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5/5

Okay. So I have very strong feelings about white women taking the trauma of other cultures and monopolizing on it. I will full on admit I made a mistake and when I bought this I did not realize it was written by a WW. She then was long listed for the Women's Prize so I thought I would give it a chance. I really wish I had followed my instincts.
While some of her language is nice the story line is scattered & overall felt like trauma porn.

A story of the taking of 276 girls by Boko Haram in Nigeria told by Maryam, a fictional character. The writing and style was not really for me and this is not an easy read, but I couldn‘t turn away from the appalling story and how Maryam was then treated after her escape. And the fact many of these girls remain missing.

So here is my #readingwrapup for the month of April. 4 books is not a bad number but I felt I could do better. Let's see how it goes in May....

This is a hard read. All the alerts for sensitive topics. But it has a beautiful writing. I almost read it in one seating. I can see why was nominated for the #womensprizeforfiction. I will try to read as many as I can for the longlist. I tend to like these books.

#bookly

I had an Edna O‘Brien reading fest here starting with her first book; The Country Girls, her memoir; The Country Girl and finishing up with; Girl her last book. The first two provided delightful insights into Ireland of the 1950‘s and all three give voice to women who had been stripped of all but silence and screams. Girl is the fictionalized story of one of the kidnapped school girls in Nigeria by the Boko Harem. #ReadAroundtheWorld #Ireland

A compelling story filled with hardship and heartbreak and pockets of love and beauty. A well told fictional retelling of one girl captured by Boko Haram and her escape.

Powerful. Tragic. Devastating. But beautifully written and superb narration 4.5/5 #WomensPrize

This novel is based on the story of the schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram in Nigeria.

I nearly bailed early on due to the horrific details of rape/violence but it‘s important that we acknowledge and learn about such atrocities so I persevered...HOWEVER the book was written in a very detached manner, which made the whole thing feel very distant and almost clinical - there was no emotion. A shame, as I feel the impact was lessened.

Next up on audio, from the #WomensPrize longlist

A gut wrenching brutal novel based on the Boko Haram schoolgirl kidnapping. There‘s emotional uplift at the end so the reader is not left drained and exhausted. Well written.

I know I remember the news some years ago (2014) about the kidnapping of 276 school girls. The abductors were Boko Haram. Since then, at least in Norwegian news, there have been reports about how hard it‘s for women who have been victims of sexualized violence to be accepted back to their community in certain parts of Africa.

This is a fictional story of one of the girls kidnapped by Boko Haram, about her captivity, her escape and life

#WeeklyForcast

📚 Finish Girl
📚 Start the second book about the Vanderbeekers

🎧 continue The Starless Sea

#BookReport

📚 finished Case Histories and loved it
📚 read an illustrated book “A Place over Thousands of Years” and found it interesting
📚 125p in on the Kepler crime and I‘m DNFing. I‘m just not into this.
📚 started Girl, and while this is a though read, I want to know what happens

🎧 I continued my listen of The Starless Sea. I‘m 5hrs in (30%) and I still don‘t know what is happening, but I‘m intrigued enough to find out

Next up.
The first book from my #NewYearWhoDis! list

A harrowing fictionalized story of the kidnapping and eventual return of Maryam, a Nigerian schoolgirl taken by military extremists on the night of April 14,2014. 276 female students were kidnapped, taken as sexual slaves and traded amongst men as war prizes and spoils. This book is extremely upsetting and many are questioning whether Edna O‘Brien has the right or is the right person to tell this story. My issue was the detachment although I 👇🏼

Not the lightest of reads or for the faintest of hearts - this book is ROUGH. I‘m having to read in small doses because the horror and violence is really upsetting.

This is a mentally taxing book. A good one and an in formative one. It is also not for everyone.

This is the story of the abducted Nigerian school girls in 2014. Insurgents disguised as soldiers break into the school to loot it. Finding no guns or supplies, they decide that “Girls will do”.. this shock sets the tone for the terrifying story of Maryam, “bush wife”, a reward, for one of the fighters. Best read of the year! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Edna O‘Brien knows how to write about women, no matter the time, place or culture.

#womenreadingwomen

A haunting, harrowing envisioning of what happened to one of the schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in the middle of the night. While this book isn't necessarily a factual recounting and the content was extremely tough at times, I forced myself to continue reading because these girls deserve to have their story told. This story really puts things into perspective & shows how someone's life can be completely altered due to no fault of their own.

A terrific premise, with so much promise, but I'm afraid the execution let it down for me. The prose was very blunt, to the point of sounding detached, and given the horrific subject matter (kidnapping of Nigerian girls by Boko Haram in 2014)... I also really struggled with the friction of a privileged older white woman writing from the perspective of a traumatised young woman of colour. Best read alongside #ownvoices narratives and non-fiction.

4/5🌟 It's absolutely horrifying what happened to these girls. That this is based on true events is very disturbing. Reading this you can tell O'Brien did her research. The storytelling and writing is exquisite but I did struggle in some parts with Maryam's character. This story is filled with ghastly violence, only writers as fantastic as O'Brien could take on such an ambitious story. Out Oct 15th!
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