A review by alittlegreyfish
The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya

5.0

Loved this. So interesting. A really intimate memoir where the author unpacks her childhood as a survivor of the Rwandan genocide and her process of adaption and culture shock when she moved to America and what it means to survive not only such horror but how it changes the lens in which you view everything around you and the relations with others. I did struggle at the beginning with the fact that it jumped back and forth between her time in Africa and her time in America (which was maybe more jarring b/c I did the audiobook). I LOVED the ending of the narration where the author herself speaks about the process of writing this memoir.

I also found the language beautiful.

"I’m excited for you to feel everything, every word. And for you to be aware that every word in this text matters, yes, and when you feel it, you feel which words that will heal, which words that hurt, and also which words that helps us evolve."