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A review by jesseonyoutube
Let's Go Swimming on Doomsday by Natalie C. Anderson
5.0
Abdi is 13 when his older brother is kidnapped at school by a terrorist organization. 3 years later, Abdi is kidnapped and tortured for 3 days in a cell by the CIA, who give Abdi a mission: infiltrate Al-Shaabab and gather information on his brother, who is very much alive and now a terrorist leader.
If Abdi refuses, his entire family will be killed. He accepts the offer to go undercover as a soldier for Al-Shaabab, in hopes of rescuing his brother and securing passports for him and his family to leave Somalia and start a new life: But at what cost?
Review:
This book has the power to be as impactful as The Hate U Give. Critical elements such as suspense, pacing, plot, and character development were all 5 stars, despite occasional cliche dialogue. However, the story's true power lies in its meaningful themes:
~Moral ambiguity: What are you willing to do to save your family? Would you kill? Would you sacrifice yourself?
~ Mental health in Somali youth
~ Survivor guilt and redemption
~ Joy as a means of resistance and survival
I fell in love with the gorgeously written, but heavy one-liners, which contrasted the novel's traumatic events; it seemed impossible that such beautiful writing could contain such horror. Still, I have rarely been so immersed in a story or committed to its outcome. I loved the use of flashbacks to create a complete image of Abdi's past and present. Sometimes flashbacks create a disorganized narrative, but these fit seamlessly and were impecably placed. In fact, the flashbacks help you meet and fall in love with Abdi's vibrant family, to help you understand why he would do such unspeakable things to protect them.
It also created an incredible amount of suspense and tension. Abdi's narration voice is engrossing, even funny at times, despite that he is drowning from PTSD, like so many Somali kids who have grown up in a land ravaged by war. It was important to see life in a home where bombings are common; as Americans, we have had war visited upon our soil, but it has never once been a daily reality for us. The book also illustrates the consequences of war on girls, who always pay the ultimate price for male conquest.
For all of these reasons, I fell in love with this book. Abdi is an incredible character and represents so many misunderstood boys worldwide. My favorite theme was how black characters used spending time together as a way to reclaim their autonomy and heal from trauma - when you live under an oppressive regime, joy is a revolutionary act.
An important note: The author has spent 10 years working with the United Nations and with refugees, but this is still not an Own Voices novel. In an authors note, the author calls out that she writes from a white, western perspective, and recognizes she brings inherent biases into the novel. (The only time I felt she was writing with bias was when she described the practice of wearing Hijab. I disliked that the book harshly represented the practice of wearing hijab; it failed to include important reasons why some muslim women do choose to wear it) I found this note to be incredibly self aware and transparent.
I was highly anticipating this book, but completely unready for how incredibly it changed me.
Content warning: kidnapping, sexual assault, brainwashing, terrorism
Representations: Somali, PTSD, physical disabilities, muslim