Reviewed by pagingserenity on
The Bone Sparrow tells a story about a Burmese refugee, Subhi, and his life in an Australian detention center for refugees as well as Jimmie, a girl lost after the death of her mother.
The Bone Sparrow isn’t a perfect novel. But it still tells an important story that I think everyone should read, especially in the world we live in today. It’s very eye-opening as it touches on subjects that many people don’t really talk/know about. It wonderfully challenges the world’s perception of refugees and how they should be treated.
The story is beautifully written and wonderfully illustrates what happens to many refugees who are seeking asylum in other countries. The Bone Sparrow manages to seamlessly weave two different points of view to create one story.
The Bone Sparrow is definitely more character driven than anything else. While the plot is interesting to read about, the story holds a lot more meaning coming from Subhi’s point of view.
Thankfully, I found it quite easy to connect to Subhi. It was really easy to sympathize with him and his innocence was endearing and ultimately, at the end, heartbreaking. Jimmie, the other narrator, on the other hand, I had trouble with. While I could understand her presence in The Bone Sparrow (her character serves a good purpose), she was much more difficult to connect and sometimes I wondered if her story (or the role her character serves) could have been delivered in another way or if another vehicle could have been used in her place.
In conclusion, The Bone Sparrow tells a story everyone should read. The story was well crafted and the two points of view were nicely woven together. However, while I liked Subhi, I was disappointed that I didn’t like Jimmie nearly as much.
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Reading updates
- Started reading
- 31 August, 2016: Finished reading
- 31 August, 2016: Reviewed