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jenmangler's review
3.0
Doaa's story is a powerful one, though the writing often seemed detached. Despite that flaw, the book helped me understand the crisis in Syria and how it has impacted its citizens better, and that's a good thing.
melissacushman's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
4.0
alidottie's review
4.0
4 and a half stars
Anyone who doesn't realize that our world is experiencing an extreme refugee crisis or who does but doesn't think we should be helping refugees should read this short book. And after reading about Doaa's experiences if a person still doesn't feel like the world should help these destitute people then their heart is made of stone!!
Doaa doesn't want to live in Egypt or Greece or Sweden. She wants to live in the land she loves--Syria. Unfortunately, they are bombing buildings and killing millions of their own people. How would that feel? I love Sis Burton's question--ask yourself: What if their story was my story?
Anyone who doesn't realize that our world is experiencing an extreme refugee crisis or who does but doesn't think we should be helping refugees should read this short book. And after reading about Doaa's experiences if a person still doesn't feel like the world should help these destitute people then their heart is made of stone!!
Doaa doesn't want to live in Egypt or Greece or Sweden. She wants to live in the land she loves--Syria. Unfortunately, they are bombing buildings and killing millions of their own people. How would that feel? I love Sis Burton's question--ask yourself: What if their story was my story?
cari1268's review
4.0
This was an incredible story and I'm blown away by Doaa's strength. I'm heartbroken for the refugees in Syria and puzzled over the solution to such a complex problem. I feel like I learned a lot from this book and I'm grateful that Doaa was willing to share her story. I felt slightly traumatized reading about her experiences. I can't imagine living them.
While I appreciated the story, I wasn't a fan of the writing. It was very straightforward and simple, almost like it was written for middle grade or a young YA. (As far as I can tell, it wasn't written for those age ranges.) It prevented me from feeling fully immersed in the story.
I also feel like this story could have waited ten years to be written. This feels like a three act story where only two are complete and the third is just starting. I'm eagerly waiting a follow up book on how Doaa acclimated to Sweden and how/when she earned her law degree.
3.5 Stars.
While I appreciated the story, I wasn't a fan of the writing. It was very straightforward and simple, almost like it was written for middle grade or a young YA. (As far as I can tell, it wasn't written for those age ranges.) It prevented me from feeling fully immersed in the story.
I also feel like this story could have waited ten years to be written. This feels like a three act story where only two are complete and the third is just starting. I'm eagerly waiting a follow up book on how Doaa acclimated to Sweden and how/when she earned her law degree.
3.5 Stars.
alysoncochrane's review
3.0
While I enjoyed learning about Doaa and her fight, the writing style is what kept this at a 3 for me. A definite must read for those who are convinced we shouldn’t help refugees; the book leaves you wishing you could do more immediately to help and save those who are stranded.
calhounk15's review
3.0
Such a powerful story. I did skim parts of the book, finding some of the details cumbersome. The story emphasized family. I did struggle to maintain a consistent family tree in my head as new family members were introduced.
lhunt54's review
4.0
I love memoirs. They go so far in helping us understand how other people see the world. The book does have a political spin in the afterward, which I can understand, but the rest of the book is dedicated to telling Doaa's remarkable story as a Syrian refugee. Regardless of your stance on any political issues surrounding Syria and its extensive refugee crisis, anyone can benefit from understanding what terrible ordeals some people have to go through while trying to escape hardships they did not create.
audaciaray's review
3.0
This book is extremely readable and though it's obviously a book that is a work of propaganda to make readers have empathy for Syrian refugees, that's not a bad thing. Doaa's story is incredible and there are a lot of intense details, which the author seems to have gathered through lots of interviews with Doaa, interviews that were translated. The author works in communications at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, so she has an eye for this kind of story. She wrote the book in her personal capacity and donated "most of the proceeds" (as she says in the acknowledgments) to support refugees. I think it's a powerful book, as an individual example of the hardships Syrians are facing in their country and as refugees. It made me think a lot about the ways that individual stories are brokered for empathy and human rights causes (and that's certainly something I have done in my work) - in the international context the problematic nature of this appears much balder. I believe that Fleming is a strong advocate for the rights of refugees. But I also believe that Doaa traded her story, in a conscious, transactional way to get the status she needed for herself and her family. And that's not bad - actually it's kind of great. Hustlers gotta hustle. But the potential for that specific hustle is limited to folks with exceptional stories that get told on a large platform, and may not necessarily mean that legal and economic rights (forget empathy) will be extended to more refugees as a result.
kaymarieplz's review
5.0
I cried through the last 100 pages of this book. absolutely gut wrenching and heartbreaking. I feel even more ashamed of how our country is treating refugees after her story.