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allabaranovsky's review against another edition
3.0
While I have to give Asne Seierstad credit for going into the Chechen war looking like a swimsuit model and coming out alive to write a book about it, I think she cuts a few corners by either imitating Anna Politkovskaya (the interview with Kadyrov jr, for instance, has quite a few questions borrowed from Politkovskaya's earlier interview with him) or concentrating on the minute cultural differences and thus sounding like a typical clueless westerner. The stories are, however, heart-wrenching, and the book is well put together. I bet it was a hit in Norway.
puglover's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Racism, and War
Minor: Genocide, Islamophobia, Torture, Murder, Mass/school shootings, and Hate crime
ella_hempstock777's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.75
witchhazelwoods's review against another edition
5.0
Incredible insight, this book really shows just how far hatred can consume people. A majority of the characters in this book are blinded by their own distrust and anger at everyone around them and they will never be "free" until they learn to let themselves heal.
lgwritermn's review against another edition
3.0
This was a little harder read for me. I didn't have the time that I have in the past to read it straight through, so maybe that is why. There were some parts that I zoned out. This book contains a lot of political background, which is good for the most part so the reader can understand the conflicts and history behind the war between Chechnya and Russia. Seierstad once again goes inside the lives of those affected by horrible atrocities between two ethnic groups.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review against another edition
4.0
I wish more American reporting was like this book. Yes, I know Seirstad is from Norway but I can wish.
This is a good luck at how war effects and affects society on a micro and macro level. The focus is a married couple who have taken in orphans, but Seierstad focuses on other families as well. This is actual more gripping than Bookseller of Kabul and quite is rather more brutal.
This is a good luck at how war effects and affects society on a micro and macro level. The focus is a married couple who have taken in orphans, but Seierstad focuses on other families as well. This is actual more gripping than Bookseller of Kabul and quite is rather more brutal.
maybelennlenn's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0