Reviews

Originally born in Syria then growing up in the US, Dima Alzayat pulls from her own identities as a Syrian immigrant woman to give us stories in Alligator that explore one or several of these identifiers in both the past and present. She focuses especially on time, history, and the connection between generations to ask questions of inheritance and familial myths and constructs and what change looks like if it’s happening at all. Her stories dig into loss through death or distance. Characters mourn a lack of physical presence, but more importantly they mourn the loss of narrative, the stories that get cut short or are never told, stories that might help those left behind understand their own selves better. Wrapped up in these stories is memory. Sometimes stories are all we have to pass down because they can’t be taken away, lost, or destroyed like a photo or house or keepsake can be. Several of Alzayat’s stories play with form and perspective in ways that are sometimes subtle, sometimes bold. “Alligator” does both by alternating between different characters’ accounts that appear as plain, normal text, social media posts, correspondence, and various historical records, usually newspaper clippings or court transcripts, some of which are real. This collection does the two most important things in fiction: it tells interesting stories and tells them in interesting ways, ways that challenge the reader and story itself. Alzayat finds the human whether she’s writing about 9/11 or #MeToo, and the honest and human will always outlast time.

sophiavass's review

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

fates_fables_golem's review

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious sad fast-paced

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

5.0

anneke_b's review

Go to review page

4.0

Great collection of short stories, that were very different, but very impactful in their own way. Loved that the writing style between the stories differed.

Looking forward to reading more by this author

thatothernigeriangirl's review

Go to review page

challenging funny informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed almost all of the stories except for Alligator — which was eye opening in terms of race relations in America, but ultimately disappointing.
I liked the experimental mode many of the stories took on , even Alligator that I didn’t like as much. The Syrian-in-Diaspora experience was quite visible even when I felt like Alzayat ensured to not limit her characters to just Syrians — I appreciated that.
Also really love the gentleness with which she describes various Islamic rituals, even janazah, 👌🏾

tjmitrovic's review

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

shonatiger's review

Go to review page

4.0

3.5, rounding up.

Stories and mini reviews:

Ghusl

Incredibly hard read. A woman washes her dead brother. Was hard for me to stomach.

Daughters of Manāt

Cw Suicide.

Disappearance

A very moving story about a boy and his younger brother with special needs, set when Etan Patz disappeared. (I nearly cried.) A beautiful portrayal of the confusion and innocence of childhood.

Only Those Who Struggle Succeed

(Spoiler) A #MeToo story. Took a few minutes to gel for me, but I got so involved and so mad and then really truly incensed, and I’m so glad there was resolution.

But more than that, she longed to tell the young woman to carry fire, soon and often, to tell the others, and to set alight everything she saw, to waste no time burning all her bridges down.

In the Land of Kan’an

…

Alligator

I watched an interview with the author where she talked about the construction of Whiteness by Arab Americans, and also about the structure of this story (unusual in that it feels like collected archival material). That makes it interesting.

Summer of the Shark

(spoiler) … is about 9/11.

Once We Were Syrians

Had a hard time with this, which story was actually the reason I moved the book up my tbr list, as it was featured in Week 3 of the course I’m on. The course says this is dialogue, but it reads like a slightly confusing monologue (which is good writing, actually, because old ladies can seem confusing when they talk to their grandkids).

A Girl in Three Acts

is about a girl, is lonely, and is beautiful.

Conclusion: Gut-churning start to the anthology, bumpy in parts, but ends beautifully.

More...