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A review by aforestofbooks
Kindling by Traci Chee
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I don't know how to collect my thoughts for this book. I was on the fence for so much of it, but by the end, it was like a curtain lifted off the stage and everything just fell into place and it fit and made sense and was done so well to the point that I don't think I'll ever forget this story.
I think the most difficult aspect of this book that took forever to get used to was the second-person narrative. It felt a little confusing at first because if I wasn't paying attention, I would forget which character pov I was reading. But eventually, once you meet all the characters, and start to get to know them, each pov has a very distinctive voice. As I read, I started to realize that the narrator was a kindling who had died and was watching over the characters, telling their story, and as I read more, it made more and more sense.
I think the parts I struggled with besides the second-person pov, was how so much of this book reminded me of Gaza. And like I've said with pretty much every book I've read in the last few months, I keep finding these connections and similarities, and sometimes it's hard for me to enjoy the story for what it is. In this book, however, I had some mixed feelings.
The kindlings are children with magical powers who were taken from their families and forced to become child soldiers to fight in the war, at the cost of their own lives. The two nations at war, Vedra and Amerand reminded me a lot of Palestine and Israel. Amerand wins and the Vedran royalty are exiled, and all my brain could think about was a hypothetical future of Israel winning, and Palestine not existing anymore. These kindlings who survived reminded me of IOF child soldiers, and the "trauma and ptsd" they experienced from killing civilians. It was difficult to digest. I don't know if the author was going for this comparison (probably not), but it's where my mind went.
There's a specific scene in this book, where one character remembers attacking their own village and killing civilians, and they come acrosstheir sister who has been shot through the chest with a handcannon , and all I could think about was Gaza. Later on, when this character is recounting what they remember doing, another character realizes that term used to describe what had happened as "friendly fire". That whole scene felt way too real.
But what especially made this book difficult was Emara's story.
Emara's nation, Chenyara, is taken over by Vedra, and she's taken by them to become a child soldier to fight Amerand. A lot of Emara's culture and heritage reminded me so much of Palestine, especially the textiles and shawls she was collecting and how each pattern and image told a story. Her need to find her family and learn more about her history and past felt so reminiscent of the Palestinian diaspora. But what really made me uncomfortable, was the hatred Leon had towards her. Emara was the "other", the "enemy", and Leon realizing she was more like the rest of them made her angrier because it made the whole war pointless if they were fighting people who were so similar.
A good chunk of this book, I was grappling with the fact that these child soldiers killed innocent people, but because they won, no one really cared about all those lives lost. Yet we see the trauma and ptsd these kids went through, being forced to do things they didn't want, being used as weapons, to be thrown away once spent. And unlike the zionists and IOF soldiers who relish in murdering Palestinians and espouse all the genocidal, ethnic cleansing rhetoric we've heard over the last few months, the same can't be said about the kids in this book (except for Leon maybe who does go through some character development). It did help me move past this and as things got closer to the end, the pacing picked up and things got so intense I was too engrossed in the story to think of anything else.
I do wish arcs came with maps because the final battle would have made a little more sense knowing where things were and who was where. But this battle was probably one of the most realistic battles I've read in YA. It was violent, bloody, heartbreaking, and painful. But it felt so real. A couple quotes especially brought me back to Gaza that I'll mention here:
<blockquote>"Starvation may not be violent, but it still results in death. And that won't be swift. It'll be slow and painful."</blockquote>
<blockquote>"All I have to do is kill enough of you, and you'll never recover."</blockquote>
<blockquote>"The invention of the handcannon changed everything for us, for the world, for you...Who could win against a bullet."</blockquote>
Like I said, this book is difficult to rate and review. I finished this book feeling somewhat in awe at what Traci Chee had done, but with the backdrop of what's happening in our world, this book felt very real and the comparisons to irl made it slightly confusing for my brain to figure out how I truly feel.
I think it is a book I might revisit in the future.
3.75/5 stars
I think the most difficult aspect of this book that took forever to get used to was the second-person narrative. It felt a little confusing at first because if I wasn't paying attention, I would forget which character pov I was reading. But eventually, once you meet all the characters, and start to get to know them, each pov has a very distinctive voice. As I read, I started to realize that the narrator was a kindling who had died and was watching over the characters, telling their story, and as I read more, it made more and more sense.
I think the parts I struggled with besides the second-person pov, was how so much of this book reminded me of Gaza. And like I've said with pretty much every book I've read in the last few months, I keep finding these connections and similarities, and sometimes it's hard for me to enjoy the story for what it is. In this book, however, I had some mixed feelings.
The kindlings are children with magical powers who were taken from their families and forced to become child soldiers to fight in the war, at the cost of their own lives. The two nations at war, Vedra and Amerand reminded me a lot of Palestine and Israel. Amerand wins and the Vedran royalty are exiled, and all my brain could think about was a hypothetical future of Israel winning, and Palestine not existing anymore. These kindlings who survived reminded me of IOF child soldiers, and the "trauma and ptsd" they experienced from killing civilians. It was difficult to digest. I don't know if the author was going for this comparison (probably not), but it's where my mind went.
There's a specific scene in this book, where one character remembers attacking their own village and killing civilians, and they come across
But what especially made this book difficult was Emara's story.
Emara's nation, Chenyara, is taken over by Vedra, and she's taken by them to become a child soldier to fight Amerand. A lot of Emara's culture and heritage reminded me so much of Palestine, especially the textiles and shawls she was collecting and how each pattern and image told a story. Her need to find her family and learn more about her history and past felt so reminiscent of the Palestinian diaspora. But what really made me uncomfortable, was the hatred Leon had towards her. Emara was the "other", the "enemy", and Leon realizing she was more like the rest of them made her angrier because it made the whole war pointless if they were fighting people who were so similar.
A good chunk of this book, I was grappling with the fact that these child soldiers killed innocent people, but because they won, no one really cared about all those lives lost. Yet we see the trauma and ptsd these kids went through, being forced to do things they didn't want, being used as weapons, to be thrown away once spent. And unlike the zionists and IOF soldiers who relish in murdering Palestinians and espouse all the genocidal, ethnic cleansing rhetoric we've heard over the last few months, the same can't be said about the kids in this book (except for Leon maybe who does go through some character development). It did help me move past this and as things got closer to the end, the pacing picked up and things got so intense I was too engrossed in the story to think of anything else.
I do wish arcs came with maps because the final battle would have made a little more sense knowing where things were and who was where. But this battle was probably one of the most realistic battles I've read in YA. It was violent, bloody, heartbreaking, and painful. But it felt so real. A couple quotes especially brought me back to Gaza that I'll mention here:
<blockquote>"Starvation may not be violent, but it still results in death. And that won't be swift. It'll be slow and painful."</blockquote>
<blockquote>"All I have to do is kill enough of you, and you'll never recover."</blockquote>
<blockquote>"The invention of the handcannon changed everything for us, for the world, for you...Who could win against a bullet."</blockquote>
Like I said, this book is difficult to rate and review. I finished this book feeling somewhat in awe at what Traci Chee had done, but with the backdrop of what's happening in our world, this book felt very real and the comparisons to irl made it slightly confusing for my brain to figure out how I truly feel.
I think it is a book I might revisit in the future.
3.75/5 stars