Reviews

How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue

eloiseatthelibrary's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.75

barktea's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-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

ashleyfleming4's review against another edition

5.0

"Living is painful. That's why we so often forget that we're dying, we're too busy catering to our pains."
A work of fiction that is entirely believable and based on facts of history. I really enjoyed the unique perspectives Mbue wrote from and her story that fighting for change can take different forms.
Taking place in a fictional village in a country in Africa ruled by dictatorship, its people fight for basic human rights, like clean air and water, in the 1980s against an American oil company.
A new perspective on a story told time and again.

pennym_'s review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

objectively five stars. amazing writing and a fully engrossing story. a realistic tale of the long, intergenerational march toward social progess, and the equally devastating and ongoing impacts of colonialism. i dont love everything that happened in this, and i dont even know that i would call this a favorite, but it was an incredible book that everyone could get something out of

megs327's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

aweekinthelife's review against another edition

dark reflective tense

• 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

i appreciated the alternating perspectives with chapters from "The Children" then chapters from Thula's family. my fault for expecting a different type of outcome at the end, how things played out were consistent with the storytelling, it was just upsettingly realistic. 

i was a little uncomfortable that when Thula arrives in NY, Austin is described kind of like a father figure? and the ritual that the twins subject her to didn't seem to have any further reason in the story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Colonisation

chloe_s27's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

prettypious's review against another edition

5.0

This is the best book I’ve read this year thus far and not this calendar year, the actual past 12 months. All of the books I’ve read have temporarily been erased from my memory. This book is about environment justice, colonialism, racism, sexism, and childhood development. It’s told via multiple generations from the perspective of different members of a family and a Shakespearean choir with the central character thread being a girl named Thula who we see age from child through adulthood. This is a book that is sometimes uncomfortable to read. What we allow companies to do to communities here in the US and abroad is criminal, and we all have that blood on our hands. I do love the central message about doing what you can in that moment, everything in your capacity to be heard and fight injustice, and be willing to live free or die fighting by for it.

celsa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

dawnthoma100's review

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

This was an incredible book. The storytelling, characters and plot were all exceptionally written. Mbue has a way with words that makes the reader not want to put down her book. I found herself completely engrossed in what she wrote