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gracecashxx's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
janeblue's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- 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
Content Warnings
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
jenwinnell's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
oliverlang's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
This scrambled my brain in so many ways I'm not even sure where to begin.
It felt like reading approximately 4 different books at once. Sometimes it felt like fiction, sometimes non fiction/an essay. In the beginning it was almost like trying to read a book in a language you're studying but not quite fluent in.
I was very slow to read this because it just failed to grab my attention for long enough, I'm glad that's over.
It felt like reading approximately 4 different books at once. Sometimes it felt like fiction, sometimes non fiction/an essay. In the beginning it was almost like trying to read a book in a language you're studying but not quite fluent in.
I was very slow to read this because it just failed to grab my attention for long enough, I'm glad that's over.
poetic_liz's review against another edition
I am not sure how to approach thus review the same way I wasn't sure how to approach the book.
This is a war story, a refugee story, and a ghost story. In being these things the book is ruthless, cold, devastating. I liked these aspects, liked that the author forced us through the trauma of war times in a way that I'm lucky enough to not understand. However, the mix of fiction and a very unreliable third-person narrator mixed with fictional non-fiction and a removed first person narrator made the book very bumpy and unnecessarily not fun in parts.
A big part of this book is the language of the characters, and while I appreciate the ideas and even the mix of languages, the author went too far, making the book near incomprehensible in parts (also at least some of the German dialogue was not fully correct either - if you commit to the bit of using up to five or more languages, get a proper proof read)
This book is both five stars (great writing in parts, amazing story, very touching and devastating), three stars (simply confusing writing & pacing - at some point being too fancy destroys readability), and two stars (there were parts I simply didn't enjoy, up to being annoyed).
I need to rethink this before putting numbers on this experience. Which in itself speaks for the book I think. The author mostly achieved what he wanted I believe, but he sacrificed readability for it & barely missed that line of crossing from "challenging fiction" to "pretentious, annoying" in parts. He is a great author, no doubt, and the book is *good* but I don't know whom I would recommend it to.
"History leaves devastation in its wake. You can experience and understand history only when you’re inside it, but when you’re inside it you don’t have time or gumption for understanding. All you want is just to stay alive, for which understanding is not necessary. You have no access to history’s complex, catastrophic logic, which is indelibly overwhelming and incomprehensible, particularly as you’re trying to survive. History has no limit in the exact same way my visual field has no limit, but the moment I write or speak about it, I place myself outside it, so it can only be experienced as a narrative."
This is a war story, a refugee story, and a ghost story. In being these things the book is ruthless, cold, devastating. I liked these aspects, liked that the author forced us through the trauma of war times in a way that I'm lucky enough to not understand. However, the mix of fiction and a very unreliable third-person narrator mixed with fictional non-fiction and a removed first person narrator made the book very bumpy and unnecessarily not fun in parts.
A big part of this book is the language of the characters, and while I appreciate the ideas and even the mix of languages, the author went too far, making the book near incomprehensible in parts (also at least some of the German dialogue was not fully correct either - if you commit to the bit of using up to five or more languages, get a proper proof read)
This book is both five stars (great writing in parts, amazing story, very touching and devastating), three stars (simply confusing writing & pacing - at some point being too fancy destroys readability), and two stars (there were parts I simply didn't enjoy, up to being annoyed).
I need to rethink this before putting numbers on this experience. Which in itself speaks for the book I think. The author mostly achieved what he wanted I believe, but he sacrificed readability for it & barely missed that line of crossing from "challenging fiction" to "pretentious, annoying" in parts. He is a great author, no doubt, and the book is *good* but I don't know whom I would recommend it to.
"History leaves devastation in its wake. You can experience and understand history only when you’re inside it, but when you’re inside it you don’t have time or gumption for understanding. All you want is just to stay alive, for which understanding is not necessary. You have no access to history’s complex, catastrophic logic, which is indelibly overwhelming and incomprehensible, particularly as you’re trying to survive. History has no limit in the exact same way my visual field has no limit, but the moment I write or speak about it, I place myself outside it, so it can only be experienced as a narrative."
catenelmetro's review against another edition
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
estmcphee's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
jack_wilson's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- 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? Yes
3.5
nyeran's review against another edition
1.0
"Io sono estanca Alfonso, giuro."
