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somanybookstoread's review
2.0
Eh...
The author took a major narrative risk with this, his first book. It didn't really work, but it was ambitious. Written in second person, addressing none other than Osama Bin Laden, our narrator is a working class (and not very respectable) Londoner. She attempts to process loss but seems to get further lost in the process. Perhaps if she was a likable narrator, I would have found the book easier to read, but in addition to the second person and intentional bad grammar/bad speech of our narration for more than 200 pages, I couldn't really tolerate her on top of that. I don't recommend this one. There was a reason why we didn't hear about Chris Cleave until he wrote Little Bee.
The author took a major narrative risk with this, his first book. It didn't really work, but it was ambitious. Written in second person, addressing none other than Osama Bin Laden, our narrator is a working class (and not very respectable) Londoner. She attempts to process loss but seems to get further lost in the process. Perhaps if she was a likable narrator, I would have found the book easier to read, but in addition to the second person and intentional bad grammar/bad speech of our narration for more than 200 pages, I couldn't really tolerate her on top of that. I don't recommend this one. There was a reason why we didn't hear about Chris Cleave until he wrote Little Bee.
chasa's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not going to write a synopsis of this because that can be found above, provided by goodreads. I read this book awhile ago and my thoughts frequently come back to it. When I first started reading this book, I considered putting it down not once but several times. It was odd...a woman who is writing a letter to Osama bin Laden about her dead son? What in the hell?!? But, it grew on me. More than that, it challenged my own views and thoughts which is what a good book does. I read a lot...and this seems to be a book that I can't shake. As much as I didn't like the protagonist, it's ability to challenge my own thoughts and to do so subtly makes it a book well worth reading.
shadowsmoon's review against another edition
5.0
I cried, I laughed and cried some more. Absolutely awesome book. Very clever and very profound.
dina_b's review against another edition
1.0
Desapontada! Nem sei por onde começar... Talvez pelo facto que este livro é escrito sem ter uma única vírgula, o que me levou algumas páginas até me habituar. Mas como é possível gostar-se de uma história quando não se gosta de nenhuma das personagens? Uma pessoa normal deveria sentir empatia pela personagem principal, pelo facto dela ter perdido o filho e o marido num ataque bombista pois não devo ser normal (o normal está sobrevalorizado) porque não consegui sentir essa empatia. Todo o livro parece um pesadelo, onde existe violência gráfica e de mau gosto, atirar violência só para chocar, desculpas esfarrapadas para fornicar a torto e a direito, diálogos que me fazem revirar os olhos. Enfim... Só fiquei contente quando cheguei a última página e isso porque sou daquelas pessoas que nunca abandona um livro, senão já teria desistido a muito. Eu já percebi que ou se gosta ou se detesta este livro, não há meio termo, no meu caso não gostei mas podem experimentar por vossa conta e risco.
alyssabookrecs's review against another edition
4.0
From July 2016:
Incendiary by Chris Cleave is both an entrancing and horrifying novel. Entrancing in the epistolary voice of the British narrator to Osama Bin Laden but horrifying in the violence presented in this book--terrorist attacks, lack of good mental health care, social class struggles, and the constant existential question throughout the book: who are we, really, in the Western world? One particularly great thing about this novel is the fact that the narrator does not blame all Muslims for the explosion that kills her husband and her son (or "her boy"): she only blames Osama, and in her letter to him she talks about clear instances where she is given kindness by Muslim people, despite the judgment of London toward them in the novel. The ending was gut-wrenching, and I couldnt put it down. The complexity in human nature shown in this novel is legitimately a roller coaster. I highly, highly recommend this read.
Incendiary by Chris Cleave is both an entrancing and horrifying novel. Entrancing in the epistolary voice of the British narrator to Osama Bin Laden but horrifying in the violence presented in this book--terrorist attacks, lack of good mental health care, social class struggles, and the constant existential question throughout the book: who are we, really, in the Western world? One particularly great thing about this novel is the fact that the narrator does not blame all Muslims for the explosion that kills her husband and her son (or "her boy"): she only blames Osama, and in her letter to him she talks about clear instances where she is given kindness by Muslim people, despite the judgment of London toward them in the novel. The ending was gut-wrenching, and I couldnt put it down. The complexity in human nature shown in this novel is legitimately a roller coaster. I highly, highly recommend this read.
nerissassippi's review against another edition
3.0
Thus was an emotionally tough book to read. I liked Cleave's writing style and really enjoyed the voice he gave the main character. But it just spiraled deeper into despair till the horrible end. I can't say that I would recommend it to anybody.
eoremovich's review against another edition
3.0
Overall, I liked this book, except for the ending. It was a really interesting take on a person coping with an unspeakable tragedy and a city that is completely changed. The story as a letter took a little getting used to, but I didn't mind it as much as I thought I would. I didn't love the ending, which was very bleak, but also felt a little too unrealistic to me. The relationships between the narrator and those around her was also very odd, but also very compelling.
At this point I've read everything the cleave has written, and I imagine I will always enjoy his work. Although this book wasn't my favorite of his, he always has a way with words and something worth reading.
At this point I've read everything the cleave has written, and I imagine I will always enjoy his work. Although this book wasn't my favorite of his, he always has a way with words and something worth reading.
mellabella's review against another edition
4.0
I saw the movie before I read the book. That is a rarity for me. So, I expected them to be somewhat similar... Incendiary the book was like Chris Cleaves Little Bee. Gloomy and leaves you very sad at the end. Not to say that it wasn't a good book. It is. He really knows how to pull at the heartstrings. Told from the point of view of a woman who loses her son and husband in a terrorist attack, a promiscuous woman who was having sex with someone when the attack took place... Incendiary has a lot of twists and turns. The movie had none. She slowly loses her sanity as she sees her so everywhere (and talks to him). There is more but, it is definitely worth a read.
hatrireads's review against another edition
4.0
Wow! I read in this in one sleepless night during Hurricane Harvey in Houston. It was as terrifying as the weather. Written as a letter to Osama bin laden from a working class mother who lost her husband and four year old son in a bomb attack in London, it was spell binding. Funny and tragic and plot driven, this book made me cry several times but I couldn't stop reading it. I highly recommend this great novel by a favorite writer.