A review by kellyncorrado
The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya

3.0

I wanted to like this more than I did. The importance of this story being told is so critical; the genocide is something that I was very removed from, both as it was happening and even as an adult. I remember the first I even became aware of it was when the movie Hotel Rwanda came out when I was in high school. But even after that, it didn't feel like something that was discussed enough, at least in my household (and shame on me for not doing my own homework). Despite the horrific events that Clementine experienced, the prose didn't do it for me. It sometimes felt disconnected and randomly jumpy. Sometimes I would get really invested in a particular storyline or thought she was developing and then it would cut. I don't know... so much to unpack here but ultimately it left me a little underwhelmed.