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A review by aayjaysbookshelf
The Runaways by Fatima Bhutto
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I started this book with high expectations and it didn't come through at all. While the start was promising, with Karachi's bustling landscape in the background interchanging with Portsmouth's(UK) bland one as the story shifted from one character to another, the novel soon delved into confusion after confusion as it struggled to keep up with the irony of its rapidly changing storyline and extremely slow paced plot.
The Runaways is a story of 3 young people, 2 from Karachi (though of vastly different backgrounds) and 1 from UK, supposedly on a quest to 'find themselves' and exploring their identity. The writer sure does a nice job at attempting to explain the identity crises, the social differences and its consequences, and the fatal grip of needing peer approval/validation, and the story would have turned out fine with just these elements. But when it delved into topics like Islamic extremism, jihad, LGBT, the complexities of which demanded a solid plotline and well crafted characters to make the tale gripping and understandable, the writer failed miserably at this. There was no plot, no storyline, no character development, everything barely touched even the surface and left me more frustrated than before. It felt like putting in a bunch of complex topics together and blending them in a juicer mixer, instead of handpicking each ingredient carefully and deciding intentionally which to put in what amount. The plot was painfully slow when the characters reached Iraq, and felt like 60% of the book was spent just travelling through the barren desert. I kept waiting for it to unfold in a way which was explainable, for an end that would tie the pieces together and present a complete puzzle, but none of that came. There was no climax either, all too bland and predictable. And how EXACTLY the characters were transported from their own cities to Iraq remained an (unneeded) mystery, too, except for Sunny maybe.
And might I add, this novel felt like just another brown writer's attempt at west-washing the jihad narrative for appeasing the Western audience. The radicalization concept needed far deeper context for it be believable than explored in the book. But it wasn't still as disappointing as the sheer lack of a good novel writing. It felt like I kept waiting for a climax, an explanation that never was to come anyway. Very disappointing.
Giving it 2 stars rating - 1 for the mention of Karachi and the familiarity of its areas, and 1 for the author's attempt at explaining the identity crises and its background. Other than that, not a good read at all.
The Runaways is a story of 3 young people, 2 from Karachi (though of vastly different backgrounds) and 1 from UK, supposedly on a quest to 'find themselves' and exploring their identity. The writer sure does a nice job at attempting to explain the identity crises, the social differences and its consequences, and the fatal grip of needing peer approval/validation, and the story would have turned out fine with just these elements. But when it delved into topics like Islamic extremism, jihad, LGBT, the complexities of which demanded a solid plotline and well crafted characters to make the tale gripping and understandable, the writer failed miserably at this. There was no plot, no storyline, no character development, everything barely touched even the surface and left me more frustrated than before. It felt like putting in a bunch of complex topics together and blending them in a juicer mixer, instead of handpicking each ingredient carefully and deciding intentionally which to put in what amount. The plot was painfully slow when the characters reached Iraq, and felt like 60% of the book was spent just travelling through the barren desert. I kept waiting for it to unfold in a way which was explainable, for an end that would tie the pieces together and present a complete puzzle, but none of that came. There was no climax either, all too bland and predictable. And how EXACTLY the characters were transported from their own cities to Iraq remained an (unneeded) mystery, too, except for Sunny maybe.
And might I add, this novel felt like just another brown writer's attempt at west-washing the jihad narrative for appeasing the Western audience. The radicalization concept needed far deeper context for it be believable than explored in the book. But it wasn't still as disappointing as the sheer lack of a good novel writing. It felt like I kept waiting for a climax, an explanation that never was to come anyway. Very disappointing.
Giving it 2 stars rating - 1 for the mention of Karachi and the familiarity of its areas, and 1 for the author's attempt at explaining the identity crises and its background. Other than that, not a good read at all.