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A review by saraanneb3
The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste
2.0
I started this a long time ago and then I was in a major depressive episode and found myself unreasonably angry every time I picked it up and so I decided to set it down until I was better, which I am now.
I really wanted this to be good. The final battle is beautifully written and I thought “where was this the whole rest of the book?”
It takes 230 pages to get to the Shadow King plotline, and then barely anything is done with that.
And the book comes out of the true story of her grandmother serving as a soldier and yet SO much of the book is from male characters’ POV. Hirut barely had a personality. This book could have been about Hirut, Aster, Fifi, the cook. Instead we get endless POV of Ettore.
WAY too much Italian POV, I could have done with 75% less of Colonel Fuccelli—I fully would have believed he was a monster without needing to be in his mind so much.
I just really wish this had been entirely focused on the Ethiopian characters, especially the women.
I really wanted this to be good. The final battle is beautifully written and I thought “where was this the whole rest of the book?”
It takes 230 pages to get to the Shadow King plotline, and then barely anything is done with that.
And the book comes out of the true story of her grandmother serving as a soldier and yet SO much of the book is from male characters’ POV. Hirut barely had a personality. This book could have been about Hirut, Aster, Fifi, the cook. Instead we get endless POV of Ettore.
WAY too much Italian POV, I could have done with 75% less of Colonel Fuccelli—I fully would have believed he was a monster without needing to be in his mind so much.
I just really wish this had been entirely focused on the Ethiopian characters, especially the women.