Nafiza Azad

Probably the best read I have read this year so far. It's a book full of anger and much of it is righteous.
Interwoven in the story are those lives of girls that stay in the group. They begin with Paheli, a girl sold by her mother to a man for his use. Violated and despairing she runs and then she finds Taraana, a boy with stars in his eyes. He tosses her a box of stars, which allow her to go into the Between which is a place of magic and where you can travel between cities. She finds other lost souls and saves some, there are always some whose despair is too great. When they are done they can return to the ordinary world and age, but Paheli keeps on, the pivotal person in this group.
With the ability to travel is also the ability to see the magic beings that also inhabit the world and a scream of rage that will defeat many of them. Taraana is in danger and they feel that they must rescue him, partially because without him they can't access the Between, and that puts them in danger.
There was one passage that I just had to keep reading:
"Ever notice how many derogatory terms are actually words that describe female bodies? Yes, we are talking about words that you may have used yourself despite being a girl or a woman, perhaps not realizing that all you are doing is being complicit in the way the world recognizes women not as people but as bodies: bodies to objectify and to police.
Feminism isn't a four-letter word.
You know what is?
Rape."

It's a book full of range and of discovery and while it's told in a somewhat disjointed way with an unnamed narrator who can be judgemental. It also ecapsulates what can happen when people band together and at least try to do some good in the world. Where they could transform their pain and rage into something productive and have some agency. When I finished I was in awe of the writer and was torn between just starting again and letting it linger on my palette like a fine wine.… (mehr)

I really liked "The wild ones" Even if it waggers at some points, the writing style is incredibly beautiful, it's poetic and full of metaphors and it's exactly my style. I can understand if some don't like it, but I loved the long passages about being, feeling and identity, poetic writing without any dialogue, just describing and rephrasing.

The characters were interesting. There was something deep within them, even if you only briefly saw them, and it was beautiful. So all in all, I really, really liked this story for what it is and fo what it gives.… (mehr)