Reviews

Politica by Yumna Kassab

jamiethomasss's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was a beautifully written depiction of a country torn apart by war. I loved how instead of writing about the war itself, the book instead focused on all the ways the war impacted the country, before, after and during the conflict. I really liked how the layout of the novel as interconnected snippets centring around the central idea really captured the breadth of the conflict. I did find it hard to follow at times though, but that could be because of the audiobook format. A really essential work, especially in these times. 

kazzab's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

isobelkelly's review against another edition

challenging reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

jhermaine's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

bookrantswithj's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

thewickermage's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

samfictiondistilling's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Loved the short bite sized stories but I just wanted to know about all of them. I wanted a whole book from the wells perspective. Beautifully written.

sr12's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

ssem's review

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

nina_reads_books's review

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

Politica is the most recent book by Yumna Kassab. Her last novel, The Lovers, was shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. I had never read her work before so I was delighted to receive a copy from @ultimopress.

The concept of Politica is that there is a war on in an unnamed country although there are very strong hints that we are in the Middle East. Nothing is explicitly stated though. It is delivered in a unique structure split in parts with each taking a different tone.

The first part focuses on a young man who joins the rebellion against the wishes of his father. The next part looks at the leader of the rebellion and his family. Then we experience a part using the voice of a spirit that lives in a well recounting stories of those who visit it. In the part titled 1973 each chapter is very short only a page or two and they are mostly from the POV of Salma. These were vignette like, snippets of life that tells a bigger story.

While seemingly disconnected and disjointed there is an underlying theme of the effects of war and conflict on families and a wider society. Families and friends break and come back together. There are those that stay and those that leave. The bleakness of war. The hesitant hopefulness when it seems as though there may be peace. The words leave you with impressions and feelings rather than following a linear plot.

I really enjoy books that take risks with narrative structure and here I think the author has been quite effective in leaving the reader with a sense of the futility and impact of war and conflict without having to describe events and characters in a more realist way.

This is definitely a timely work given the current state of the world. I'd recommend giving it a go and I'll definitely be looking out for the author’s earlier books now too.

Huge thanks to @ultimopress for my #gifted copy. Politica is out now.