Reviews with content warning for Sexual violence - Ragazza

Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Ragazza by Edna O'Brien

21 reviews

tyras_bookshelf's review against another edition

This book is obviously very dark and traumatizing as it deals with real life trauma, even if it’s fictionalized. It was really hard to read due to the explicit horror of what happened to these girls. I picked it up to try something new and learn about something I have little knowledge on but I just couldn’t stomach it.

Perhaps it was even a little gratuitous in the author’s description since she (seemingly) has no connection to the real people this happened to. Im making some assumptions without research so there’s that but I found it interesting and potentially problematic that this Irish author is writing Nigerian fictional stories. Race shouldn’t limit what stories you tell but something about it sets me on edge just a bit. Idk, it’s complicated.

And according to some other reviews, O’Brien traveled to Nigeria to interview women and girls victimized by Boca Haram and so there is critique about why she didn’t just do an autobiography or something more factual and I think that’s what I’m getting at to. For this to have been a reality of some many girls, it felt so much like O’Brien was hamming it up to give us this gorey, fantastical story—she could have just given us the unfiltered truth. Or maybe I’m missing the point—it was a gorey and unbelievable thing that occurred but something about this book was just off for me.

Anyway, maybe I’ll try again with this one but also most likely not.

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fiona_claffey_kelly's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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emmavardy2's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

An important story about the kidnapping of Nigerian school girls by Boko Haram. Told from perspective of main character Maryam. It's a tough read but so well written and such an important topic. Some have criticised this book being written by an older, Irish, white lady. However Edna O'brien did huge amounts of research for the book, writes sensitively and brings these events to a wider audience. So for me this isn't a negative.

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tinisabelle's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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robkil96's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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bookaholics_anonymous's review against another edition

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Really didn't like the writing style

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hollybearhouck's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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citrusboombox's review against another edition

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Really visceral depictions of SA, too much for me

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laney_reads_22's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

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

1.0

I was expecting this story to be emotional, one of triumph and perseverance but the writing was so dull, I felt nothing. Very disappointed, I found myself rushing through the last few chapters to get it over with.

Following her kidnap, school girl Maryam is taken, along with her female classmates to a war camp where they serve as "bush wives" to the extremists waging war over Nigeria. Horrifically abused and subject to religious conversation therapy, Maryam is married to a soldier and falls pregnant. Shortly after giving birth to her daughter, the camp falls under attack by the military and Maryam escapes with her baby and friend. A large section of the book is then dedicated to their journey, before she returns home to find that her father and brother are dead and her mother is shamed by her. All of this should make for a heart wrenching read but some of the most important moments are almost skipped over! Particularly one scene, where the friend she escapes with dies and under extreme hunger and not having seen any other people for weeks, she decides to leave her baby to drown (although seemingly there was no water anywhere as it consistently mentions their thirst???). Literally in the next sentence, the baby is returned to her by some random nomads. The whole thing was utterly bizarre.

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thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.5

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