Revue de presse
“Remarkable…Part of this impressive book’s power is that it manages to re-create and rupture that numbness, war’s tedium and the damage it does to memory, intimacy, thought and affection. At a time when so many of America’s best writers seem to be in retreat from realism, championing a return to genre fiction (zombies and ghosts, comic-book characters and thrillers), Boianjiu’s bracing honesty is tonic. It’s a tribute to Boianjiu’s artistry and humanity that she portrays those on both sides of the barbed wire as loved and feared. The People of Forever Are Not Afraid is a fierce and beautiful portrait of the damage done by war.” -The Washington Post
"A dark, riveting window into the mind-state of Israel's younger generation, The People of Forever Are Not Afraid marks the arrival of a brilliant writer." -Wall Street Journal
“With its blend of brutal hilarity and heart-stopping anguish, this is a brilliant debut novel.” –The Boston Globe
“[Boianjiu’s] voice is distinct. It’s confident, raw, amusing — a lot like her women.”
—The New York Times
“Stunning…[a] beautifully rendered account of the absurdities and pathos inherent to everyday life in Israel.” –Los Angeles Review of Books
“Boianjiu’s searing debut…draws from the author’s own experiences to render the absurdities of life and love on the precipice of violence.” –Vogue
“In her riveting debut novel, 25-year-old Shani Boianjiu gives a rare insider glimpse at what it’s like to be a girl coming of age in the famously fierce Israeli Defense Forces.” –Marie Claire
“In this Bildungsroman, life in the army initiates a metamorphosis from girl to woman…Boianjiu’s depiction of…the psyches of these young women is fascinating… The prose [reads] alternately like a nightmare and a dream, but this feverish indecision is what gives it its power.” –The Economist
“This powerful novel follows three friends as they come of age in a village – and then are enlisted into the Israeli Defense forces.” –O, The Oprah Magazine
“That one debut novel to get excited about.” –New York Magazine
“Must-read.” –Harper’s Bazaar
“Boianjiu builds a deeply engaging narrative...and shows considerable range, creating surreal, absurd dilemmas for her characters...a promising start to Boianjiu’s career” —Jewish Book Council
“Eye-opening and brutally honest...In this gripping debut, [Boianjiu] weaves together the familiar coming-of-age milestones such as sexual initiation, the fierce bonds of friendship and the need for independence with the shocking realities of military life—even beyond the battlefield.” –Bookpage
“[An] elegantly written debut novel…25-year-old Boianjiu, drawing on her own years with the IDF, has written the story of a people’s resignation to living in a world that’s been strange for so long, they can no longer remember how strange it is.” –The Forward
“An impressive debut…” —New York Post
“The extraordinarily gifted Shani Boianjiu has published a first novel that is tense and taut as a thriller yet romantic and psychologically astute….. Boianjiu writes with clarity about atrocity and the absurdity of endless war, but it’s her tender acceptance of human frailty that ultimately makes this novel so engrossing.” –More Magazine
“Boianjiu is clearly a gifted stylist and her first novel easily establishes her as a writer to watch.” —The Christian Science Monitor
“[A] tour de force…Powerfully direct…wonderfully vivid…more than just another promising debut from a talented young writer, [The People of Forever are not Afraid] warrants our full attention.” –Malibu Magazine
“The much-anticipated debut novel from 25-year-old Shani Boianjiu zigzags between the stories of three high-school friends, Yael, Avishag, and Lea, as they leave their small village on the Lebanese border to take up posts in the Israeli army… glimmers of humor and insight flash brightly in what is a brutally dark novel." –The Daily Beast
“The People of Forever Are Not Afraid provides a fine flavor of what Is
