Reviews with content warning for Rape - What Storm, What Thunder

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What Storm, What Thunder by Myriam J.A. Chancy

22 reviews

kld2128's review

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informative sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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sarah984's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative slow-paced

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

3.5

This is a fictionalized account of people affected by the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Each chapter is the account of a different person from their point of view. I liked the ways the characters connected and saw one another, and the variety of experiences that are included. Unfortunately to me there were too many similar characters (though I loved Sonia and I liked Anne's perspective) and I wasn't a fan of the first person POV, especially for characters who died during the story.

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mmccombs's review

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

Interconnected stories at the form’s finest. It took me a bit to get into, but once I hit my stride the characters and their stories were so propulsive. The only thing keeping me from giving it a full five stars is that the cast of characters was almost too large, I often lost track of who was related to who. Ma Lou being the figure tying them all together was clever, I wish that was utilized a bit more. But the writing was phenomenal, the stories heartbreaking, and the sense of people and place so tangible. Must read fiction!

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annreadsabook's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Myriam J.A. Chancy’s WHAT STORM, WHAT THUNDER is an absolute powerhouse of a novel that absolutely everyone should read.

WHAT STORM, WHAT THUNDER follows a sprawling cast of Haitian characters who are in some way or another impacted by the devastating 2010 earthquake that took the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. There’s a Haitian-born musician who lives in Boston; a woman who his plagued by the ghosts of her children; a young architect who works for a global NGO; a sex worker and her business partner-slash-companion; and an aging madan sara who is familiar with each of these souls.

Even though this book is heart-wrenching and a punch to the gut, I couldn’t stop reading because of how beautifully Chancy writes and how compellingly she crafts each of these characters. Many of them struggle to find their place in life in bustling Port-au-Prince, aspiring for more in a country that has had so much stripped from it time and again. Others grapple with their ties to Haiti from afar, watching the chaos and destruction thousands of miles away on television or scrounging for news of loved ones on Facebook. Chancy paints a vivid picture of humanity in the darkest hours, of people continually dismissed and degraded by the global north (and, to this point, I loved Chancy’s evisceration of NGOs/international crisis response), and of the beauty of a people that so many ignore time and again.

Ugh. I want everyone to read this. Please do yourself a favor and if you haven’t already, add this to your list immediately! It’s easily one of the best books I’ve read this year. All the stars to this incredible book.

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natalieba's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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readwithjillandjune's review against another edition

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emotional 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

5.0

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marywahlmeierbracciano's review against another edition

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challenging sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

What Storm, What Thunder is a lyrical exploration of the disastrous 2010 earthquake in Haiti and the people it impacted most. Readers will hear from people who will emerge from the earthquake physically unscathed, from those who will lose their lives, and from those who will lose everything but: a queer sex worker, a wealthy expat businessman, an errand boy, a young female architect, an elderly market woman, and many more. Chancy provides unflinching depictions of camp life—and death—in the aftermath and shines light on the misguided recovery effort and shameful media coverage. This is a must-read.

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