aniek11's review against another edition
3.0
Op zich een mooi verhaal, maar ik had meer dan eens moeite om er doorheen te komen, en waar je in eerste instantie denkt dat het boek vanuit Mathildes viewpoint is blijkt later dat het meer een alwetende verteller is die ieders gedachte laat zien. Dit maakte het soms wat verwarrend. Het schijnt boek 1 uit een serie te zijn maar het heeft onvoldoende voor mij gedaan om boek 2 te gaan lezen.
mollag's review against another edition
Not engaged. Could be wrong book at the wrong time.
jwallis55's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-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
4.25
anaispmvr's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
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? No
3.5
angela_sofia_ferreira's review against another edition
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
paulamarie1468's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
ptdrv's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
4.25
m00dreads's review against another edition
emotional
tense
slow-paced
- 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
4.5
Overall, this book felt like an exercise in empathy and depth of human understanding, anchored to a core of solid storytelling. The tone is deliberately non-partisan, but not in the manner of centrists with their tawdry, my-parents-didn’t-give-me-enough-attention brand of so-called sociopolitcal omniscience, no. Its judiciousness stems from an intimate knowledge of being born in the margins, in the knotted intersections of subjugation and privilege. It refuses to reduce matters into singular verdicts, into a mere bang of gavel on wood.
How must a woman imbued with modernist Western ideals of female liberation carve a name for herself without superimposing upon the culture of her adopted home? How might a man, on one end bound by duty, tradition, and patriotic honor, and on the other, romanced by pride and a well-meaning desire to care for his family, reconcile his own feelings of incongruence?
Most importantly, where must one draw the line between accountability and cultural relativism? Slimani doesn’t give us the satisfaction of answers; rather, it grants us something infinitely more invaluable: the discomfort of questions.
Mathilde and Amine’s relationship, along with its implications on the people around them, is a diorama not just of Morocco’s sociopolitical landscape in the 1950’s, but of the many different forms that the struggle for emancipation can take. Each character is lost in one way or another, trapped in a diaspora beyond the literal; each trying their best to thrive in the soil they’ve been transplanted into, whether by choice or by force. For that, there could not be a more apt title In The Country of Others.
How must a woman imbued with modernist Western ideals of female liberation carve a name for herself without superimposing upon the culture of her adopted home? How might a man, on one end bound by duty, tradition, and patriotic honor, and on the other, romanced by pride and a well-meaning desire to care for his family, reconcile his own feelings of incongruence?
Most importantly, where must one draw the line between accountability and cultural relativism? Slimani doesn’t give us the satisfaction of answers; rather, it grants us something infinitely more invaluable: the discomfort of questions.
Mathilde and Amine’s relationship, along with its implications on the people around them, is a diorama not just of Morocco’s sociopolitical landscape in the 1950’s, but of the many different forms that the struggle for emancipation can take. Each character is lost in one way or another, trapped in a diaspora beyond the literal; each trying their best to thrive in the soil they’ve been transplanted into, whether by choice or by force. For that, there could not be a more apt title In The Country of Others.
ferouz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
gemblacol's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Violence