Where We Once Belonged by Sia Figiel 1 star

[Karin]

This book won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Fiction in South East Asia and Pacific (1997) so I was excited about reading my first Samoan novel written by a Samoan woma. There is no doubt this novel deserves the pr ize, but it is dark and violent--on the back cover the word brutal is used for the story--and so not something I enjoyed. It is a coming of age story of Alofa who starts at 13 but much of this book is when she is close to 17, and yet some of it is from many different times. Some of it is told in poetry, although it is a novel. Some of it is told in the traditional Samoan story telling style which to a Pacific Northwest born and raised person is difficult to follow at times, not to mention that the little glossary was woefully inadequate, even though there were times when translation was given.

Alofa (which means love) lives in a part of Samoan culture (not sure if this prevailed all over Samoa) where beating one's wife and children seems to have been quite acceptable, among other violence.

I can't give lower than one star, but really, Sia Figiel writes very well, so that star is full of praise for her ability to write, I just did not like it.

[KateNZ]

It would be interesting to read this even if it’s dark. I wonder if it’s more accessible to someone from the South Pacific, as we are.

[Karin]

KateNZ wrote: "It would be interesting to read this even if it’s dark. I wonder if it’s more accessible to someone from the South Pacific, as we are."

I would think it probably would be. The writing is excellent.

[Book Concierge]

Karin wrote: "I can't give lower than one star, but rea..."

You can actually "give" zero stars by not clicking ANY stars ... just write your review. HOWEVER ....

When you do this, the Goodreads algorithm that determines "average rating" does not count your ZERO. When I realized that, I started giving 1 star and then just starting my review with "ZERO Stars" .... This way my 1-star affects the book's overall average rating. I also use a "zero stars" tag.

[Karin]

Book Concierge wrote: "Karin wrote: "I can't give lower than one star, but rea..."

You can actually "give" zero stars by not clicking ANY stars ... just write your review. HOWEVER ....

When you do this, the Goodreads a..."

Good to know, but she does write well. I have started my reviews with 1/2 star before, though.