Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Half of a Yellow Sun

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

37 reviews

nanc_282's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Using different narrators, the story recounts the experience of people living through the rise and collapse of the state of Biafra in the 1960s. It is educative about the ideals that led to the formation of the state and harrowing in the account of how the subsequent war effected their lives. Powerful and well-written it offers insights into the experience of conflict through different eyes.

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hannah_lou's review against another edition

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emotional 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? Yes

4.5

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dianakamau's review

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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foxo_cube's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

I loved this book!

I will start of by saying I know very little about the Nigerian civil war - this was my first time reading about it at all, but I am grateful that the author included a list of books she used as reference material because I am interested in reading non-fiction on the topic now.

The characters within this were, I think, brilliantly crafted. They were introduced, typically, with a basic set of traits, but develop into people who feel real: people with idiosyncracies, and prejudices they trip themselves up on, and fallibility. There are no wholly good or bad people, and the feelings characters have towards each other are often complex.

The interaction between small-scale, interpersonal drama and traumas and the big-scale social tensions is very well-balanced, I felt, and the responses to the horrors of the war (and pre-war massacres) shown by the characters feel thought-out.

The ending felt almost anti-climactic, I will say, but then I suppose that's pretty realistic too, isn't it?

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darcyparcy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book is an absolute whirlwind. Complicated, morally grey characters, the backdrop of war and genocide, the constant flurry of emotions. I really, really enjoyed it, and it shed so much light on a dark piece of history that the western world prefers to ignore. Adichie's beautiful writing is a plus as well

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kellyofcali's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I was lent this book, and I'm so happy because I loved it! While fiction, it was set amidst the Nigerian Civil War, which I did not know much about, an encouraged me to explore that history. On top of that, the wonderful, strong characters and their interpersonal story was gripping, sad, and real. Highly recommend!

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saravsw's review against another edition

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challenging sad slow-paced

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

1.75

Maybe I’m missing something or I don’t know enough about Nigerian history to understand the significance of these characters. I don’t understand how such boring and insufferable characters are meant to make me care about what is happening to them. This is awful because it is about real events that affected real Nigerian people. I understand making flawed and realistic characters but I couldn’t find anything to like about them and I didn’t know enough about them to care.
Another problem I have, which is a personal thing and may not bother other readers, is the amount of sex. I have no problem reading about sex but if that is the only way that couples interact in the novel then I have a problem because then why should I care if

Odenigbo cheats

if his and Olanna’s relationship seems to be purely based on lust? To me this book seemed like annoying, insanely horny characters using a real tragedy as a backdrop. It was so difficult to get through.

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