Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold
- Downloads：4949
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-04-03 04:19:43
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Umar Turaki
- ISBN：B09BCLDM36
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
An inexplicable sickness。 A small town cut off from the world。 An unexpected community of survivors forges a family out of the despair， struggling against things known and unknown for survival and hope。
A mysterious plague known as the Grey grips the small village of Pilam， which the world has quarantined without pity。 Laying waste to Pilam’s residents， the Grey saps its victims of strength， drains the color from their eyes， and kills all promise until their last breath。 Only the young are immune。 But beyond the barricades and walls of soldiers—the manifestation of a nation’s terror—there are rumors of a cure。 Dunka， the eldest son of a family reeling from the Grey， takes on the daunting task of leaving Pilam to find that cure for his siblings and save them before it’s too late。
His siblings， however， have plans of their own。 Navigating the chaos of violence， hunger， and death， each of them tries to make sense of the bleak circumstances， forging new bonds with other juvenile survivors left to their own devices。 Now an unlikely family of six， they choose their own perilous paths， at first separately and then together， coming to terms with the decisions they make and the ghosts they cannot leave behind。
Umar Turaki’s gripping novel is a story of survival， love， and the human spirit’s tenacious capacity for wonder。
A mysterious plague known as the Grey grips the small village of Pilam， which the world has quarantined without pity。 Laying waste to Pilam’s residents， the Grey saps its victims of strength， drains the color from their eyes， and kills all promise until their last breath。 Only the young are immune。 But beyond the barricades and walls of soldiers—the manifestation of a nation’s terror—there are rumors of a cure。 Dunka， the eldest son of a family reeling from the Grey， takes on the daunting task of leaving Pilam to find that cure for his siblings and save them before it’s too late。
His siblings， however， have plans of their own。 Navigating the chaos of violence， hunger， and death， each of them tries to make sense of the bleak circumstances， forging new bonds with other juvenile survivors left to their own devices。 Now an unlikely family of six， they choose their own perilous paths， at first separately and then together， coming to terms with the decisions they make and the ghosts they cannot leave behind。
Umar Turaki’s gripping novel is a story of survival， love， and the human spirit’s tenacious capacity for wonder。
Reviews
Zachary Houle
，
If you thought that the only way you could get published through Amazon was through self-publishing means， think again。 You may not （or may） be aware of this， but Amazon does publish books， too。 They have a publishing concern， Little A， that takes agented books， so — in theory — you’re getting the same kind of quality fiction you would get through one of the other major publishers out there。 Little A is no hybrid publisher putting out dubious books。 Thus， it is with some sadness that I must admi If you thought that the only way you could get published through Amazon was through self-publishing means， think again。 You may not （or may） be aware of this， but Amazon does publish books， too。 They have a publishing concern， Little A， that takes agented books， so — in theory — you’re getting the same kind of quality fiction you would get through one of the other major publishers out there。 Little A is no hybrid publisher putting out dubious books。 Thus， it is with some sadness that I must admit that Nigerian writer Umar Turaki’s forthcoming book， Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold， is lacklustre。 While it has a brilliant premise — a COVID-like virus attacks a small town and only children are immune — it bakes it under a wealth of literary pretension， making it hard to read and is （surprising for a book with its share of violence） acutely boring as heck， as well。 It hurts me to say that because any time a person of colour gets a book published， it’s like a small victory against white privilege。 We need more books written by Black and brown people。 However， I do caution against publishing books from marginalized communities of writers for the sake of it — ideally， if you’re going to release a book， it had better be good。The problems with Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold are multiple。 It takes a while for the reader to realize that the book is set somewhere in Africa， as the novel otherwise has a fairy tale quality to it。 While most of the action takes place in a village called Pilam （of which the main characters seek to escape at the outset）， the surrounding villages also have the letter “P” starting their names， which can be a tad bit confusing to keep track of。 On a similar bent， the novel is stuffed to the gills with characters — so much so that it can be hard to tell them apart， especially as a number of these characters are narrators of the story from a third-person point of view。 While I understand that the bevy of characters is meant to buoy the novel’s conclusion — that it takes a village or a community to survive a pandemic， this ultimately only makes the novel hard to read。 Similarly， the novel does a lot of jumping backward and forwards through time， so you’ll encounter the same scene from a different character’s POV， too， in another chapter， which just only adds to the confusion。Read the entire review here: https://zachary-houle。medium。com/a-re。。。 。。。more
M W
，