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chi__'s review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Suicide, Violence, Grief, and War
Moderate: Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Medical trauma, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Hate crime, Torture, Islamophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and Deportation
bookswithlee's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
⭐️ Reading Across Africa Challenge ⭐️
This was the first book of my reading across Africa challenge this year and it did not disappoint. I went into this book completely blind. Not knowing anything about the content only that it was written by an Algerian author with a bit of a “thriller” feel. I loved basically everything about it and could not put it down!
This book follows our main character whose wife is a suicide bomber. He goes on a quest to try to understand why his middle class wife would abandon her life to participate in this type of “‘mission”.
In addition, through the story you learn not only about some political dynamics of the area, but also what motivates an individual to become a suicide bomber. This book offered a perspective that I had never thought about prior to reading this book
I also want to recognize that this is a work of fiction, so that much of what I read should be taken with that in mind. Not every book is meant to teach the reader something, but I truly felt as though I may have learned a bit more about another culture than what I knew going into this story.
I will be reading more from this author in the future
This was the first book of my reading across Africa challenge this year and it did not disappoint. I went into this book completely blind. Not knowing anything about the content only that it was written by an Algerian author with a bit of a “thriller” feel. I loved basically everything about it and could not put it down!
This book follows our main character whose wife is a suicide bomber. He goes on a quest to try to understand why his middle class wife would abandon her life to participate in this type of “‘mission”.
In addition, through the story you learn not only about some political dynamics of the area, but also what motivates an individual to become a suicide bomber. This book offered a perspective that I had never thought about prior to reading this book
I also want to recognize that this is a work of fiction, so that much of what I read should be taken with that in mind. Not every book is meant to teach the reader something, but I truly felt as though I may have learned a bit more about another culture than what I knew going into this story.
I will be reading more from this author in the future
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Islamophobia, Murder, and War
Moderate: Police brutality