Reviews

The Havoc of Choice by Wanjiru Koinange

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196books's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-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? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

nabwirae's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Written from true events, the writing is remarkable, and eye opening.

ciikum's review against another edition

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5.0

The first chapter of this book had me hooked. The prose was really good and kept me reading all thru, at 72% I almost didn’t sleep since I needed to know how it would end.

I felt transported back to 2007 just before elections and immediately after vividly. Queueing in supermarkets for supplies, running from police with teargas. The fear and horror of what was happening, not knowing if all your relatives were ok. Wanjiru was able to capture diverse feelings of different people. I need to discuss this book....

The book goes thru the horrors of that election thru the family of the Ngugi’s together with their staff and families. She manages to weave both what a majority and a few minority must have felt at that time. It’s a well told story that will make both Kenyans (we have a short memory) and non Kenyans want to google to know who is being inferred to by the various characters.

I loved the choice of title “havoc of choice” all our choices can sometimes lead us to a place where we blame ourselves for the havoc that’s running amok in our lives. If we could see a week into the what our choices could lead to, would we make different choices? Esp in moments that are crucibles in our lives.

4.5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️