Review: All Our Names

All Our Names by Dinaw Mengestu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I can appreciate that this book represents good writing but I just didn't love it. It is the story of a young man who escapes the war in Uganda (where he has become involved in the military) and lands in the Midwest. He begins a relationship with his social worker as he tries to adjust to life in America.

The story alternated between time in Uganda and current time - the latter told from the social worker's point of view. While some of the storytelling was unique, a lot of the plot was familiar if you've read a lot of African literature - how local militias come to power, impact on young people, who gets pulled into being a revolutionary and why.

To me, this was just a retelling of themes I had heard in the past. Not bad, just not unique.

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