Reviews

Halt by Michael Donkor

gabbyjo's review against another edition

4.0

The description of the book excited me. I borrowed the audiobook so I can hear the accents. The relationship between Belinda and Mary was sweet and caring. They loved and understood each other as siblings. Belinda’s relationship with Amma reminds of cousins who are meeting for the first time.

I enjoyed reading the book right up to the end. I felt as if I walked in a brick wall with that ending. It was abrupt and I’m still lost at specific details in the end. It had potential but that end in my honest opinion could’ve been better.

manaledi's review against another edition

3.0

There were parts of this I loved and parts of this that dragged. I had to return to the library and renew it took me so long. Interesting perspective on friendship and migration and class.

hannahjsimpson's review against another edition

3.0

This audiobook was wonderfully narrated but the actual story failed to grasp me. I think I may have missed something huge like a long allegory or something. I feel like not a lot happened? Would be two stars if not for the amazing narrator in the audiobook.

readandchill23's review against another edition

2.0

DNF.
I know. I made it to 73%. I could taste the finish line. But I couldn't do another minute. It was so unenjoyable. With no challenges.

I had no attachment to any of the characters. Well, maybe a little bit of a pull towards Amma. I just imagined she was a young Michaela Coel the whole time.

Syntax took quite a bit of work to get through. The whole thing just felt... off.

pkll201's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

michmatched_1989's review against another edition

3.0

Quick easy read. Bit of a Cinderella type vibe to the story. A critique could be that this story romanizes some serious issues but I did have some thought provoking moments while reading and also found it interesting to draw parallels between the life of Amma and Belinda. Recommended read.

rdrzjackie's review against another edition

2.0

This book almost became a DNF so many times, but I managed to struggle my way through to the end. As I first began reading this book, my immediate thought was that this book was simply not for me…as in I was not the intended audience for this book. The Twi and Ghanaian pidgin in this book made it really hard to follow, but I initially dismissed it as it being due to the fact that this book was not intended for American readers. I’m disappointed to read that many Ghanaians are offended by the poor/incorrect use of Ghanaian pidgin & Twi. The author does state that his mother helped to edit his Twi, but all of the other listed early readers appear to not be Ghanaian, based on their very English sounding names. Maybe having more Ghanaians read the book would have prevented this from becoming the author’s poor disaporic attempt to connect to his heritage culture? This is really neither here nor there though, because I’m not a part of that culture and my opinion is irrelevant.

With that being said, the writing style in this book was all over the place. I often found myself unsure of what was even happening due to the author’s poor story telling throughout this book. There were so many scenes that just happened without enough details to help the reader follow along. Then other scenes were excruciatingly boring because they were full of excessive unnecessary details. While I think the author intended to contrast Belinda’s life in Ghana with that in London, the move to London just felt like a sudden plot change. Mary all but disappears throughout the majority of the book, but then becomes vital at the end. There were also many loose ends with Amma’s story.

Ultimately, I think I get the idea that the author intended, but it was poorly executed. With better editing and guidance, this could have been a much better story. Would not recommend this book.

soundslikeelle's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad 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? No

0.5

lilopalu's review

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

I liked the topics that this book was discussing and that it mainly focussed on the characters. The characters were complex and it was interesting to see them struggle with their situation in life, the expectations of others etc. However, the writing style was not for me at all. Even though I am sure it was intentional, it made it very difficult for me to get close to the characters and really feel for them and understand them. 

thedarkagez's review against another edition

I couldn’t get into the writing style. To me, it felt like an A.I. was writing it