Take a photo of a barcode or cover
pandagirlmb 's review for:
Prophet Song
by Paul Lynch
challenging
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I like this book in a vacuum, I think.
It is very well-written and it is a moving story of how someone can get stuck in a violent war zone even when she had opportunities to leave. However, this book is clearly pulling from actual conflicts that have happened and the ending made it clear that it was pulling specifically from the experiences of refugees from places like Syria. And there is something offensive about setting a story pulling from those experiences but setting it in a country where supposedly it would be imaginable (particularly a country like Ireland which has its own history of sectarian violence).
It feels intellectually lazy as it divorces why the Syrian civil war started and what led to the refugee crisis from the violence that occurs in this book, which dilutes the possible power of telling this kind of story but making it an "every man" kind of story as if that's the only way the reader can relate to a character caught in the middle of a civil war.
It is very well-written and it is a moving story of how someone can get stuck in a violent war zone even when she had opportunities to leave. However, this book is clearly pulling from actual conflicts that have happened and the ending made it clear that it was pulling specifically from the experiences of refugees from places like Syria. And there is something offensive about setting a story pulling from those experiences but setting it in a country where supposedly it would be imaginable (particularly a country like Ireland which has its own history of sectarian violence).
It feels intellectually lazy as it divorces why the Syrian civil war started and what led to the refugee crisis from the violence that occurs in this book, which dilutes the possible power of telling this kind of story but making it an "every man" kind of story as if that's the only way the reader can relate to a character caught in the middle of a civil war.