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melliedm's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
“Men sit on motorcycles, thick scarves wrapped round their faces against the morning's light rain. They accelerate their engines and let their exhausts burst with a sound that reminds the innocent of firecrackers.”
While one would be hard-pressed to call this intense and emotional piece of historical fiction ‘enjoyable’ I did find The Shadow of the Crescent Moon an interesting read.
The book takes place during the war in Afghanistan, in a town along the Afghan-Pakistan border. It is structured in segments of time, within which we follow three story threads:
- Eldest brother Aman Erum, who has recently returned to Mir Ali from attending school in America. His story unravels slowly between his past with first love Samarra, and the price he paid to leave Pakistan.
- Middle brother Sikandar, a doctor, husband, and father whose son is gone. His day’s plans go awry when his wife, Mina, is intruding upon another funeral.
- Youngest brother Hayat, his father’s favourite, who made a promise to free Mir Ali as his father wished he could do. He’s a part of the insurgency, along with Samarra.
Through these three threads and five characters Bhutto brings us through a family and city torn apart by war and pride, sacrifice and vengeance, and grief.
I wish I was more familiar with the history of the region and the war that works as a backdrop to the story. While the human elements were harrowing and mostly universal, there was political nuance that was really lost on me while reading that left me confused at times. The novel also has quite a slow start, and until some notable reveals happen around the halfway point it’s somewhat of a churn.
As with anything that uses multiple perspectives, I had a favoured storyline. The problem with that? I would be disappointed when those chapters would end. For me, this is Sikandar and Mina. Their shared grief and the different ways they process it were beautifully done, making the more political machinations of the other two storylines fall a little flatter for me for the first half.
Overall, I’m glad I read this one, but I would recommend someone catch a documentary on what happened in these territories throughout the war in Afghanistan prior to digging in, I imagine you’ll get far more out of the experience than I did!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Violence, Confinement, Child death, Grief, War, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, and Sexism
Moderate: Torture, Injury/Injury detail, and Rape
Minor: Death of parent and Animal death
eveleswer's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Islamophobia, Murder, Misogyny, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, and War
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