threedemons's review against another edition
3.0
Couldn’t get into this book - felt too removed from the narrator even though it was first person. Reminded me of Night in the removed, minimalist writing style.
Also, pretty conflicted about an old white woman writing this. Doesn’t seem like her story to tell. I’m curious how she researched for it.
Also, pretty conflicted about an old white woman writing this. Doesn’t seem like her story to tell. I’m curious how she researched for it.
kjanie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.25
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. While it is clear that the author has a lot of empathy for the victims of this trauma, it still feels a bit detached to read a fictionalised account from a woman so far removed from the context. This book may still have a lot to give to readers despite being written by a white woman, I think it was something I struggled with throughout the story.
The prose and pace of the book itself was also quite difficult to grapple with. It would go from highly detached and halting, to extremely fast pace and back to slow and mournful. What was left was a reading experience that felt very disjointed and disconnected. Although this could have been a stylistic choice by the author, I was still left wanting more from the book.
The prose and pace of the book itself was also quite difficult to grapple with. It would go from highly detached and halting, to extremely fast pace and back to slow and mournful. What was left was a reading experience that felt very disjointed and disconnected. Although this could have been a stylistic choice by the author, I was still left wanting more from the book.
1librarianspath's review against another edition
4.5
I appreciated how O’Brien refused to let the reader know how much time had passed, leaving you struggling to understand the passage of time, as the main character struggles with that too. Children were unable to know their ages or birthdate too because no dates were given to them either. I also liked the way she wrote in other character’s backgrounds. A myriad of experiences touched upon, briefly, adding to the the impact that Boko Haram had on a variety of people. I also welcomed the longer part of the book which dealt with the aftermath for the communities left behind, and the survivors if they managed to return, The distrust, disgust and superstitions. The hardships that many face, and the lack of support.
corrina_milito's review against another edition
1.0
Why is a white woman in 2019 writing in the voice of a Nigerian girl???? I’m embarrassed that I started this without knowing anything about it. I would never have started it had I known.
laney_reads_22's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
I was expecting this story to be emotional, one of triumph and perseverance but the writing was so dull, I felt nothing. Very disappointed, I found myself rushing through the last few chapters to get it over with.
Spoiler
Following her kidnap, school girl Maryam is taken, along with her female classmates to a war camp where they serve as "bush wives" to the extremists waging war over Nigeria. Horrifically abused and subject to religious conversation therapy, Maryam is married to a soldier and falls pregnant. Shortly after giving birth to her daughter, the camp falls under attack by the military and Maryam escapes with her baby and friend. A large section of the book is then dedicated to their journey, before she returns home to find that her father and brother are dead and her mother is shamed by her. All of this should make for a heart wrenching read but some of the most important moments are almost skipped over! Particularly one scene, where the friend she escapes with dies and under extreme hunger and not having seen any other people for weeks, she decides to leave her baby to drown (although seemingly there was no water anywhere as it consistently mentions their thirst???). Literally in the next sentence, the baby is returned to her by some random nomads. The whole thing was utterly bizarre.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Rape, and Kidnapping
njw13's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
wendoxford's review against another edition
4.0
This was a completely harrowing read.
O'Brien manages to both give detail yet make implicit other narrative detail which combine to lay bare the traumatic experience of a girl (symbolising many) taken, in a group, from school by Boko Haram. I felt I was in the young head of Maryam, the "girl" as she experienced atrocity after atrocity, trying to assess how compliance, resistance, escape would pan out as a victim.
I felt that the clipped telling reflected the shock and trauma experienced which in turn made it so powerful for the reader. As if kidnap, mutilation, rape was not enough, even in the "after" social mores condemn Maryam. She is treated as if her experience was an active choice of sleeping with the enemy and is actively condemned by even her own family.
This is an unrelenting story of the horrors we inflict upon each other, with the crack of light being human resilience rather than raw despair.
O'Brien manages to both give detail yet make implicit other narrative detail which combine to lay bare the traumatic experience of a girl (symbolising many) taken, in a group, from school by Boko Haram. I felt I was in the young head of Maryam, the "girl" as she experienced atrocity after atrocity, trying to assess how compliance, resistance, escape would pan out as a victim.
I felt that the clipped telling reflected the shock and trauma experienced which in turn made it so powerful for the reader. As if kidnap, mutilation, rape was not enough, even in the "after" social mores condemn Maryam. She is treated as if her experience was an active choice of sleeping with the enemy and is actively condemned by even her own family.
This is an unrelenting story of the horrors we inflict upon each other, with the crack of light being human resilience rather than raw despair.
mcerrin's review against another edition
2.0
Telling a horrifying story just for the sake of telling a horrifying story, it seems. This was an old one on the list that I can't really remember why I put it there.
itsgg's review against another edition
2.0
If you‘re not depressed enough during the pandemic, here’s a book to make you even more depressed. Maybe this would be an okay novel during less stressful times, but the relentlessness of suffering throughout is just too much right now.
clmckinney's review against another edition
4.0
This novel details the kidnapping of a girl in Nigeria and the subsequent abuse in captivity. I cannot say anything bad about the use of language in this book. I found the subject matter brutal and traumatic. The ordeals that the main character suffers are horrific. I think the narrative is supposed to make us feel the dread. I guess for me, I have never really liked fiction that portrayed suffering of an extreme or even mild nature. For this reason, I give this book a 3.7/5.