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megelizabeth's review
2.0
This was beautifully written and very moving, with a really vivid sense of place and time. Important topics were explored, sometimes well, and it did a good job of highlighting gender inequality and female oppression. However, it read entirely like fiction and there was no indication at all of what research the author did and how they got their information, which frustrated the fuck out of me. The narrative was very repetitive and it took so long to get to things that are literally mentioned in the blurb, and I also found the ending confusing.
Finally and most importantly, for much of the book I felt a lot of empathy for Samira/Samir (it was never quite clear which way, if either, they ended up identifying), but something happened towards the end that was very vague but seemed to be suggesting rape, and that's just obviously something that cannot be condoned in any way. To not properly explain or explore what happened was irresponsible on the part of the author, and if they had written things in another way and explained their actual research process things could have been different, but I was just left so annoyed and unsatisfied. I'm still interested in the genuine story of Samira/Samir and what it tells us about Afghan history and culture, but this book failed in that aim in my opinion.
Finally and most importantly, for much of the book I felt a lot of empathy for Samira/Samir (it was never quite clear which way, if either, they ended up identifying), but something happened towards the end that was very vague but seemed to be suggesting rape, and that's just obviously something that cannot be condoned in any way. To not properly explain or explore what happened was irresponsible on the part of the author, and if they had written things in another way and explained their actual research process things could have been different, but I was just left so annoyed and unsatisfied. I'm still interested in the genuine story of Samira/Samir and what it tells us about Afghan history and culture, but this book failed in that aim in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Violence, Misogyny, and Animal death
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