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withlovesammy's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
elleceeveee's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
fatemamajed's review against another edition
4.0
Love the point of view, I found it pretty interesting to know about the daily lives of Palestinians and the problems they face due to war.
melbsreads's review against another edition
4.0
Trigger warnings: war and everything that goes along with it, death of a friend, PTSD.
For a book intended for young adults, this is...INCREDIBLY political. It's the story of a thirteen year old Palestinian girl growing up in the West Bank. So, like, it was always going to be an incredibly political story. But at the same time, I don't think it had really occurred to me just HOW political this was going to be. It definitely doesn't paint Israel in a good light, and it's definitely pushing a Palestinian perspective, which should come as no surprise to anyone given that the author is of Palestinian descent.
Most of the story takes place over a single day as the protagonist and her best friend try to make their way from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. Along the way, they encounter roadblocks (literally), people on both sides who go out of their way to help, and see how the other half live.
In some ways, it reminded me of The Hate U Give. The protagonist has facial scarring as the result of an incident that killed her childhood best friend, and moving through the checkpoints and seeing certain things on her journey is very triggering for her.
I wanted a more definitive ending than I got, but given the political situation in which the book is set, it was pretty naive of me to expect a definitive ending. It's not my favourite of her books, but it's definitely an interesting read that stabbed me right in the feels more times than I anticipated.
For a book intended for young adults, this is...INCREDIBLY political. It's the story of a thirteen year old Palestinian girl growing up in the West Bank. So, like, it was always going to be an incredibly political story. But at the same time, I don't think it had really occurred to me just HOW political this was going to be. It definitely doesn't paint Israel in a good light, and it's definitely pushing a Palestinian perspective, which should come as no surprise to anyone given that the author is of Palestinian descent.
Most of the story takes place over a single day as the protagonist and her best friend try to make their way from Bethlehem to Jerusalem. Along the way, they encounter roadblocks (literally), people on both sides who go out of their way to help, and see how the other half live.
In some ways, it reminded me of The Hate U Give. The protagonist has facial scarring as the result of an incident that killed her childhood best friend, and moving through the checkpoints and seeing certain things on her journey is very triggering for her.
I wanted a more definitive ending than I got, but given the political situation in which the book is set, it was pretty naive of me to expect a definitive ending. It's not my favourite of her books, but it's definitely an interesting read that stabbed me right in the feels more times than I anticipated.
nibs's review against another edition
4.0
I had been meaning to read a book about Palestine, and then I found this at bookfest, by a well-known Aussie YA author.
A good honest YA book. The characters were flawed but likeable.
A good honest YA book. The characters were flawed but likeable.
casbah's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this book, but the voice of the narrator was inconsistent and the end of the book was twenty pages past appropriate and I did not like it. Why end on the wedding of a sister we were never really given much of a reason to care about? Why not end when she makes it back to Bethlehem? More annoying, however, was the narrator who was supposed to be thirteen but sounded a lot more like nine most of the time. A very frustrating book overall -- it had a lot of potential that it failed to fulfill.
bookishbita's review against another edition
5.0
read for my undergrad thesis - great young novel for middle grade readers about important topics
fatimaarif's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes