drkew 's review for:

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

3.0

---

I thought the first half of the book was quite lovely, if somewhat sad, because of the very real hardships Darling's family and community faced "After." When the protagonist traveled to the US the novel changed dramatically. One would expect the character to change once she was transplanted to another place but I felt as though the tone, feel of the novel itself changed. I can't really explain it other than to say that the second half of the novel was less lyrical and lovely and more common and what I would expect to find in any so so novel about American youth.