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Rose Of Sarajevo (2014)

by Ayşe Kulin(Favorite Author)

3.51 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1477824871 (ISBN13: 9781477824870)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

AmazonCrossing

review 1: while i enjoyed the book and it kept my attention, there were several things that I feel would improve my reading experience. i really needed some maps and guides detailing this complex region of the world. it was hard to follow the different land areas, religions, and political players. And I am incredibly disappointed that there was no epilogue giving me some closure on the fate of the main characters. The story just ended leaving me hanging.
review 2: I received this book in exchange for a review through netgalley. I recently went on a trip to Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia, and of course I knew about the Yugoslavian war before, but after this trip I got interested in learning more and wanted to read historical fiction set in this period. I was so excited ... moreto come across Rose of Sarajevo! The book gave me exactly what I wanted: I now know a lot more about the war than I did before. The book had a bit of a slow start for me. The first half involves a lot of history and politics, and it's not a smoothless part of the story, so that at times it feels more like a history book. I had the impression that I didn't have enough foreknowledge to fully understand everything and I had a lot of questions while reading, so I ended up doing a lot of research on the internet. I also found the book confusing at times, I knew only one or two of the people from history (Milosevic and Mladic), and I had a hard time remembering whether a certain person was a Croat, Serb, or Bosniak, and whether they were a president, minister, rebel leader or something else, and what their goal in this war was. I did appreciate the step by step account of the events leading up to and happening during the war though, and it is a meticulously researched book. I agree with previous reviewers that a map or timeline would be useful. Although I got used to the history and fiction being distinct parts (it was like the history was given, followed by an account of what was going on in the personal lives of the characters at that point) after a few chapters, I didn't feel very involved with the main characters. The second part of the book, however, I read in one go. There was much less of a history-book feel, a lot was happening in the lives of the fictional characters, and I felt more attached to them. The ending came a bit suddenly though, I didn't feel like the story was finished. All in all, a wonderful book that will teach you lots about the Yugoslavian war, but it definitely needs some effort and investment from the reader's side. less

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