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amarreth's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, and Classism
Moderate: Death of parent and Grief
Minor: Miscarriage, War, Infertility, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Child death, Domestic abuse, Violence, and Infidelity
The racism is mostly colorism, but that is not a tag. Additionally, the kidnapping is actually abduction of an adult minor character.amberinpieces's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Medical content, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, War, Cancer, Death of parent, Grief, Car accident, Body shaming, and Sexism
Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Bullying, Islamophobia, Toxic friendship, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Blood, Miscarriage, and Sexual content
mikaclapson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Colonisation, Body shaming, Miscarriage, War, and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Kidnapping, and Trafficking
just_one_more_paige's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
My 11th Aspen Words Literary Prize 2021 longlist read! I actually have had an earlier novel by Makumbi, Kintu, on my TBR for years. Having read this one first, due to my personal longlist challenge, I have to say that I am blown away by Makumbi’s work and am now planning to pick that one up much, much faster than my original timeline was making it look. (Especially since I think some of the stories in this novel, short tales passed from grandmother to granddaughter about the founding and history and mythology of Uganda, will be told in even greater depth throughout that book. And I am so excited about that prospect!)
When we meet Kirabo, she is a 13 year old girl living in a rural area of Uganda with her grandparents and just getting to the age where she’s beginning to ask questions about the mother she’s never met. Looking for answers, she reaches out to Nsuuta, the local witch, who teaches not only about the mother who isn’t yet ready to meet her, but about the history of women in the world, in their country, and encourages her to embrace the “wild” streak within her own self that harkens back to the first women. As years pass and Kirabo moves to the city to live with her father and attend school, she also begins to grapple with the ideas of mwenkanonkano (feminism) and what they mean to herself and the other women in her life, as they move through a world that does not allow the space for them to fully be, and the many different ways women choose to handle that.
There are a few major themes/aspects that are woven together to create this full story, including Kirabo’s personal journey, an exploration on the interactions and roles of women in society and within societal expectations, a history (both in myth and in fact, ancient and more recent) of the nation of Uganda and the intergenerational affects of that development on women, and a number of larger themes related to colonialism and privilege both internal and external to Uganda itself. The writing was perfect for the style of the story, a lush and lyrical in a longer-prose style, a medium-pace that pulled you along but also allowed you to linger in the sense of place that Makumbi created. There is also a story-telling flow to the writing that matched up perfectly with the emphasis of the importance of story-telling that runs as a theme through the novel from beginning to end.
A few other notes about parts of this novel that I really enjoyed. They don’t really go together with any real connection, so I’m just gong to bring them all together list style. It is what it is! There was a difficult but important emphasis on the damage of widespread internalized colonialism and patriarchy. It was so frustrating to read at times, when the reader was confronted with the ways that the roles women must play as mothers and wives and grandmothers cause them to lose or be forced to hide their selves. It was especially difficult to swallow when it turned would-be allies against each other, both in actuality (like Kirabo and her friend Giibwa) and as a farce because they felt like it was expected (like Grandmother and Nsuuta). And yet, there were so many wonderful moments that Kirabo shared with many different female mentors and friends that helped her learn and grow and push against/subvert those colonialist/patriarchal expectations, each in their own unique ways. I loved reading about the variety of inter-women dynamics and the ways the spirit of mwenkanonkano triumphed, both large and small, in Kirabo’s experiences. There was also some fantastic and insightful commentary on cycles of poverty/education, privilege and the compounding of intergenerational privilege, and the ways that all traditionally shows up, along with the exacerbations that come with Western “interventions” and “perspectives” (a mental transition that was presented in a few ways I hadn’t been exposed to before, which was fascinating and eye-opening. And finally, Kirabo was just such a compelling and recognizable character. Despite numerous surface different to our lives, there’s an underlying similarity growing up as a female that just really drew me to her, through her triumphs and mistakes and grief and joy.
This coming-of-age and coming-of-womanhood novel, steeped in the folklore and traditions and culture of Uganda, takes the reader on a sweeping journey of self-discovery and realization. And, honestly, Kirabo is just one of those special protagonists that captures a reader’s heart and you cannot help but hope and cheer for her at every turn. If this novel was a body of water, it would be a wide stream, with a subtle but persistent current that sweeps you with it slowly until you realize that you’ve been pulled right into the middle and aren’t strong enough to get back to the bank. What a lovely reading experience.
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism
abbie_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death of parent, and Grief