Reviews

The Arsonists' City by Hala Alyan

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melodys_library's review against another edition

3.0

I don’t want to deter anyone from reading this, but overall, I liked this less than I thought I would.

I thought the author painted a great picture of the stark contrasts between daily lives and war in a war torn city. There may be fires, protests, violence and bombings, but for many, life goes on with regular old family drama, birthday parties, broken dreams, dancing in night clubs. She also has really poetic descriptions that really engage the senses.

It’s a thick book with a slow buildup. This is very character driven, so definitely stay away if you’re not here for that. Each chapter is written from the third person point of view of a different character, but they didn’t alternate in an appealing or really organized way for me. I also was only really interested in one character (Mazna), but I didn’t really form an emotional connection to anyone.

chloexcoy's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

eastpt's review

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emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

sherrise's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

shenanigans304's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Stunning book. Great char cter development. Well woven intergenerational tale.

tmdreads's review against another edition

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4.5

With messy family drama that is realistic in its complexity of relationships, This is an engaging literary fiction that speaks to the legacy of war and immigration.