Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris

52 reviews

rebeccafell_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

“'Black butterflies’, he says softly. He peers at the scorched page as if trying to read it, then carefully places it in his breast pocket. ‘Burnt fragments of poetry and art catching in people's hair’” (p.148)

The fact that this is a debut novel amazes me. Capturing the indomitable human spirit amidst terror and destruction, Morris portrays how one woman and her neighbours navigate a besieged Sarajevo during the Bosnian war. Art played an integral role in this, demonstrating how it can be used as both a weapon to erase identity and an emblem of resilience. A heartbreaking but extremely important read, I can see why it was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction in 2023. I was hooked from start to finish. 
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just_sit_and_read's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-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

I've only just started using this app to record my reading in 2025 but wanted to add some books from the previous year as a reminder and this was my absolute favourite.  What a debut. Having attended a talk where she shared the stage with  Elif Shafak at Hay, I met the author. As a first novel,  my expectations were not particularly high but I was pleasantly surprised and sorry when I reached the end! I will probably read it again at some point.
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drsa's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • 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

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scops_xyz's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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gdulecki's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

This was a quick read, yet immensely heavy. I appreciate the story, especially that it gives life to her family’s history, but it wasn’t particularly well written. Granted, I don’t think it was poorly written either, but it didn’t really stand out to me. 
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alexisgarcia's review against another edition

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dark sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
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drjoannehill's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Audiobook. Trying to read more Women's Prize and Booker Prize shortlists. Very emotional telling of a few months of the siege of Sarajevo in 1992 from one woman's perspective. Zora stays in Sarajevo when other members of her family leave for the UK. The food runs low, the electricity goes off, the water goes off, the side of the apartment building is blown off. To run is to be a traitor. Not a sweeping view of the war but a very local, intimate view of the day to day changes experienced by one woman and her neighbours. The ending is in the same vein - not a long term "this is what happened in the end" but a development, a new reality to live through.

Lovely descriptions of art and artists' work, Slavic folk tales, and the practical getting by and camaraderie of people in the same impossible situation.
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rachel101's review against another edition

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dark informative sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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arayo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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jennikreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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