Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
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:
No
adventurous
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was really interesting. It provided some insight into life in a struggling country and then the transition into life in America. It's a reminder that life isn't always what we think it is.
Breathtaking and heartbreaking. I loved her writing and style. Couldn't put it down.
**Read your trigger warnings for the novel before reading it. This novel explicitly engages with topics like suicide, racism, violence, abortion, porn, colonialism, etc.
This novel has such good reviews, but I just don't think I enjoyed it. There are moments throughout the novel where Bulawayo is just excessively descriptive about incredibly difficult topics that just felt a bit out of place. Honestly, this novel reminded me of Chimamanda Adichie's novel "Americanah," which was also published in 2013, except "Americanah" is so much better.
Chapters I enjoyed:
- "How They left" (147)- This chapter hits hard because it discusses the children in Zimbabwe "leaving in drones" without their families during a time of social and political turmoil.
- "Destroyedmichigan" (149)- I especially like this quote, "Stina also said leaving your country is like dying, and when you come back you are like a lost ghost returning to earth, roaming around with a missing gaze in your eyes" (162).
- "How They Lived" (239)- This entire chapter is really powerful, but I was slightly confused as to who was the narrator here because the chapter switches from Darling's "I" to a "we" that I initially thought was supposed to be about Tshaka Zulu, but now I'm definitely thinking it's just meant to reflect the experience many immigrants face when coming to America. I think this is the best chapter of the book!
Overall, I'm giving this novel three stars because there are some really powerful nuggets in it, but I don't think it's one I'd want to reread or teach.
This novel has such good reviews, but I just don't think I enjoyed it. There are moments throughout the novel where Bulawayo is just excessively descriptive about incredibly difficult topics that just felt a bit out of place. Honestly, this novel reminded me of Chimamanda Adichie's novel "Americanah," which was also published in 2013, except "Americanah" is so much better.
Chapters I enjoyed:
- "How They left" (147)- This chapter hits hard because it discusses the children in Zimbabwe "leaving in drones" without their families during a time of social and political turmoil.
- "Destroyedmichigan" (149)- I especially like this quote, "Stina also said leaving your country is like dying, and when you come back you are like a lost ghost returning to earth, roaming around with a missing gaze in your eyes" (162).
- "How They Lived" (239)- This entire chapter is really powerful, but I was slightly confused as to who was the narrator here because the chapter switches from Darling's "I" to a "we" that I initially thought was supposed to be about Tshaka Zulu, but now I'm definitely thinking it's just meant to reflect the experience many immigrants face when coming to America. I think this is the best chapter of the book!
Overall, I'm giving this novel three stars because there are some really powerful nuggets in it, but I don't think it's one I'd want to reread or teach.
This book is an excellent portrayal of the struggle of displaced immigrants in the U.S. and at the same time an excellent critique of the typical "African experience" story. The book follows the life of a young girl named Darling as she grows up from living in struggling Zimbabwe to living in Michigan. It is told from Darling's perspective so while the writing may seem simple and straight-forward at times, at the same time it is compelling and her perspective adds a unique experience and insight to the story. I found myself continuously turning the page so that I could see what Darling and her friends would get up to next and at the same time it was not always easy to read the real life hardships that were portrayed in the novel. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read modern African literature and to anyone who is trying to expand their library into new spaces of literature.
I really love this book. I think I gobbled it up to quickly and I need to go back and reread it, but I just adore the voice of Darling, the protagonist. I love the way readers are taken inside her mind and get to see how she observes the world. I especially love the way she smiles--often the forced type that she is asked to do when the NGOs come to take photographs or when she's at a wedding and she's cornered in bathroom with a litany of questions about Africa so these guests can try to figure out which sob story to associate with her. And I especially love the last couple of chapters where she talks about what it's like to live as an undocumented person in the U.S. and all the others from around the globe whose story is not altogether different from hers. The coming-of-age voice of Darling is intoxicating.
Disappointed! There was nothing of the story that really drew me in. I enjoyed the first half of the book when the main character was still living in Africa. But once she arrived in America it was boring and didn't go anywhere.
emotional
funny
this was a really good book. the prose can take a bit to get sued to because of the child-like narration and the lack of punctuation, but it adds to the storytelling. does a country remain yours only if you stay in it? what do you gain or lose from leaving your home? what forms an identity? how do commercialization and capitalism contribute to colonialism?