A review by carls_d
At Night All Blood is Black by David Diop

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

God's truth, the story takes place amidst the harsh conditions of World War I trenches, featuring Alfa Ndiaye, a black Senegalese soldier serving in a French army division known as the "Chocolate" army. Unable to bring himself to end the suffering of his critically wounded friend Mademba, Alfa spirals into madness and starts brutally murder his enemies in gruesome ways. As a grim token, he takes one of their severed hands as a trophy after each deadly act.

I would glue myself to Mademba so the bullet that killed him would kill me, or the bullet that missed him would miss me.

The story is terrifying, gruesome, violent, graphic and repetitive. The last part went a bit of the rails and was more confusing and this downgraded my rating.
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