Reviews with content warning for Slavery - Riambel

Reviews tagging 'Slavery'

Riambel by Priya Hein

8 reviews

cerysvy's review

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emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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jayisreading's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

A powerful novel from Priya Hein, Riambel is a contemplation on the legacies of slavery and colonization on Mauritius from the perspective of Noemi, a teenage girl who is also a native to the island. The story is told in a rather simplistic and straightforward fashion with very occasional touches of lyricism. I didn’t see this as a bad thing by any means, and, in fact, I thought it worked rather well, considering that the story is narrated primarily by a teenager. Furthermore, the chapters read like interconnected vignettes that I found effective in getting Hein’s ideas across.

I was impressed by how well Hein captured the complexities of Mauritius in such a short book. She reveled in the beauty of the land and its natives, with simple yet expressive imagery. At the same time, though, she reflected on the dark history of the island nation primarily through Noemi’s experiences, with written snippets of an enslaved woman from the past interspersed between chapters. This approach was really effective in how Hein wanted to demonstrate how the past haunts the present, while leaving the future open-ended.

Riambel was a quick read, but definitely an impactful one. Like many other short fictional works, there’s a desire for more. Overall, though, I think the sparseness of this book worked in Hein’s favor to get her points across.

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booksillremember's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

A haunting read, it feels like a mix of a dream-like state and a teenager's diary. It's comprised of 67 very short slice-of-life vignettes, poems, songs, and recipes. I found the creole language fascinating (Morisyen), and if you speak French, you will probably enjoy deciphering some of the phrases. There are some really powerful passages, but overall I just couldn't really get into the writing style, a lot of the metaphors and imagery just feel like 'exotic' clichés to me and what should be the most powerful phrases often feel like instagram poetry. But I guess that is how a teenage girl might express herself, so in a way it's quite fitting. I would also have liked a deeper exploration of the different characters. Don't get me wrong though, this book was absolutely worth my time!

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