A review by withlivjones
Minor Detail by Adania Shibli, عدنية شبلي

dark sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Wow. This was a haunting read that hits particularly hard right now. I thought that the recurring motifs between the two halves of the novella were really clever. I also thought that the banal, almost clinical descriptions of both the horrifying things the Israeli soldiers do to the young girl in the first half and the injustices that the Palestinian woman and her peers have to endure in the second half really clearly revealed the horrors of the occupation. I’m still reeling from the ending - normally I’m not a huge fan of abrupt endings but it really does work well in a novella like this. Read this book. 
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