Reviews

C’est une belle histoire mais sans plus. Plus j’avançais dans la lecture, moins j’avais une envie de continuer.

Je reste tout de même insatisfait après la lecture de ce livre. Comme un goût d’inachevé ou de quelque chose qui manque. La relation entre Salma et sa sœur me paraissent toujours floue. Celle avec sa mère à la fin du livre n’est pas bien différente de son état au du livre…

daaani's review

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dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

jessehersh's review

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emotional medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

nogayourbroga's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective 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

4.25

Very, very close to being a favorite. Especially for literary, Lailami's prose is incredibly readable; I found myself unable to put this book down.

That said, the premise of the ensemble cast could have been handled a bit better. Nora was undeniably the main focus, being the daughter of the victim, but she and Jeremy sort of hogged the attention—to a point where there wasn't time to resolve other characters' arcs. In particular,

Efraín and Coleman

were left a bit by the wayside, with no real resolution—not even an ambiguous ending. It kind of feels like their stories end right before they resolve. I can kind of understand why, artistically, but it just feels like a letdown.

Then there's the cop stuff. For an author who ended her previous novel with the main character abandoning a system that would never accept him, seeing how the police were handled here really surprised me. Police brutality is addressed to an extent, but it's painted as "a few bad apples" rather than a corrupt system that needs drastic overhaul, if not abolition. And

Nora's decision to stay with her cop boyfriend who was, at the very least, a complicit witness to war crimes—that didn't sit right with me, especially since it's framed from his POV as then just having to work through their differences.

IDK, maybe I'm just too much of a leftist to fully enjoy this book. The resolution to the actual hit and run mystery is nicely done, though, as are the dynamics of the Guerraoui family. I like that it ended with Nora and her mom, too.

Ultimately, I think this book is best enjoyed if you voted for Biden and believe that we can reform our way to justice; those of you lefter than Bernie, though, should turn your brain off for a bit.

tdesy20's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious sad medium-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

4.0

ashliesydel's review

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

This is a thriller/mystery about a man who was killed in a hit and run and the reader gets to see the POV of everyone involved as well as past moments/words of the dead man.

His wife, daughter, the eyewitness who is too scared to come forward, the detective, a cop who isn't investigating the hit and run but keeps getting drawn in.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked the multiple POVS of the many people this death impacted. The FMC Nora is the daughter of the victim, and she was literally the only person I didn't care for. With that said my dislike for her didn't take away from this story or my enjoyment.

I just side eyed her thoughts and actions more than once.

Very good read would make an excellent drama series or movie adaptation.

eicart_reads's review against another edition

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mysterious reflective

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.25

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