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A review by bethsbookshelf
Voices of the Lost by Hoda Barakat
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.5
Sigh... this book.
It started really well for me and I was raving about this on bookstagram. The writing is absolutely gorgeous and I loved the way the author played around with language. The characters were VERY sexist and complicated, but written well. Although the graphic details were disturbing, it was also eye-opening to the kind of things that people go through. The author did not censor herself. I also really enjoyed the letter structure at the beginning and how the next person found the last person's letter. The way the stories were interweaving was really gripping me.
But then it started to fall flat a bit. Each character started to have the same voice, especially the men compared with the other men, and the women compared with the other women. I liked the theme of boyhood/motherhood, but it seemed like that was the only theme the author really wanted to explore. And what conclusion did she come to? What was she trying to say? I don't know.
That's where I struggled. There were all these incredible themes that not a lot of authors explore in the way she was, but they never really came to any kind of conclusion or tied together. So I just felt like ultimately, it fell flat for me. I wanted more. And all the building blocks were there, but it was like the construction was left unfinished.
I also really struggled with the ending. Again, I wanted more from the ending, especially considering how strong the beginning was. I didn't really like trying to navigate who was speaking at the end. And the way we didn't know if they were letters either, and if they were, was that really realistic?
Overall, I think this is a beautiful novel that's worth reading, even if to experience the writing and the first four characters, but after that, it got lost on me.
It started really well for me and I was raving about this on bookstagram. The writing is absolutely gorgeous and I loved the way the author played around with language. The characters were VERY sexist and complicated, but written well. Although the graphic details were disturbing, it was also eye-opening to the kind of things that people go through. The author did not censor herself. I also really enjoyed the letter structure at the beginning and how the next person found the last person's letter. The way the stories were interweaving was really gripping me.
But then it started to fall flat a bit. Each character started to have the same voice, especially the men compared with the other men, and the women compared with the other women. I liked the theme of boyhood/motherhood, but it seemed like that was the only theme the author really wanted to explore. And what conclusion did she come to? What was she trying to say? I don't know.
That's where I struggled. There were all these incredible themes that not a lot of authors explore in the way she was, but they never really came to any kind of conclusion or tied together. So I just felt like ultimately, it fell flat for me. I wanted more. And all the building blocks were there, but it was like the construction was left unfinished.
I also really struggled with the ending. Again, I wanted more from the ending, especially considering how strong the beginning was. I didn't really like trying to navigate who was speaking at the end. And the way we didn't know if they were letters either, and if they were, was that really realistic?
Overall, I think this is a beautiful novel that's worth reading, even if to experience the writing and the first four characters, but after that, it got lost on me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Torture, and Grief