Reviews with content warning for Grief - Brotherless Night: A Novel

I loved this story. I feel guilty that I have never heard of this civil war in Sri Lanka or the plight of the Tamil people. It is a story of what happens when a minority group is treated as second-class citizens. It's similar to what's happening in Myanmar, Palestine, the Sudan, and many other places worldwide. This particular story focuses on women and their roles as civilians while being related to terrorists and resistance fighters. This book would be an excellent choice for a book club.

Content Warnings

amyvl93's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional informative reflective medium-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? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

eilatan6991's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

baileyanabella's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

This book was dreadfully slow. There is so much preliminary world building and exposition that has to happen before the real bulk of the story can take place, and I probably would have DNF'd it for how slow the pacing was if it hadn't made the WPfF shortlist.
That said, though, I am glad that I didn't. This is one of the most heartbreaking books I have ever read, but it is so important that narratives like these exist. Sashi being a young girl, just a handful of years younger than myself for a majority of the book, I strongly empathized with her thoughts and actions as she did the best she could in impossibly difficult situations.
War is devastating, for anyone and everyone involved. There is no winner, even when the fighting is over. And this story shows you exactly that.

Content Warnings

nov_ella's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

happyknitter2020's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Absolutely brilliant book. Read as shortlisted for The Women's Prize 2024...think this is the clear winner. The writing is beautiful, strong & clear. Learned so much about the civil war & complex trauma experiments. A definitive 5 star book, will be at the top of my 2024 books.

Content Warnings

jouljet's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

katarinabee's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

Content Warnings

More...