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africanbookaddict's review against another edition
4.0
!!! https://africanbookaddict.com/2019/01/31/mini-reviews-houseboy-tropical-fish/
jewelrybonney's review against another edition
reflective
medium-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Abortion and Racism
esessa's review against another edition
4.0
Really interesting set of stories about women in Uganda - I really enjoyed the different perspectives and styles in which each of the stories was written. Together they felt like they captured a significant slice of Ugandan life, both in the events they described and the women narrating.
kemunto's review against another edition
5.0
Doreen, you took me back to my craze days in high school. I think you write superbly, I loved Christine, Patti and Rosa. Oh, Rosa.
zeydejd's review against another edition
4.0
Again, a book for class. I'm not usually big on vignettes which is what this novel is, but these vignettes are very much connected. They focus around three sisters growing up in a village in Uganda and their coming of age. The ideas revolving around religion, culture, education, discrimination, etc that come up throughout the vignettes are portrayed in beautiful and emotional ways.
shonatiger's review against another edition
4.0
A lovely (and quick!) read. Have decided I love Ugandan authors. I feel so seen! Close to 4.5/5.
anetq's review against another edition
3.0
Growing up, starving at school and finding yourself in Entebbe or LA, sex live and death. This is a collection of stories about three sisters - mostly Christine, the youngest - it seems like novels, but maybe it's chapters or something in between. I liked it, but it tilts to the side of less story, more thoughts that makes me impatient while reading it...
gamas_de_azul's review against another edition
4.0
Un libro de lectura ligera que nos acerca una cultura con la que pude encontrar más similitudes de lo que hubiera pensado. Y es que la autora escribe centrándose en los personajes y sus sensaciones al crecer, ¿cómo no empatizar con eso?
El libro está compuesto por relatos narrados desde la perspectiva de 3 hermanas: Christine, Patti y Rosa. El primer capítulo me hizo pensar en que iba a leer un libro donde se narraran las vicisitudes de la gente en África, pero no, la autora elige en vez de eso, contarnos la historia de unas hermanas de clase media algo, y como su situación familiar y social fue cambiando, atravesada por el contexto económico y político del país. Me pareció maravilloso cómo intercala relatos de travesuras de la niñez y adolescencia, con temas fuertes como el impacto del SIDA.
Christine fue mi personaje favorito, compartí con ella pensamientos sobre el sentirse ajena al lugar propio, excelentemente descritos por la autora ♥️
El libro está compuesto por relatos narrados desde la perspectiva de 3 hermanas: Christine, Patti y Rosa. El primer capítulo me hizo pensar en que iba a leer un libro donde se narraran las vicisitudes de la gente en África, pero no, la autora elige en vez de eso, contarnos la historia de unas hermanas de clase media algo, y como su situación familiar y social fue cambiando, atravesada por el contexto económico y político del país. Me pareció maravilloso cómo intercala relatos de travesuras de la niñez y adolescencia, con temas fuertes como el impacto del SIDA.
Christine fue mi personaje favorito, compartí con ella pensamientos sobre el sentirse ajena al lugar propio, excelentemente descritos por la autora ♥️
pshamburg's review against another edition
challenging
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
msjoanna's review against another edition
5.0
While this book is called a set of short stories with interconnected characters, it reads best as a whole. The book tells the stories of three sisters, focusing mostly on Christine with a couple of stories from Rosa and Patti. The writing is immensely powerful and the stories are extremely compelling. In particular, the stories tracing Christine's time working in the United States (in Los Angeles and Washington, DC) before returning to Uganda tell the story of identity, race, politics, diaspora, and power in an incredible way. The book also unflinchingly reflects the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and its effect on modern Uganda through the personal story of Rosa in a letter to a former lover. Highly recommended.