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A review by r_happe
Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, Viviana Mazza
4.0
This book tells a harrowing story that is unfortunately based off real events and the accounts of young Nigerian women who were kidnapped by Boko Haram. I knew that this wasn’t going to be a happy story going into it but I wasn’t anticipating how affected I would be by it. The audiobook is short (under 6 hours) and I still had to take a break in the middle of it because it was just so sad.
This book made me so angry, for our MC but also with myself and the world. I’m going to be honest, before reading this I knew next to nothing about Boko Haram. I’d heard the name before and I’m certainly no expert now, but I’m so glad that I listened to this book and learned some things. Our news might not share global occurrences as often as it should but that shouldn’t stop me from being more educated, and this book reminded me of that.
The only reason I give this book 4 stars is because I didn’t really click with the storytelling. I really liked the shorter chapters but they broke the story up a lot and it was really hard for me to follow the passage of time. I understand that our MC is meant to represent any of the schoolchildren taken by Boko Haram and she doesn’t understand everything happening to her, but from a reader’s perspective it made me feel disconnected from the MC’s own particular story. I never really felt close with her specifically or understood who she was as a person. She always felt more like an idea, and this works for the educational purposes of the book and made me feel for all these girls but didn’t really tell her story like I thought it would.
Despite not connecting with the way the story was told I still really liked this book. It is a very difficult book to read about kidnapping, murder, terrorism, rape, and trauma but I think it’s one more people should read. I feel more educated because of it and appreciated the lengthy afterword. Please understand before reading this that it doesn’t have many bright moments. It isn’t something to read if you’re looking for a light and uplifting book but it’s still a very important story to pay attention to.
Full review: https://picturethisliteraturecom.wordpress.com/2020/10/30/buried-beneath-the-baobab-tree/
This book made me so angry, for our MC but also with myself and the world. I’m going to be honest, before reading this I knew next to nothing about Boko Haram. I’d heard the name before and I’m certainly no expert now, but I’m so glad that I listened to this book and learned some things. Our news might not share global occurrences as often as it should but that shouldn’t stop me from being more educated, and this book reminded me of that.
The only reason I give this book 4 stars is because I didn’t really click with the storytelling. I really liked the shorter chapters but they broke the story up a lot and it was really hard for me to follow the passage of time. I understand that our MC is meant to represent any of the schoolchildren taken by Boko Haram and she doesn’t understand everything happening to her, but from a reader’s perspective it made me feel disconnected from the MC’s own particular story. I never really felt close with her specifically or understood who she was as a person. She always felt more like an idea, and this works for the educational purposes of the book and made me feel for all these girls but didn’t really tell her story like I thought it would.
Despite not connecting with the way the story was told I still really liked this book. It is a very difficult book to read about kidnapping, murder, terrorism, rape, and trauma but I think it’s one more people should read. I feel more educated because of it and appreciated the lengthy afterword. Please understand before reading this that it doesn’t have many bright moments. It isn’t something to read if you’re looking for a light and uplifting book but it’s still a very important story to pay attention to.
Full review: https://picturethisliteraturecom.wordpress.com/2020/10/30/buried-beneath-the-baobab-tree/