naomidanae 's review for:

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

4.0

challenging reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I wasn't sure what to expect from this book since I've only read Adichie's nonfiction, but there's so much here to unpack. There's this unsettling current of discomfort from the first few pages with the narrator's father, and you pretty immediately know that something is wrong. But it takes time to uncover what that wrongness is centered on exactly. Seeing post-colonial Nigeria through this lens is really helpful for someone who doesn't know much about Nigeria on the whole. 

Some Quotes: 

“We did that often, asking each other questions whose answers we already knew. Perhaps it was so that we would not ask the other questions, the ones whose answers we did not want to know.” 

“I was familiar with fear, yet each time I felt it, it was never the same as the other times, as though it came in different flavors and colors.” 

“When do we speak out, eh? When soldiers are appointed lecturers and students attend lectures with guns to their heads? When do we speak out?”