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kylieqrada's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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
4.0
When thinking about my rating for this book, I discovered that it seems to be very polarizing. The narrative style and timeline was very intriguing to some while being incredibly off-putting to others. I align myself firmly with the former camp, and wholeheartedly enjoyed this book in almost all ways. The treatment of the children of the village as a character in and of themselves was novel and arresting, and the nonlinear timeline and multiple narrators being drawn from one family only enhanced my enjoyment. I would have given it a 4.5 ⭐s, actually, except for a confusing, and admittedly very subtle, discussion of homosexuality that, in my opinion, was not ever reconciled or handled in any satisfying way. I was in fact reading others' reviews to see if anyone else had been put off by this thread in the story, but didn't see anyone else discussing it. I will be interested to see Own Voices reactions to this book in that regard. I finally settled on 4 ⭐s for my rating, docking 1/2 a star for this element.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Slavery