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froggie022's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.25
madabf2007's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
wildgurl's review
4.0
A Hope More Powerful Than The Sun: One Refugees Incredible Story of Love, Loss and Survival.🍒🍒🍒🍒
By Melissa Fleming
2017
Wow!!
I can sum this story up in one word....wow! Doaa AL Zamel is the most brave, courageous and resilient woman I've read about in a long time. This true story of a Syrian refugee will blow your mind and open your eyes and heart to the refugee crisis and Syrian conflict.
The last chapter captures the extremes of humanity. I cried throughout this book. Amazing!!
By Melissa Fleming
2017
Wow!!
I can sum this story up in one word....wow! Doaa AL Zamel is the most brave, courageous and resilient woman I've read about in a long time. This true story of a Syrian refugee will blow your mind and open your eyes and heart to the refugee crisis and Syrian conflict.
The last chapter captures the extremes of humanity. I cried throughout this book. Amazing!!
enigmadame's review
3.0
Umm...wow. Box of Kleenex is a must. What a heart-wrenching, amazing, sadly believable tale.
specialk136's review
4.0
A great education for me about the refugee crisis, and even more important for putting a human face on it. I read this book thinking, "this could just as easily have been me." Or any of us, for that matter. Doaa and her family are victims of circumstances. She encounters terrible people who are out only for themselves, but also good people who show great kindness. If you don't want to invest in the whole book, there's a TED Talk about Doaa you can use as a starting point. This stuff is important.
ablotial's review
4.0
I would never have known about this book, except for the World Economic Forum Book club that's on Facebook. This was the June book, though it took me a bit longer than that to finish (two kids, y'all).
The book started a bit slow for me, but I guess the author wanted you to have lots of background about Doaa and her family. This was interesting and I learned a lot about Muslim society in Syria (and in general) -- the traditions around dating, engagement and marriage were especially interesting to me -- but it was kind of slow moving (as life often is). Additionally, their lives were SO different from mine I found it difficult to relate, even if it does help me understand them a little better (which was probably the point).
But of course, by the end, I was bawling. And I was reading this at work during my time in the nursing mother's room, so I'd have to go back to see my coworkers with my eyes all red and makeup streaked a bit. Meh.
Did it help me understand the "refugee crisis"? Somewhat. I don't think I would have taken the risk in her situation, but who knows. It's impossible to say without my having to live it, which I hope I never do.
Doaa was strong, but also very lucky... if you can call it lucky to watch hundreds of people (many children) dying all around you. What kept her alive when others died? It's hard to say. The book points to stubbornness, but I don't believe stubbornness can really stand up to hypothermia and dehydration. I imagine that experience will haunt her for the rest of her days. Was it worth it? I wonder. But I hope the remainder of her life in Sweden is all she could have wished for, and that she finds safety and love.
The book started a bit slow for me, but I guess the author wanted you to have lots of background about Doaa and her family. This was interesting and I learned a lot about Muslim society in Syria (and in general) -- the traditions around dating, engagement and marriage were especially interesting to me -- but it was kind of slow moving (as life often is). Additionally, their lives were SO different from mine I found it difficult to relate, even if it does help me understand them a little better (which was probably the point).
But of course, by the end, I was bawling. And I was reading this at work during my time in the nursing mother's room, so I'd have to go back to see my coworkers with my eyes all red and makeup streaked a bit. Meh.
Did it help me understand the "refugee crisis"? Somewhat. I don't think I would have taken the risk in her situation, but who knows. It's impossible to say without my having to live it, which I hope I never do.
Doaa was strong, but also very lucky... if you can call it lucky to watch hundreds of people (many children) dying all around you. What kept her alive when others died? It's hard to say. The book points to stubbornness, but I don't believe stubbornness can really stand up to hypothermia and dehydration. I imagine that experience will haunt her for the rest of her days. Was it worth it? I wonder. But I hope the remainder of her life in Sweden is all she could have wished for, and that she finds safety and love.
caiterlenbach's review against another edition
5.0
This true story about a Syrian refugee's journey was absolutely devastating and so so important to read. Thank you, Doaa Al Zamel for sharing your story, Melissa Fleming for taking such a horrific story and telling it so gracefully, and Flatiron Books for publishing it. This story needs to be shared, read, and talked about. This is so important.
lucy_qhuay's review
3.0
These kinds of books always make up an important and instructive read, however and much like a review I read stated, the author presented things with a certain detachment that stopped me from feeling more deeply about the terrible events described.
That being said, I think you would have more to gain than not.
It's a curious and terrible thing to think that while you are sitting in your home with whatever comforts you take for granted, thousands upon thousands of people, from all ages and social backgrounds are going through war, torture, suffering and all kinds of deprivation you might possibly think of.