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magalis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Content warnings for rape and pedophilia (child brides in their early-teens).
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, and Death
Minor: Mental illness, Child death, Death of parent, Infidelity, and Misogyny
zoes_human's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Violence, and War
Minor: Antisemitism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Death, Infidelity, and Injury/Injury detail
boogsbooks's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A portion of the story is also told through the lens of Ettore, an Italian photographer who has no business being in war. Ettore’s story revolves around his father, where his father comes from, and how that defines him. While I was interested in the layer Ettore’s father added to the book, I felt as though Ettore was here simply to carry the novel’s focus on photography as storytelling. Excerpts throughout the book are told as descriptions of photos. This worked well but made me question the role of Ettore as a central character.
This was my final read of 2020 and it felt like such a fitting ending. It’s epic in all of its forms. It left me reflective, cheering for the underdog, acknowledging pain in repeated history, and finding hope in moving forward.
Graphic: Blood, Confinement, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Torture, and Xenophobia
curatoriallyyours's review
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The negatives: Though I pitied the main character for all she endured, I did not warm to her. The author's style was also quite off-putting and made it hard for me to sink into the narrative until well into the book. If I hadn't been reading this as the final book in a reading challenge (with only a few days to go) I'd probably have abandoned it. The author's refusal to use speech marks to denote speech baffled me and made me resentful for the re-reading I needed to do every time I realised someone had started speaking without the usual indication that this was the case. I don't care to read any more from this author as a result.
I feel that the story itself was worthwhile but the author's style really bothered me throughout the book and stopped me from ever truly being enveloped in the narrative.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Confinement, Excrement, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Minor: Antisemitism and Drug use