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A review by verysarahbennett
American War by Omar El Akkad
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-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
4.5
Bennett Family Book club read. :) I've been really putting off writing this review because there's so much to this book and I know I'm not going to catch everything that's worth saying about this book, but I'm going to give it a go.
This book was tough but SO thought-provoking. It's wild that it came out in 2017, before the pandemic, when biological warfare/pandemics are such an interesting part of this story. It was extremely scary in the sense that the book is very believable and possible as a somewhat near future. It's a really powerful dystopian message that touches on global warming and climate change, pandemics, division in the country, war. The way the world has transformed in such a little amount of time from the current day and the way everyone is still just finding a way to live and make do is heartbreaking and universal. A really strong statement about America and its relationship with the world and with itself.
Sarat was a very fascinating main character to follow. It definitely was interesting to see how she thinks and functions, but I still feel like I couldn't completely grasp everything about her as much as I wanted to. I still don't understand her motivations or how she specifically got moved so far in one extremist direction.
It was a really great book club book--love it or hate it (or not even finish it), there's SO much to discuss; you probably wouldn't even need to have prepared questions in advance.
This book was tough but SO thought-provoking. It's wild that it came out in 2017, before the pandemic, when biological warfare/pandemics are such an interesting part of this story. It was extremely scary in the sense that the book is very believable and possible as a somewhat near future. It's a really powerful dystopian message that touches on global warming and climate change, pandemics, division in the country, war. The way the world has transformed in such a little amount of time from the current day and the way everyone is still just finding a way to live and make do is heartbreaking and universal. A really strong statement about America and its relationship with the world and with itself.
Sarat was a very fascinating main character to follow. It definitely was interesting to see how she thinks and functions, but I still feel like I couldn't completely grasp everything about her as much as I wanted to. I still don't understand her motivations or how she specifically got moved so far in one extremist direction.
It was a really great book club book--love it or hate it (or not even finish it), there's SO much to discuss; you probably wouldn't even need to have prepared questions in advance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and War