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A review by cloudbooks
Things They Lost by Okwiri Oduor
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
If anyone asked me what the plot of this book was, I'd tell them I listened to it but I have no idea.
The book is about Ayosa, a 12 year old very lonely girl whose mother leaves her for long periods of time. She lives on the outskirts of a Kenyan village as she explores her own loneliness, her relationship to her mother, and things she should not remember.
What was good?
The writing is very unique. It's beautiful and captivating and sometimes so detailed you feel a little off about it. It puts complex things such as loneliness into words in a way that breathes life into it. I really liked this quote: "If you wine and dine your lonesomeness, maybe it won't sneak up on you in the middle of the night and slit your throat."
The book is about relationships more than characters and as such, the characters all felt a little flat. I don't think that's a bad thing in this case since the book is interested in exploring relationships, emotions and trauma rather than specific characters.
What was bad?
It's hard to say, really. The book was slow, yes, and not a lot happened either. For the vast majority of the book, it felt like moving from one scene to the next without much plot involved at all. Perhaps some of the 'bad' in this story is simply that I've not read a lot of African stories before and I'm not used to this kind of storytelling. The little bit of magical realism worked well for me too, it just didn't seem to matter much since there wasn't much point to Ayosa's doings until the very end of the book.
Would I read this again? Maybe. I feel I missed something crucial about this book. Something I'm not able to understand yet or I haven't encountered often enough yet to unravel and understand. But as I write this, I don't feel like I would read it again or recommend it unless someone looked for something very specific where this book would fit in.
The book is about Ayosa, a 12 year old very lonely girl whose mother leaves her for long periods of time. She lives on the outskirts of a Kenyan village as she explores her own loneliness, her relationship to her mother, and things she should not remember.
What was good?
The writing is very unique. It's beautiful and captivating and sometimes so detailed you feel a little off about it. It puts complex things such as loneliness into words in a way that breathes life into it. I really liked this quote: "If you wine and dine your lonesomeness, maybe it won't sneak up on you in the middle of the night and slit your throat."
The book is about relationships more than characters and as such, the characters all felt a little flat. I don't think that's a bad thing in this case since the book is interested in exploring relationships, emotions and trauma rather than specific characters.
What was bad?
It's hard to say, really. The book was slow, yes, and not a lot happened either. For the vast majority of the book, it felt like moving from one scene to the next without much plot involved at all. Perhaps some of the 'bad' in this story is simply that I've not read a lot of African stories before and I'm not used to this kind of storytelling. The little bit of magical realism worked well for me too, it just didn't seem to matter much since there wasn't much point to Ayosa's doings until the very end of the book.
Would I read this again? Maybe. I feel I missed something crucial about this book. Something I'm not able to understand yet or I haven't encountered often enough yet to unravel and understand. But as I write this, I don't feel like I would read it again or recommend it unless someone looked for something very specific where this book would fit in.