bookswithboo 's review for:

Black Butterflies by Priscilla Morris
5.0
challenging dark emotional inspiring sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
đź“– Black Butterflies
✏️ Priscilla Morris
đź“ŤSarajevo, 1992
đź‘Ą Zora. Mirsad. Samir. Una. Lenka.
đź“Ž Historical Fiction

“We’re all walled-in women here,” Samir says. He shakes his head, wraps his arm round Lenka’s shoulder. “We’re being walled in stone by stone. By hunger, by cold, by fear.”

Set in the early months of the Siege of Sarajevo, this relatively short book packs a big emotional punch.

The early chapters read almost like a love letter to the city. The main character, Zora, is an artist and the author writes like we are seeing things through an artist’s eyes. It’s incredibly visual throughout. 

We also read of a city of love and tolerance - which makes what unfolds all the more difficult to read. You feel that loss of peace, beauty, innocence, security, dignity… It’s a brutal, wasteful war and so heartbreaking.

But it’s also a story of strength, of resilience and of love. Historical fiction at its best.