Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Shadow King, by Maaza Mengiste

7 reviews

ragna_'s review

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

This is a treat to read, Mengiste writes evocative and compelling prose. Oftentimes, when authors make frequent use of metaphor and simile it tends to unnecessarily densen the prose in ways that don't aid the actual narrative. Mengiste, however, manages to find those images that immediately deepen the emotional and atmospheric contexts of the situations with a single line and brings the reader much closer to the characters and their interior world. Her characters are multifaceted, and while the Italians are obviously the villains, the Ethiopian protagonists aren't simply thoroughly gallant and enlightened heroes, but deeply flawed (Aster) and occasionally criminal (Kidane) people. It also highlights the immense and important contribution of women in the fight against colonialism, especially in Ethiopia.

Spoiler

I also like that there isn't a romance or even some grand moment of understanding and forgiveness between Ettore and Hirut. Their situations are different and while he was definitely oppressed he was still a part of the attempted subjugation of her home country.

It's a great read and I would highly recommend it.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Gun violence, Grief, Death of parent, Genocide, Sexual harassment, Antisemitism, Colonisation, and Death

athenaia's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

The book is very challenging to read but beautifully written. However it is also not a book that is for light reading. The topics that are discussed were sometimes hard to deal with and I would recommend anyone who wants to read it to do it slowly and stop if it is too much for one day. In my opinion the book is a fantastic litterary work even though I needed half a year to finish it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Blood, Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, and War

hardcoverhearts's review

adventurous challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Death, Grief, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Murder, and Forced institutionalization

sarrasegway's review

dark reflective sad slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Antisemitism, Child death, Confinement, Excrement, and Gun violence

tabitha_isabelle's review

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Violence

alicerossi's review

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.25

Wonderful prose. Describes a period of history and an episode of colonialism that is often overlooked from the perspective of women, which is often not represented in war.  A very important and very beautiful book. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Antisemitism, Genocide, Grief, Rape, and Sexual violence

boogsbooks's review

adventurous emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

The Shadow King tells the story of the unsung among the Ethiopian armies who fought the Italians during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War in the mid-1930s. It asks: What is home? What is honor? What is owed? It’s an intimate look of the pain and glory of war shared mostly through the eyes of Hirut, a servant girl turned soldier. Hirut works for and fights alongside Aster and her husband Kidane. Each character is a person who buries their grief, sadness, and shame in anger, ego, or false ownership. Infuriating and all the more compelling because of it.

A portion of the story is also told through the lens of Ettore, an Italian photographer who has no business being in war. Ettore’s story revolves around his father, where his father comes from, and how that defines him. While I was interested in the layer Ettore’s father added to the book, I felt as though Ettore was here simply to carry the novel’s focus on photography as storytelling. Excerpts throughout the book are told as descriptions of photos. This worked well but made me question the role of Ettore as a central character.

This was my final read of 2020 and it felt like such a fitting ending. It’s epic in all of its forms. It left me reflective, cheering for the underdog, acknowledging pain in repeated history, and finding hope in moving forward.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, and Xenophobia