_kitten's review against another edition
5.0
Immensely powerful.. A sensitive and touching story of a child exposed too early to religious intolerance and the uglier side of the African state
threegoodrats's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as Half of a Yellow Sun or Americanah. My review is here.
mariia's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
read for school! think i was really desensitised to everything in this book bc of all the other books ive read... kambili is a lovely character and i'm really grateful that i was able to write about her character development for some coursework haha
read for school! think i was really desensitised to everything in this book bc of all the other books ive read... kambili is a lovely character and i'm really grateful that i was able to write about her character development for some coursework haha
oxnard_montalvo's review against another edition
3.0
(Nigeria)
Probably her weakest book of the ones I've read; remember it vearing off into seriously melodramatic territory, but hey. I still liked it.
Probably her weakest book of the ones I've read; remember it vearing off into seriously melodramatic territory, but hey. I still liked it.
paola_mobileread's review against another edition
3.0
Reading this book I could not avoid thinking of [a:Philip Larkin|64716|Philip Larkin|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1212545983p2/64716.jpg]'s This be the verse, though here one may well add "religion"and "colonialism" to "mum and dad".
Dad here is a misguided, bigoted psychopath who is as violent with his family as he is generous with everyone who comes his way, and upright in his championing of Catholicism and political freedom. Religion comes in the shape of Father Benedict, who seems as pleased in anyone beating sin out of sinners as the worst sadist; and colonialism's consequences are peppered everywhere, from the trivial yet shocking (every children had to choose an English name to be Confirmed), to the shocking and disturbing (not attending your own father's funeral because he was not a Christian like you).
The storyline does not matter too much, but even so the novel for me suffered because of the flatness of the characters, mostly unidimensional - the battered wife and mother and the monster dad, the nasty priest and the wonderful wise priest, the delightfully positive and combative aunt with her perfectly adjusted children, and so on: perhaps the only really complex character is the dutiful son, but he is left largely unexplored.
So yes, I was a bit disappointed, but in terms of the larger picture Adichie seems to want to take on from [a:Chinua Achebe|8051|Chinua Achebe|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1294661664p2/8051.jpg]'s steps, and I liked the novel for that - so I am intrigued enough to want to read more of this author.
Dad here is a misguided, bigoted psychopath who is as violent with his family as he is generous with everyone who comes his way, and upright in his championing of Catholicism and political freedom. Religion comes in the shape of Father Benedict, who seems as pleased in anyone beating sin out of sinners as the worst sadist; and colonialism's consequences are peppered everywhere, from the trivial yet shocking (every children had to choose an English name to be Confirmed), to the shocking and disturbing (not attending your own father's funeral because he was not a Christian like you).
The storyline does not matter too much, but even so the novel for me suffered because of the flatness of the characters, mostly unidimensional - the battered wife and mother and the monster dad, the nasty priest and the wonderful wise priest, the delightfully positive and combative aunt with her perfectly adjusted children, and so on: perhaps the only really complex character is the dutiful son, but he is left largely unexplored.
So yes, I was a bit disappointed, but in terms of the larger picture Adichie seems to want to take on from [a:Chinua Achebe|8051|Chinua Achebe|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1294661664p2/8051.jpg]'s steps, and I liked the novel for that - so I am intrigued enough to want to read more of this author.
broccolindsey's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- 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
3.25