jeukee 's review for:

Captain Ni'mat's Last Battle: A Novel by Mohamed Leftah

1.5

reflective sad

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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The extra .5 is because the writing isn’t bad, even with it being a translation. My biggest qualm is the passive (and active) moral justification of certain ideas that I felt incredibly uncomfortable about, chiefly the framing of a romantic and sexual relationship with a character repeatedly referred to as a“youth” “boy” and “young teenager” as this most pure love that’s serving to awaken an aging captain but condemned (and condemnable) only through the lens of the hypocritically conservative society the main character exists in. I was also hoping for more exploration of the current politics of the country, the psychology of the main char. and those around him (shallowly explored, despite having many pages dedicated to him), and the multiple MAJOR power imbalances going on, but it was quite surface level. Reads like a ‘dead dove don’t eat’ AO3 fanfic a lil’💀