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janeblue's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Murder, and War
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Outing, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
danata's review against another edition
It make sense that that Hemon, who was forced into the life of a refugee when Sarajevo got besieged while he was overseas, would vibe with the Jews, who can feel semi-permanently not home. It also makes sense that he would be compelled to write this plot, about a sweet, inebriated Sarajevan Jew who gets knocked out of the Sarajevan carsija by war, and who -- like a good Bosnian -- falls into a cross-religion love affair.
I wasn't prepared, however, for the fact that Pinto, once leaving Sarajevo, would never go home again. The book takes us from Archduke Ferdinand's assassination straight to the bloody fields of Galicia, then by train to prisoner of war camps in Tashkent. Pinto is the narrator and he is not interested in any of the bird's eye political view of his situation, or even what you might write to your mom in a letter (Pinto fails to write his mom letters) -- so if you don't understand how he got into World War I, or who they were fighting, or what all the tumult is about when they reach Tashkent, or what's going on with the Great Game player they meet up with there -- well, you're going to stay ignorant.
While the text is beautiful and intimate and Pinto's love for Osman shines through it all, the rest feels like it's seen through a glass darkly. Together with the lack of driving plot -- TWAATIH is more of a chronicle than a set of rising actions -- the failure to ever orient towards the "larger focus" of what Pinto is living through started to make me feel frustrated and claustrophobic. I felt like I was seeing everything through multiple layers of gauze.
So, while I'm a big fan of Hemon's first book and I might come back to this later, I just don't have the steam for it during this dark February.
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and War
Moderate: Drug abuse
softanimal's review
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
spec_tacles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and War
Minor: Homophobia and Islamophobia
likemindedbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Murder, War, and Injury/Injury detail