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A review by mitskacir
Evil Eye by Etaf Rum
3.0
Read this for a book club and might update again once we have our discussion.
Pros: I was very absorbed by this book and read it any chance I got. The story was compelling and the tension was very real - I did not have a pleasant experience reading this book (a testament to the author's ability, not in a bad way), which is maybe why I tried reading it so fast; I really wanted Yara to break free and achieve her dreams.
Cons: While the book has a lot of very important things to say about racism, sexism, trauma, displacement, etc. I felt a bit beaten over the head with it. They book said a lot of things I've heard before in a way that wasn't particularly unique or new. I think it said everything very effectively, and like I said the writing really made me feel Yara's emotions alongside her, but there was something that also slightly bored me that I can't quite articulate. Maybe it felt a bit too didactic, as if the author didn't trust the reader to understand it without it being explained explicitly. In this way, it felt more like I was reading a YA novel than adult literary fiction.
Pros: I was very absorbed by this book and read it any chance I got. The story was compelling and the tension was very real - I did not have a pleasant experience reading this book (a testament to the author's ability, not in a bad way), which is maybe why I tried reading it so fast; I really wanted Yara to break free and achieve her dreams.
Cons: While the book has a lot of very important things to say about racism, sexism, trauma, displacement, etc. I felt a bit beaten over the head with it. They book said a lot of things I've heard before in a way that wasn't particularly unique or new. I think it said everything very effectively, and like I said the writing really made me feel Yara's emotions alongside her, but there was something that also slightly bored me that I can't quite articulate. Maybe it felt a bit too didactic, as if the author didn't trust the reader to understand it without it being explained explicitly. In this way, it felt more like I was reading a YA novel than adult literary fiction.