Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Storm We Made

i don’t even know what to say… this book left me shaking and breathless, its tragedy an absolute force to be reckoned with. the pain and anger and grief of its characters, esp of cecily, is a savage thing, a blunt object placed carefully and deliberately in your hands. the arrogance of imperialists, colonisers, their cursed pride, and also the choices and rage and desperation of their victims, their accomplices, every moral shade in between, all exact a price to be paid and has a boomerang effect, like bullets that ricochet, like a story whose ending we already know. the consequences of war and colonial violence, of power and desire for power, of fundamental, perhaps inexplainable, fractures and inequalities - in the capacity for hope, the distribution of pain and cruelty, the meting out of fate, which has a great sense of irony and no sense of mercy.

the sheer *storm* of all the emotions and conflicts crammed into this novel is enough to knock you off your feet, like the monsoons of malaya. and it is delivered with the precision, imagination, and ferocity of a writer who truly understands her craft: storytelling. brb i’m walking into the ocean

Content Warnings

kipsfj's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

2.0

I really wish I could rate this higher. Unfortunately this book is not worth the hype it is receiving.

I was so excited to read this story about Malaya (present day Malaysia) during the Japanese occupation during World War II, when they invaded the country from the north, and threw out the British occupiers. In The Storm We Made, the main character Cecily is living with the consequences of this invasion and her secret role in it.

The entire family of 5 is in a competition to see who can be the most selfish so I’m having a hard time pinpointing which one I hated the most.. (The youngest daughter & her friend Yuki definitely wins the selfish contest though.)

The very graphic descriptions of triggering events was something I was not prepared for, especially in chapter 2. I don’t think the graphic nature benefited the book in any way and was used to shock readers rather than add to the story.

Content Warnings

internationalreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark informative sad medium-paced

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

3.0

This one didn’t quite work for me. The characters felt one-dimensional and like they were written for the white gaze. I appreciated the setting in WWII Malaya though, which we need more books about.

Content Warnings

emorreti's review

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

audaroundtheworld's review

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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