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uss_mary_shelley's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, and Excrement
dannythestreet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, and Sexism
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Self harm, Violence, Grief, and Pregnancy
agnela's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
fromlindenmere's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Vomit, Grief, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Colonisation, and Classism
caskraft's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, and Colonisation
Minor: Eating disorder, Infidelity, and Classism
now_booking's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The premise is that when Tambu loses her brother, who happens to be her nemesis, she inherits his opportunity to move in with their wealthy uncle to pursue her dream of an education and a better life for her family. But she finds that life isn’t as perfect as she believed in the household of her god-like uncle and aunt, and she finds that in the pursuit of her dreams, she may be losing her identity.
This was set up like it was going to be Tambu’s coming of age story, but it didn’t really deliver on that expectation. In the end, it was kind of a collection of incidents and events about family expectations, gender inequity and coloniality and the legacies of compromising oneself for the Western gaze in order to be successful enough to look after one’s family. Yet even though my expectation for a connected story about Tambu wasn’t met, and even though this was very “slice of life,” I think it articulated experiences that were very realistic and pertinent to a Zimbabwean and more broadly, African, experience. The character development was stellar, the scenes and reflections were on point, the scenarios and ways of thinking resonated. I could see the experiences of my own family, friends and neighbours in the grievances and hurts and expectations and hopes and responsibilities that lay in this book. I loved the complex family dynamics and the imperfect characters. If I’m removing one star, it’s because this did not feel entirely cohesive to me. I enjoyed the stories but I did feel it felt a little incomplete and “so what” at the end. It left me as a reader wondering what the author wanted to accomplish with this story which ended as abruptly as it started, kind of in the middle. The focus was very much on the themes and the characters demonstrating the themes, but there wasn’t really an overarching plot or a main story. I could enjoy the pieces of story and the slices of experience and these are themes I care about, so it worked for me. But I also felt like this wasn’t really anchored and it only worked for me because I liked older Tambu’s editorializing voice. The story wasn’t allowed to tell itself without older Tambu/the author’s voice inserting itself into my consciousness to make decisions on my feelings about the story for me. Indeed, my favourite character was the peripheral Aunty Lucia, whose boldness, wisdom, open sexuality and cunning made her engaging and powerful in a world where the women were subdued by nervous conditions. Specific to this edition, I thought it was a strange choice to include a spoiler-ridden introduction at the start of this book and I think that could spoil the book for people who are vehemently anti-spoiler.
My understanding is that this is the first book in a trilogy of books featuring Tambu which might explain why this felt so abrupt and somewhat incomplete. But I also felt like this didn’t end on a cliffhanger or with any express trigger to pick up the next book. That said, overall, I really liked the story and would like to see what older Tambu’s foreshadowing will lead to, so I plan to check out the other books in the series. I recommend.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, and Physical abuse
ruthmoog's review against another edition
5.0
I thought it was just brilliant.
Graphic: Eating disorder and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Pregnancy
lushani's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Eating disorder, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Racism, and Colonisation
Minor: Slavery, Excrement, and Pregnancy
sidekicksam's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Though the book was written 30 years ago, and the story takes place in the 60s, it did not read as such. I loved learning more about Rhodesian culture, and seeing how colonialism affected the colonized societies. Though not a lot happens in the story and the book is not necessarily fast-paced, I appreciated Dangarembga's ability to put the reader's mind to work.
The book made for excellent discussion material during the book club, and I loved hearing more about the various interpretations of the story. I also really appreciated this as an introduction to African literature, as this was (I believe) my first.
Would definitely recommend readers who enjoyed books like Betty or A Woman Is No Man. Though not exactly comparable, I experienced similar emotions while reading those books.
Graphic: Child death and Death
lara_bk's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Racism, Pregnancy, and Colonisation