lindsayb 's review for:

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah

3.0

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I feel kind of horrible saying this because Beah's experiences were truly horrific and it is brave and heroic of him to tell his story, but the storytelling itself wasn't the strongest here. Very little of the story was spent describing his time in the army, which is understandable considering how traumatizing it was, but the subtitle of this book leads the reader to think there will be more of a discussion on this. Way too much time was spent on his roaming the countryside before his induction (abduction?) into the army, and it almost lost me completely. Beah's rehabilitation was touching, and I wouldn't have minded more reflection on his time in NYC (or when he moved there after his escape). Just overall, the story read unevenly.