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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
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
A raw & vivid story told with so much nuance & heart, that will have you laughing out loud! It was so easy to love Darling & her friends. I really enjoyed the POV of a 10-year-old narrator, watching Darling grow up & how her perspective of America & Zimbabwe changed after migration. But I was confused by the abrupt ending.
I nearly ditched this book before the halfway mark, but I kept on going as I wanted to read about her US experiences. I enjoyed some of the prose, some absolutely beautiful imagery and description, but the book overall did not appeal. The passages about homesickness and not really belonging in either culture were very emotive and well-written.
WNNN's writing eventually grew on me. At first, I found the writing style disjointed and too blunt. However, I ended up liking it by the end. Overall, the story was fairly interesting, even if it's been done before. However, I wasn't particularly invested in any of the characters. The main character, Darling, didn't seem particularly remarkable to me. Maybe that was the point?
adventurous
funny
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
tense
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
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
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:
N/A
Very interesting story written from the point of view of an illegal immigrant to America who moved there as a child. It brings across the free but hard childhood in Zimbabwe, including souvenirs of better times. It also portrays how trapped these illegals are in their country of adoption, never being able to leave for fear of not being let back into the country. And finally how their home country in the end also repudiates them as they no longer belong there. Very well told.
We Need New Name is the story of Darling, a girl who describes her childhood in Zimbabwe and her later experiences in the United States. The authors weaves an interesting story while offering commentary on cultural exchange, the meaning of home and citizenship, racism, and living with hardship, violence, uncertainty and poverty. The book raises questions about the ownership of stories and experiences and how stories are used to describe and define entire countries, continents, and populations. It reminded me of Chimamand Ngozi Adichie's Americanah --- exploring similar themes, and challenging me to consider my own thinking in similar ways. As a whole the novel is lovely. The chapter titled "How they lived" is among the most beautiful chapters of fiction I have read in some time.
See my review here:
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2015/09/18/day-773-we-need-new-names/
https://whatmeread.wordpress.com/2015/09/18/day-773-we-need-new-names/
A charming, powerful story, but I'm not sure it has anything special to put it above and beyond other similar immigrant stories.