I picked up We Need New Names in the London Review Bookshop (which is fantastic by the way) and I must admit, it's a bit of a disappointment. The book has a very low goodreads score which I was unaffected by because I didn't like Divergent and everyone likes Divergent.
The book is set in two places: a slum called paradise in what I assume is Zimbabwe but is never named and the USA. It follows a girl called Darling and her and her friends trying to escape from their impoverished backgrounds and it focuses very much on belonging and where you live vs. your nationality.
There are some quite grissely scenes through out the book such as a sui***e, a backstreet abor***n, an ex*rc*sm, p*rn and pros*****ion. They are quite shocking so I wouldn't recommend this if you are squeamish like yours truly or a younger reader.
The first half of the book is something I really enjoyed. I liked the information on their culture and what life in a slum is like and I loved the characters and their interaction. If the whole book was like the first half I would have given the book 3 or maybe 4 stars. However, in America the pace slowed down. The passages were monotonous. The relationships were boring. Suddenly, I started to not really enjoy it.
In America the book became about fitting in and belonging which was interesting but very repetitive. I thought more focus should be put on leaving her family and friends behind and missing them because that could have been extremely powerful.
It is a very interesting book to read culturally but otherwise it's just a bit monotonous.
Buy this book (it gives me commission and would be greatly appreciated)
A note on our stars (****): I am aware a lot of you are older readers but I did review a childs book recently and our demographic may be lower this month. In order to protect innocence I am starring everything. Thank you for your patience
UPDATE ON HOW MANY HAVE YOU READ POST: I have now read no. 16 bringing my score up to 21%.
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