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A review by raethereviewer
Let's Go Swimming on Doomsday by Natalie C. Anderson
5.0
The Good
You can tell this book is well researched. I had my doubts going into it considering the fact that it is written by a white women. In this day and age, we know the importance of #ownvoices in literature and I didn’t know if she knew that. That’s the very reason I never read Laurie Halse Anderson’s Chained series.
Natalie D. Anderson acknowledges this in her author’s note and I respect her for that. She’s actually worked very closely with refugees. This is a story that needs to be told and this may be the best way to get the message across. People who actually come from this kind of background rarely have a platform to share their story.
The character and plot development were both really well done. I enjoyed the way the story went back and forth between the past and present. Those kinds of stories can be tricky to do right. The pace of the transitions was great. The characters were quite nuanced, there was no character who was ever really “good” or “bad” (besides one.) We really get an understanding of the driving motives of each character.
I loved the writing style. I felt like I was really in Abdi’s head.
The Not so Good
I did piece together some of the events that were going to happen. I started to get on edge, anticipating but hoping it wouldn’t go in that direction. It felt like the author anticipated this and she threw in a couple things I wasn’t expecting.
All in All
Let’s Go Swimming on Doomsday was absolutely heartbreaking, yet chillingly real. This is the harsh reality for many Somali children, though not all of them are spies for America. It’s also a very entertaining, well-paced novel.
The research and attention to detail was super well done. I’m glad this novel crossed my path when it did. I’d been eyeing it at the bookstore, so getting this copy made me so happy.
Let’s Go Swimming on Doomsday is perfect for lovers of The Kite Runner. Man, that’s a book I need to reread.
You can tell this book is well researched. I had my doubts going into it considering the fact that it is written by a white women. In this day and age, we know the importance of #ownvoices in literature and I didn’t know if she knew that. That’s the very reason I never read Laurie Halse Anderson’s Chained series.
Natalie D. Anderson acknowledges this in her author’s note and I respect her for that. She’s actually worked very closely with refugees. This is a story that needs to be told and this may be the best way to get the message across. People who actually come from this kind of background rarely have a platform to share their story.
The character and plot development were both really well done. I enjoyed the way the story went back and forth between the past and present. Those kinds of stories can be tricky to do right. The pace of the transitions was great. The characters were quite nuanced, there was no character who was ever really “good” or “bad” (besides one.) We really get an understanding of the driving motives of each character.
I loved the writing style. I felt like I was really in Abdi’s head.
The Not so Good
I did piece together some of the events that were going to happen. I started to get on edge, anticipating but hoping it wouldn’t go in that direction. It felt like the author anticipated this and she threw in a couple things I wasn’t expecting.
All in All
Let’s Go Swimming on Doomsday was absolutely heartbreaking, yet chillingly real. This is the harsh reality for many Somali children, though not all of them are spies for America. It’s also a very entertaining, well-paced novel.
The research and attention to detail was super well done. I’m glad this novel crossed my path when it did. I’d been eyeing it at the bookstore, so getting this copy made me so happy.
Let’s Go Swimming on Doomsday is perfect for lovers of The Kite Runner. Man, that’s a book I need to reread.