Stanca di leggere libri confusionari e cervellotici che non portano a nulla se non a farti pesare anche solo il pensiero di aprirli. Basta, mica mi pagano. Questo libro non ti fa mai fare un respiro, è un prolasso di parole e frasi che vogliono raccontarti qualcosa ma in modo troppo confusionario. I pensieri, i dialoghi, le descrizioni non sono separati dalla prosa, non scandiscono la lettura e non aggiungono niente alla storia perchè non la capisci, non riesci a seguirla, ti dimentichi tutto perchè è mischiata tra le milioni di frasi confusionarie e scollegate che non ti fanno apprezzare niente.
♠ Nel secondo capitolo vediamo l'interesse amoroso per la prima volta e già il protagonista è innamorato di lui e viceversa, non c'è sviluppo della relazione, non capiamo perchè questo amore lo accompagnerà per tutto il libro perchè non lo vediamo nascere e crescere, e mi va bene il gioco che nel libro la storia non è in prima persona ma raccontata a 'qualcun'altro' però un minimo, un minimo. Invece sei sempre tenuto a distanza perchè anche volendo, la prosa non ti fa avvicinare emotivamente ai personaggi. Se almeno questa mancanza fosse stata sopperita da un buon contesto storico sarei forse riuscita a godermelo di più, ma no perchè l'autore glissa su eventi importanti per focalizzarsi su informazioni inutili. Esempio: Il primo capitolo che dovrebbe raccontare l'assassinio del Duca Ferdinando, per il 95% è incentrato su un tizio che entra in una farmacia a comprare una medicina e il protagonista che se lo bacia e sogna di limonarselo, l'assassinio succede nelle ultime due pagine e il successivo si apre, appunto, gia in piena guerra con lui gia innamorato. Ok.
Per aggiungere confusione alla confusione, il libro contiene frasi e citazioni in altre lingue che non vengono ne tradotte, ne spiegate.
Stanca di leggere libri confusionari e cervellotici che non portano a nulla se non a farti pesare anche solo il pensiero di aprirli. Basta, mica mi pagano. Questo libro non ti fa mai fare un respiro, è un prolasso di parole e frasi che vogliono raccontarti qualcosa ma in modo troppo confusionario. I pensieri, i dialoghi, le descrizioni non sono separati dalla prosa, non scandiscono la lettura e non aggiungono niente alla storia perchè non la capisci, non riesci a seguirla, ti dimentichi tutto perchè è mischiata tra le milioni di frasi confusionarie e scollegate che non ti fanno apprezzare niente.
♠ Nel secondo capitolo vediamo l'interesse amoroso per la prima volta e già il protagonista è innamorato di lui e viceversa, non c'è sviluppo della relazione, non capiamo perchè questo amore lo accompagnerà per tutto il libro perchè non lo vediamo nascere e crescere, e mi va bene il gioco che nel libro la storia non è in prima persona ma raccontata a 'qualcun'altro' però un minimo, un minimo. Invece sei sempre tenuto a distanza perchè anche volendo, la prosa non ti fa avvicinare emotivamente ai personaggi. Se almeno questa mancanza fosse stata sopperita da un buon contesto storico sarei forse riuscita a godermelo di più, ma no perchè l'autore glissa su eventi importanti per focalizzarsi su informazioni inutili. Esempio: Il primo capitolo che dovrebbe raccontare l'assassinio del Duca Ferdinando, per il 95% è incentrato su un tizio che entra in una farmacia a comprare una medicina e il protagonista che se lo bacia e sogna di limonarselo, l'assassinio succede nelle ultime due pagine e il successivo si apre, appunto, gia in piena guerra con lui gia innamorato. Ok.
Per aggiungere confusione alla confusione, il libro contiene frasi e citazioni in altre lingue che non vengono ne tradotte, ne spiegate.
hopereads_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0