lisagray68's review against another edition
4.0
A great short book - wonderful for a flight or day at the beach. This book reminds me a LOT of Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Same sort of situation - a coup in a nameless country and people held hostage. This one is told from the perspective of three men close to the president - the barber, the chef and the portraitist. Then, in the middle of the book, the perspective shifts to that of three women also close to these men, and the President. Wonderful, I'm going to look for more from this author!
singh_reads_kanwar2's review against another edition
4.0
Review: The story is about a unknown fallen empire, whose president got killed and all the power goes into the hand of army, who take the barber, chef and portraitist, under them , portraitist who enjoying his life with his wife but world turn upside down as they are taken away with new coup , who takes women's with them for party and they are treated, and all the passionate stories they told to there mens, once barber got a chance to kill the coup leader as he come to shop for beard trimming but, nothing happens because of his thoughts what would happen latter, later chef made an attempt and was a successful attempt , novel end at abrupt note of action.
However, the abalone death scene repeats itself several times, which from my point of view make the novel somewhat bit boring for reader.
Fascinating fiction presented by several people whose lives intertwine before, during, and after a coup in a unnamed country. It's hard to imagine a book about a political coup being sensual, exotic, beautiful and terrifying at the same time, but that is just what this book is.
crankylibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
Dovey, a white South African woman, convincingly writes in the voices of 3 African men, all connected by a revolutionary coup as they relate their intertwined stories. Sometimes allies, sometimes, bitter enemies, the blended narratives reveal a network of relationships and betrayals. A fascinating novel deserving of a wider audience.
toastx2's review against another edition
4.0
Blood Kin, written by Ceridwen Dovey, was a big surprise. It was given to me in a big bag o’books by my friend Janneke. The bag was so full of possible reads that I didnt know I had it in my posession until earlier this summer. When it did come to my attention, I escalated it up my list of “to be read” books. Not reading the back cover, I was first drawn in by the authors name, very beautiful. The cover was well put together and designed nicely
Clocking in at 183 pages, it didnt take long to get through the story and was a nice break from a series I was in the middle of.
I am unsure where the book takes place. It could be in a South American country, or deep in an unknown country in eastern Europe. However, I did get a very “Cuba” feel from the story. The name of the country was either never mentioned, or I was completely oblivious, both are possible scenarios
Dovey’s book is broken into 3 segments. Segment one is a series of chapters focusing around three men, each are personally associated with the president of the country. The president, however is no longer in power.
The leader of a revolution has captured and is holding the presidents barber, cook, and portraitist at a remote palatial estate. They are not allowed to move freely and are being held for a variety of reasons. The most potent being that each of them had opportunity to kill the supposed corrupt president and did not. the second being that they may have knowledge that could be useful, the third, that they are all very good at what they do.
I was very impressed with this book. not knowing anything about it at the time of reading, I was caught off guard by the solid characters and the depth of the plot line. This seems almost too clinical a way to describe this story.
Less clinical: Blood Kin left my jaw agape, my soul a bit angry and chaffed, and my brain.. definitely stunned.
I highly recommend this book
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xpost RawBlurb.com
Clocking in at 183 pages, it didnt take long to get through the story and was a nice break from a series I was in the middle of.
I am unsure where the book takes place. It could be in a South American country, or deep in an unknown country in eastern Europe. However, I did get a very “Cuba” feel from the story. The name of the country was either never mentioned, or I was completely oblivious, both are possible scenarios
Dovey’s book is broken into 3 segments. Segment one is a series of chapters focusing around three men, each are personally associated with the president of the country. The president, however is no longer in power.
The leader of a revolution has captured and is holding the presidents barber, cook, and portraitist at a remote palatial estate. They are not allowed to move freely and are being held for a variety of reasons. The most potent being that each of them had opportunity to kill the supposed corrupt president and did not. the second being that they may have knowledge that could be useful, the third, that they are all very good at what they do.
I was very impressed with this book. not knowing anything about it at the time of reading, I was caught off guard by the solid characters and the depth of the plot line. This seems almost too clinical a way to describe this story.
Less clinical: Blood Kin left my jaw agape, my soul a bit angry and chaffed, and my brain.. definitely stunned.
I highly recommend this book
--
xpost RawBlurb.com
msjenne's review against another edition
3.0
A weird, creepy little book.
I won't say what it's about, because for me the best part was discovering that.
Afterwards, it wasn't as interesting.
I won't say what it's about, because for me the best part was discovering that.
Afterwards, it wasn't as interesting.
aturtlesnestbookreviews's review
3.0
Maybe I am missing something in this book. I see all these reviews from Vogue, New York Times Book Reviews, etc., and I must say I just do not see it. I would never discourage anyone from reading in any of my reviews, and I don't in this one. But to me this book just seemed to be a collection of people with horrible habits and secrets.
tsutrav's review
3.0
For a freshman effort, this is a good book. The story kicks off as a dictator, of some unnamed country, is overthrown and locked up for his alleged tyrannical reign. But when the freedom fighters nab him, they also take the dictator's chef, barber and portraitist hostage. The entire story shifts between their memories and viewpoints and they, like everyone else in the book, are never given names. We only know them by their relationships to each other.
The first half (of this short read) is great! Lots of insight into the human side and vanity of the dictator as seen through his closest servants. But, then the second degree of people begin to share their viewpoints. As short as the book is, we never get to enjoy them as much as we do the chef, barber and portraitist. It really feels like they get peppered in towards the end to help wrap up the plot in two or three quick twists all done in a six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon sorta way.
But I really enjoyed the first part of the book and I'm looking forward to the author's next book.
The first half (of this short read) is great! Lots of insight into the human side and vanity of the dictator as seen through his closest servants. But, then the second degree of people begin to share their viewpoints. As short as the book is, we never get to enjoy them as much as we do the chef, barber and portraitist. It really feels like they get peppered in towards the end to help wrap up the plot in two or three quick twists all done in a six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon sorta way.
But I really enjoyed the first part of the book and I'm looking forward to the author's next book.
lisagray68's review
4.0
A great short book - wonderful for a flight or day at the beach. This book reminds me a LOT of Bel Canto by Ann Patchett. Same sort of situation - a coup in a nameless country and people held hostage. This one is told from the perspective of three men close to the president - the barber, the chef and the portraitist. Then, in the middle of the book, the perspective shifts to that of three women also close to these men, and the President. Wonderful, I'm going to look for more from this author!
janetlun's review
A tale of a coup in an unnamed country, told in fragments by the former president's chef, barber, and portraitist and people related to them. A feast of unreliable narrators. It's beautifully written, but there's a chilly distance to it.