A review by onefineelephant
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

7/10. I think this book does a very good job of exploring children's emotions and experiences during times of crisis. However, because of the intense trauma the main character and her family face throughout the book, I'm not sure I would recommend this book to anyone under 13.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Deportation, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, and Religious bigotry

There is near death of a child and the main character is coping with the death of her mother, though we do not have detail of her death and it was in the past.