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A review by jenbsbooks
All the Glimmering Stars by Mark T. Sullivan
challenging
informative
sad
4.75
I ended up really liking this ... I wasn't sure at the start, it was a little hard to get into. Time and POV shifts (all third person). But I grew to care about the characters, learned a lot about a situation I'd heard of but didn't have much knowledge of. The author's notes at the end are essential to understanding, it was good they were included in the audio (sometimes they are not). This is part of KindleUnlimited, so I had the Kindle copy too, which I needed a bit to get a grasp of the setup. There were also some maps that were helpful.
This, while not classified as non-fiction, is based on real individuals and events. I'd read this author's "Beneath a Scarlet Sky" and everyone was treating it as a biography/non-fiction... that really bugged me, as it was so obviously fiction. All the dialog and exaggerated events. Here, I didn't realize this was so heavily based on a true story (yes, it says it right there in the blurb, but often I'll put something on my to-read, and then grab it later without looking into it at all, not really knowing what the book is about as I start up). Here, I think I might have liked to KNOW it going in, but then I wonder if I would have been more critical, as I was in Beneath a Scarlet Sky. I don't know for sure.
As mentioned, I struggled at the start. The chronological chapters had headings, but those weren't included in the table of contents (in fact, the Audible TOC and the Kindle TOC didn't line up, which was annoying, as I wanted to find my place between formats ... Audible was off by 2+ chapters, listing 50, when there are 45 in the Kindle copy.
Chapter 1: December 28, 1994 Korumush Barracks, Southern Sudan
Chapter 2: June 1987 Rwotobilo, Uganda
Chapter 3: September 1988 Amia'bil, Uganda
Chapter 4: May 1992 Rwotobilia, Uganda
Chapter 5: April 1993 Amia'bil, Uganda
When I'm listening to audio, and a date/location is said, it's usually too quick for me to really register it. How important is the date/location? Should I rewind and make sure I got it, should I write it down? Will there be a test? *Ü* ... but really, do I need to KNOW this? As this book starts up, it's a key scene from with an omniscient overview. Then, the time shifts back years earlier to introduce the two main characters ... Anthony and Florence. Starting when they are young, jumping forward a few years for each. The chapter didn't switch consistently, sometimes it would stay with Anthony for a few chapters before shifting back to Florence. In audio, there was a single narrator, which was fine, as it was 3rd person ... but I wished a little that the Florence sections were from a female narrator, just to make them more easily distinguished. Sometimes as I'd listen I'd get distracted and couldn't remember right off which storyline, Anthony or Florence, we were in. After a bit, we cross the scene from Chapter 1, this time from Anthony's POV. Later on still, Anthony and Florence are together in a single storyline.
Also as mentioned above - the Author's Note and the Afterword (here, it IS actually Anthony and Florence giving a first person interview) are SO essential, not to be skipped!
Content Concerns: No proFanity, but, while not explicit, there is sexual content/rape. A lot of violence (kidnapping/murder/torture) too.
It was interesting to think about the kidnapping of young girls, and forcing them to be "wives" ... I read Elizabeth Smart's My Story recently. How different that was viewed here in the US, one girl being taken, national news and so many searches. Florence was around the same age (a year younger) and kept in captivity much longer and not to make comparisons, but went through so much more in the midst of a war. Here, Florence was just one of so many children taken and forced to do horrible things. It was also interesting to note the "after" ... and in My Story, how I felt Elizabeth was explaining things, and how Florence was treated, and how Anthony was treated. Such a horrible situation!
After the rather rough start, and figuring out the shifts in time and POV, I really got involved in the story. The author's notes and afterword really brought it all home, making it so memorable.
This, while not classified as non-fiction, is based on real individuals and events. I'd read this author's "Beneath a Scarlet Sky" and everyone was treating it as a biography/non-fiction... that really bugged me, as it was so obviously fiction. All the dialog and exaggerated events. Here, I didn't realize this was so heavily based on a true story (yes, it says it right there in the blurb, but often I'll put something on my to-read, and then grab it later without looking into it at all, not really knowing what the book is about as I start up). Here, I think I might have liked to KNOW it going in, but then I wonder if I would have been more critical, as I was in Beneath a Scarlet Sky. I don't know for sure.
As mentioned, I struggled at the start. The chronological chapters had headings, but those weren't included in the table of contents (in fact, the Audible TOC and the Kindle TOC didn't line up, which was annoying, as I wanted to find my place between formats ... Audible was off by 2+ chapters, listing 50, when there are 45 in the Kindle copy.
Chapter 1: December 28, 1994 Korumush Barracks, Southern Sudan
Chapter 2: June 1987 Rwotobilo, Uganda
Chapter 3: September 1988 Amia'bil, Uganda
Chapter 4: May 1992 Rwotobilia, Uganda
Chapter 5: April 1993 Amia'bil, Uganda
When I'm listening to audio, and a date/location is said, it's usually too quick for me to really register it. How important is the date/location? Should I rewind and make sure I got it, should I write it down? Will there be a test? *Ü* ... but really, do I need to KNOW this? As this book starts up, it's a key scene from with an omniscient overview. Then, the time shifts back years earlier to introduce the two main characters ... Anthony and Florence. Starting when they are young, jumping forward a few years for each. The chapter didn't switch consistently, sometimes it would stay with Anthony for a few chapters before shifting back to Florence. In audio, there was a single narrator, which was fine, as it was 3rd person ... but I wished a little that the Florence sections were from a female narrator, just to make them more easily distinguished. Sometimes as I'd listen I'd get distracted and couldn't remember right off which storyline, Anthony or Florence, we were in. After a bit, we cross the scene from Chapter 1, this time from Anthony's POV. Later on still, Anthony and Florence are together in a single storyline.
Also as mentioned above - the Author's Note and the Afterword (here, it IS actually Anthony and Florence giving a first person interview) are SO essential, not to be skipped!
Content Concerns: No proFanity, but, while not explicit, there is sexual content/rape. A lot of violence (kidnapping/murder/torture) too.
It was interesting to think about the kidnapping of young girls, and forcing them to be "wives" ... I read Elizabeth Smart's My Story recently. How different that was viewed here in the US, one girl being taken, national news and so many searches. Florence was around the same age (a year younger) and kept in captivity much longer and not to make comparisons, but went through so much more in the midst of a war. Here, Florence was just one of so many children taken and forced to do horrible things. It was also interesting to note the "after" ... and in My Story, how I felt Elizabeth was explaining things, and how Florence was treated, and how Anthony was treated. Such a horrible situation!
After the rather rough start, and figuring out the shifts in time and POV, I really got involved in the story. The author's notes and afterword really brought it all home, making it so memorable.