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cari1268's review
3.0
This book was a tough one to rate because there were things that I loved and hated about it. I'm still not sure if I would recommend anyone read it...
What I loved:
I loved the story's setting. This book is all about an Afghanistan family who moved to Australia and their experience in a refugee camp and assimilating into Australia. It was so very interesting to me because I felt like I got to learn about Australia and Afghanistan, two places that I know very little about. I enjoyed the characters and the family felt real to me. I liked reading the book through Nessa's voice and it was a very interesting journey.
What I hated:
The flashbacks! The first half of this book is smeared with flashback's from Nessa's life back in Afghanistan and her escape. The constant flashbacks are jarring to the story and aggravating to read. I felt like the story was constantly getting interrupted. The flashbacks were not told in any sort of order and often different flashback from the same experience were told. So a flashback of Nessa's experience using the restrooms on the ship from Indonesia to Australia would be told and then 100 pages later I might read about the storm that happened on the same ship. I don't understand why the author couldn't had three parts of this book and told Nessa's experience in Afghanistan and subsequent escape first. It would have made it a MUCH more enjoyable read and a much more suspenseful read as well. I didn't understand why this book ended where it ended either. It ended at a point where I was most curious to see how the characters dealt with a certain situation. In the end, I had to just be happy reading the afterward which told the reader what happened to the characters.
This story probably would have been rated four stars because of the interesting topic and likable characters. However, the flashbacks were so annoying that I wanted to rate it two stars. They significantly slowed down towards the end of the story and so I (hesitantly) decided to rate the book three stars.
What I loved:
I loved the story's setting. This book is all about an Afghanistan family who moved to Australia and their experience in a refugee camp and assimilating into Australia. It was so very interesting to me because I felt like I got to learn about Australia and Afghanistan, two places that I know very little about. I enjoyed the characters and the family felt real to me. I liked reading the book through Nessa's voice and it was a very interesting journey.
What I hated:
The flashbacks! The first half of this book is smeared with flashback's from Nessa's life back in Afghanistan and her escape. The constant flashbacks are jarring to the story and aggravating to read. I felt like the story was constantly getting interrupted. The flashbacks were not told in any sort of order and often different flashback from the same experience were told. So a flashback of Nessa's experience using the restrooms on the ship from Indonesia to Australia would be told and then 100 pages later I might read about the storm that happened on the same ship. I don't understand why the author couldn't had three parts of this book and told Nessa's experience in Afghanistan and subsequent escape first. It would have made it a MUCH more enjoyable read and a much more suspenseful read as well. I didn't understand why this book ended where it ended either. It ended at a point where I was most curious to see how the characters dealt with a certain situation. In the end, I had to just be happy reading the afterward which told the reader what happened to the characters.
This story probably would have been rated four stars because of the interesting topic and likable characters. However, the flashbacks were so annoying that I wanted to rate it two stars. They significantly slowed down towards the end of the story and so I (hesitantly) decided to rate the book three stars.
emlinthegremlin's review against another edition
4.0
This was a book that shaped my thinking on several topics as a ten year old. It truly changed the way I perceive the world. Rereading it was sort of like revisiting ten year old me - and all the thoughts that came with each paragraph.
Coming back to it again years after, I can start to pick faults in the book. It is not brilliantly written. I felt a little rushed in some parts. But in the end, I almost don't want to fault it. This book influenced me so much that to attempt to critique it feels almost ... treacherous.
I DID enjoy this read through! It was a personal, poignant tale of a girl in an Australian refugee camp, and the general awfulness that she had to endure. However, it does this carefully, without exaggerating. Because it was written in 2004 it can be very easy to think that it was so long ago, the camps aren't like that now. But somehow I think not much has changed for the better.
This is an in your face, confronting book that will make you consider your views on asylum seekers. I remember thinking clearly when I was ten that all Australians should read this book. I still think so.
Coming back to it again years after, I can start to pick faults in the book. It is not brilliantly written. I felt a little rushed in some parts. But in the end, I almost don't want to fault it. This book influenced me so much that to attempt to critique it feels almost ... treacherous.
I DID enjoy this read through! It was a personal, poignant tale of a girl in an Australian refugee camp, and the general awfulness that she had to endure. However, it does this carefully, without exaggerating. Because it was written in 2004 it can be very easy to think that it was so long ago, the camps aren't like that now. But somehow I think not much has changed for the better.
This is an in your face, confronting book that will make you consider your views on asylum seekers. I remember thinking clearly when I was ten that all Australians should read this book. I still think so.
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