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A review by alyssabookrecs
Incendiary by Chris Cleave
4.0
From July 2016:
Incendiary by Chris Cleave is both an entrancing and horrifying novel. Entrancing in the epistolary voice of the British narrator to Osama Bin Laden but horrifying in the violence presented in this book--terrorist attacks, lack of good mental health care, social class struggles, and the constant existential question throughout the book: who are we, really, in the Western world? One particularly great thing about this novel is the fact that the narrator does not blame all Muslims for the explosion that kills her husband and her son (or "her boy"): she only blames Osama, and in her letter to him she talks about clear instances where she is given kindness by Muslim people, despite the judgment of London toward them in the novel. The ending was gut-wrenching, and I couldnt put it down. The complexity in human nature shown in this novel is legitimately a roller coaster. I highly, highly recommend this read.
Incendiary by Chris Cleave is both an entrancing and horrifying novel. Entrancing in the epistolary voice of the British narrator to Osama Bin Laden but horrifying in the violence presented in this book--terrorist attacks, lack of good mental health care, social class struggles, and the constant existential question throughout the book: who are we, really, in the Western world? One particularly great thing about this novel is the fact that the narrator does not blame all Muslims for the explosion that kills her husband and her son (or "her boy"): she only blames Osama, and in her letter to him she talks about clear instances where she is given kindness by Muslim people, despite the judgment of London toward them in the novel. The ending was gut-wrenching, and I couldnt put it down. The complexity in human nature shown in this novel is legitimately a roller coaster. I highly, highly recommend this read.