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A review by nerdishreader
War by Laura Thalassa
adventurous
funny
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Yea so no. This left a bitter taste in my mouth, especially given everything Palestinian people have been going through for decades. Like girl you could've at least pretended to give some semblance of a flying fuck about Palestinian people and write a heartfelt dedication to them. And why do I feel like if I research this author all I'd find is problematic shit.
The plot was promising but fell short with the whole push and pull that happened for over 60% of the book. Though i liked the fact that War remained headstrong in his decision and "cause" (which was actually pointless and not explained well but I digress). The pacing was fine until the pregnancy which, the trope was fine but everything was rushed and boring from then. And I hated the whole "you must surrender to me" bit because hello???
AND OH MY GOSHHH THE WRITING. There were multiple moments where I considered DNFing because of the cringe. I'm very picky with writing and how things are depicted and this just wasn't it.
"Holy balls!" "Holy fucking balls!" the constant use of "BOOM" to signify the detonation of bombs. Are you a child? Where's the creativity?
And that ending like girl if you knew he was incapable of dying why in the flying fuck would you risk the lives of you and your child to "save" him. HE WAS FINE. And spoiler alert! She killed them both. He had to bargain with his brother to bring them back to life.
And it's hinted throughout the book that she misses her family and she hoped that her mother and sister were at least alive- they were separated while trying to flee and her father was killed when the first horseman showed up.
War even stated that he'd like to help her find her family if in fact they were alive. So to jump years into the future when she, War and their daughter randomly show up on her mom's doorstep is..... lazy? boring? disappointing? a choice? especially when loss of family is a major theme in this book.
And don't even get me started on that reunion. Like this man was literally part of the cause of the Genocide of your people, caused you to be separated from your daughter for years, your husband was killed and you just accepted him into family within 5 minutes of meeting him? LAZY WRITING.
This should've all happened over the span of at least 5 chapters not 5 paragraphs (an exaggeration).
Overall - ★★
The plot was promising but fell short with the whole push and pull that happened for over 60% of the book. Though i liked the fact that War remained headstrong in his decision and "cause" (which was actually pointless and not explained well but I digress). The pacing was fine until the
AND OH MY GOSHHH THE WRITING. There were multiple moments where I considered DNFing because of the cringe. I'm very picky with writing and how things are depicted and this just wasn't it.
"Holy balls!" "Holy fucking balls!" the constant use of "BOOM" to signify the detonation of bombs. Are you a child? Where's the creativity?
And it's hinted throughout the book that she misses her family and she hoped that her mother and sister were at least alive- they were separated while trying to flee and her father was killed when the first horseman showed up.
War even stated that he'd like to help her find her family if in fact they were alive. So to jump years into the future when she, War and their daughter randomly show up on her mom's doorstep is..... lazy? boring? disappointing? a choice? especially when loss of family is a major theme in this book.
And don't even get me started on that reunion. Like this man was literally part of the cause of the Genocide of your people, caused you to be separated from your daughter for years, your husband was killed and you just accepted him into family within 5 minutes of meeting him? LAZY WRITING.
This should've all happened over the span of at least 5 chapters not 5 paragraphs (an exaggeration).
Overall - ★★
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Genocide, Gore, Sexual assault, Violence, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War
Minor: Suicidal thoughts