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A review by susanatherly
War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi
3.0
If I break this down by parts:
Part 1 - *****
Part 2 - ****
Part 3 - **
Author's Notes - *****
This novel has important things to say. About child soldiers. About civil war's devastating impact on ordinary people. About the choices governments make after civil wars. About colonialism. About the Biafra/Nigerian Civil War. I consider it important enough that I think it should be read in high schools.
So why 3 stars? I have personal experience living through civil unrest. I have personal experience of not having a childhood and of being a child forced into an adult role too young. I am happy the author never went through that.
Most readers won't feel what is missing because he did his homework and knows people who experienced this first hand. It was probably the right choice to write a softer take on reality. Maybe knowing what is missing just made me sad.
That said, the story has lots of action and great characters, and while I won't be reading the sequel, you probably should.
Part 1 - *****
Part 2 - ****
Part 3 - **
Author's Notes - *****
This novel has important things to say. About child soldiers. About civil war's devastating impact on ordinary people. About the choices governments make after civil wars. About colonialism. About the Biafra/Nigerian Civil War. I consider it important enough that I think it should be read in high schools.
So why 3 stars? I have personal experience living through civil unrest. I have personal experience of not having a childhood and of being a child forced into an adult role too young. I am happy the author never went through that.
Most readers won't feel what is missing because he did his homework and knows people who experienced this first hand. It was probably the right choice to write a softer take on reality. Maybe knowing what is missing just made me sad.
That said, the story has lots of action and great characters, and while I won't be reading the sequel, you probably should.