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themoonphoenix's review against another edition
emotional
sad
tense
fast-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
5.0
thequeenreads's review against another edition
4.0
Reading this book will break your heart. It was intense and eye opening. It makes you want to wish that this doesn't happen to people in real life.
mrspenningalovesbooks's review
5.0
This modern retelling of Romeo & Juliet explores tradition, Taliban, and tragedy in Afghanistan. Three different narrators share the story of two families and their differences as well as their similarities. I loved the complexity in Rashid and how characters’ actions helped to change his viewpoints. I also found it fascinating that one’s actual behaviors didn’t create the crime, but the possibility of it happening. Sami & Fatima were judged for a crime they didn’t commit, but their being alone was guilt enough. Such a good book swap read! I recommend, but have tissues ready! It’s a tragic love story worth reading!
“No matter how far you go in this world, you leave your heart with your loved ones. But when you take those you love out of your heart, you fall into this dangerous insanity that you may not be able to come out of.”
“When we receive this kind of love, we have to make sure that we keep it locked safe in our hearts, where no one can touch it, because it’s the one thing that belongs to us, and us alone.”
“This is love- to fly to a secret sky.”
“No matter how far you go in this world, you leave your heart with your loved ones. But when you take those you love out of your heart, you fall into this dangerous insanity that you may not be able to come out of.”
“When we receive this kind of love, we have to make sure that we keep it locked safe in our hearts, where no one can touch it, because it’s the one thing that belongs to us, and us alone.”
“This is love- to fly to a secret sky.”
anne_abundantcolors's review against another edition
3.0
I expected to love this book, but just couldn't. It is well-written and a quick read. The big question of, "Was it worth it?" is the question that is sticking with me. How would Fatima and Sami answer that question. I also walk away from this book with admiration for people like Mulla Sardar who have kept peace and love in their hearts despite the hate and chaos that swirls around them. The book does a great job of portraying how violence has ruined so many lives-both the lives of the victims and the perpetrators. I do not think I learned much about the traditions of the Pashtuns or Hazaras or much about the beauty of Afganistan.
jmitch2120's review against another edition
1.0
I did not like this book. At all. Not only was it poorly written, but the summary doesn't give you any warning for how horrifying it is. Maybe I'm ignorant, but the summary I read portrayed this book as a modern day Romeo and Juliet.
Instead I got Fatima's own mother pouring boiling hot water on her arms, to the point to where here muscles were exposed, and her three year old sister's neck being snapped. I stopped there. I could not finish.
Instead I got Fatima's own mother pouring boiling hot water on her arms, to the point to where here muscles were exposed, and her three year old sister's neck being snapped. I stopped there. I could not finish.
msethna's review against another edition
5.0
Wow! Not what I imagined this book to be about. One of the most unforgettable stories of the year. For more info check out my book review at http://bookstechcoachingandmore.blogspot.com/2014/12/book-review-secret-sky-novel-of.html .
saribee's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Religious bigotry, Murder, Child death, War, and Violence
lazygal's review against another edition
3.0
Yet another "Romeo & Juliet"-esque story, this time against the setting of Afghanistan and the threat of the Taliban. She's from the Hazara tribe, daughter of a peasant farmer who works land owned by a Pashtun khan. He's the beloved son of the Pashtun landlord, and they grew up together, friends until puberty and he went to a madrassas. In such a proscribed society, can their love flourish? Add to the mix his cousin, a Taliban member. Sadly, the plot doesn't deviate from the usual.
It's the injection of Afghanistan and its tribes, tribal customs that differentiates this from the normal R&J story. If only Rashid (the Taliban cousin) had been slightly different, this would have been a four-star.
ARC provided by publisher.
It's the injection of Afghanistan and its tribes, tribal customs that differentiates this from the normal R&J story. If only Rashid (the Taliban cousin) had been slightly different, this would have been a four-star.
ARC provided by publisher.
sdurr's review against another edition
4.0
This book has been sitting on my YA shelf for almost a year. Because I had nothing else appropriate on my shelves, I grabbed it on the way out the door yesterday for some light bus reading. Was I surprised!
Yes, it's a quick and easy read for me; I breezed through it in a day. But the content was far heavier than I imagined it would be. As I always, I love books that give me characters I truly care about.
Since Sami and Fatima's story share some characteristics of Romeo and Juliet's, I hoped their love story would not with the same useless tragedy. There is tragedy in this novel but Sami and Fatima do not cause the tragedy. Yes. They have the families on opposite sides of a long-running conflict but the families do not have the Montague and Capulet animosity. Yes. They have their version of Friar Laurence but the Mullah is a wise advisor and rather a hero of the story for me. There's even a Paris parallel but he is not the villain of our story. There are many villains -- the one we suspect from the beginning and others we don't expect -- but the worse of them is also the flattest character highlighted in the story. The others are multi-dimensional and very real.
The story and the characters are far more complex than this simple story suggests on the surface -- as complex as the political chaos of modern-day Afghanistan, the setting of the novel.
Abawi almost makes me understand that complex reality of this war-torn country. The only flaw: the only happy ending is escape. I suppose this is a tragedy after all.
Yes, it's a quick and easy read for me; I breezed through it in a day. But the content was far heavier than I imagined it would be. As I always, I love books that give me characters I truly care about.
Since Sami and Fatima's story share some characteristics of Romeo and Juliet's, I hoped their love story would not with the same useless tragedy. There is tragedy in this novel but Sami and Fatima do not cause the tragedy. Yes. They have the families on opposite sides of a long-running conflict but the families do not have the Montague and Capulet animosity. Yes. They have their version of Friar Laurence but the Mullah is a wise advisor and rather a hero of the story for me. There's even a Paris parallel but he is not the villain of our story. There are many villains -- the one we suspect from the beginning and others we don't expect -- but the worse of them is also the flattest character highlighted in the story. The others are multi-dimensional and very real.
The story and the characters are far more complex than this simple story suggests on the surface -- as complex as the political chaos of modern-day Afghanistan, the setting of the novel.
Abawi almost makes me understand that complex reality of this war-torn country. The only flaw: the only happy ending is escape. I suppose this is a tragedy after all.