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khuizenga's review against another edition
3.0
I really enjoyed parts of this book, like the adventuring that all the cousins got into and also getting a glimpse into a culture that I know practically nothing about. Otherwise though this book felt a bit disjointed. I appreciate the message of the power of stories and the way that in order to convey that all sorts of stories were woven through the book, but at times it became difficult to tell who was an extended member of the family, who was a memory, and who was a fable. Parts of this were downright beautiful, and other parts were a bit slow or halting, but I feel like I learned a lot.
annecarts's review against another edition
DNF
This was an advanced copy on Kindle and whilst there are sometimes errors with these the formatting on this made it very difficult to read. It took me ages to read one sentence as some words were on different lines and missing letters. There were also lots of words and terms that English readers would need help with. This is hopefully all fixed in the published edition.
I managed to get part way through but couldn't get into the story and didn't enjoy the animal abuse theme.
Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
This was an advanced copy on Kindle and whilst there are sometimes errors with these the formatting on this made it very difficult to read. It took me ages to read one sentence as some words were on different lines and missing letters. There were also lots of words and terms that English readers would need help with. This is hopefully all fixed in the published edition.
I managed to get part way through but couldn't get into the story and didn't enjoy the animal abuse theme.
Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
erzbetclark's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
jessorella's review against another edition
I had to put this one down - I got a third of the way through it (somewhat forced) and I just could not find myself enjoying it. That being said, some of the writing is really lyrical.
faithtrustpixiedust's review against another edition
3.0
I received this ARC from Viking via Goodreads Giveaways in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of this book in any way. All quotes are taken from the uncorrected proof and are subject to change.
November 8th update: I finally figured out how to translate the mystery Pashto chapter thanks to Google Lens, but it didn't really answer my question. I'm gonna get someone to doublecheck it for me to make sure the translation was legit or not, but I'm slightly disappointed. But hey, at least I know what it kinda says! Better than nothing! update over
June 4th update: I've decided to up my rating from 2 to 3 stars, the reason being that I've just been thinking about this book a lot, and (while I still don't know what that one chapter said), this book really stuck with me, especially after I read the Hobbit, and realized what that weird dream about food was all about. update over
This book was a bit of a trip. I feel like I spent 99 nights just trying to read it.
Obligatory Summary
Marwand is a 12 year old traveling from America to Afghanistan, his homeland, right in the middle of relative peace during the Afghan-American war in the early 2000s following 9/11. There he meets his extended family—his aunts and uncles and cousins, his grandmother and grandfather—hearing their tales of love, war, and innocence lost. He also meets the family dog, Budabash, who bites off the tip of his finger and, several days later, runs away.
Marwand and his buddies go on the hunt, against their older relatives orders, and find themselves trapped in a strange battle with incurable land-induced seasickness, unending hunger, and abandoned mazes that end in darkness.
The Writing (and Worldbuilding?) and Characters
It kind of pains me to rate this so low. It really wasn't that bad, to be completely honest with you, and I've rated worse books higher, but its particular sins made this reading experience unnecessarily difficult, and so that greatly influence my ultimate review.
This book seemed to take this quote to heart. The narrator was so unreliable, the divide between magical realism and straight up fantasy so blurry, I had such a hard time making sense of anything.
A strength of the book was the immersion and the characters. While I got confused a lot about the terminology, being a white girl from the USA, and that terminology was explained once, if at all, I did get the hang of things and actually appreciated the conversational feel the immersion gave the novel. I loved all the characters and felt that they added some realism to the story (for the most part). I really liked Marwand's family and their dynamic, especially his buddies, Zia, Gulbuddin, and Dawood. They all brought something unique to the story. Jawed the Thief was iconic. He gave it such a storybook, fairytale quality and seemed to be the only person who knew what was going on. I sure didn't.
The plot was paced oddly but in a way that felt like natural tangents and asides, like Marwand was with me regaling me with his strange tale. It reminded me a lot of The Life of Pi in that way.
Another book it reminded me of was The God of Small Things, which isn't a compliment. That book was so confusing and strange, which such a weird and actually quite disgusting ending, that I had no idea what any of it meant. And so was the case with this book, but significantly less disgusting (though the blatant animal abuse didn't help). I was trying to piece together the meaning but was at such a loss. I'm entirely unsure what any of it was supposed to mean, and if some events even happened or not.
Now here comes the biggest sin, and I'm not sure if it'll be this way in the fully released version, but I'm rating what I was given.
That 3 page reveal of a secret that had been hinted at for the entire book, that I was so extremely anticipating. It wasn't in English. No translation was given. The next chapter doesn't reference it or explain anything. It's all in Pashto and I CANNOT READ PASHTO. I have a friend who reads Urdu, but she obviously cannot help me. If anyone here reads Pashto (my friend is pretty sure it's Pashto), please help me. I wanna know what freaking happened to the uncle. (I'd translate it all myself that would take a million years.)
Conclusion
This is being referred to as a middle grade novel and I have to wonder if the people calling it that have ever read middle grade novels before. Or ever been 12. Just because the protagonist is 12 all throughout, and just because the back of the book says it's a "coming-of-age" doesn't mean this is middle grade by any means. This is literary fiction in all its messy glory.
Honestly this was a 4 star book bogged down by 1 star issues until what was good was only annoying in its decency when what was bad took center stage. I think Jamil Jan Kochai is very promising and I'm intrigued by what else he has to offer (as long as it's all in a language I can actually read).
Read this review and more on my blog here!
November 8th update: I finally figured out how to translate the mystery Pashto chapter thanks to Google Lens, but it didn't really answer my question. I'm gonna get someone to doublecheck it for me to make sure the translation was legit or not, but I'm slightly disappointed. But hey, at least I know what it kinda says! Better than nothing! update over
June 4th update: I've decided to up my rating from 2 to 3 stars, the reason being that I've just been thinking about this book a lot, and (while I still don't know what that one chapter said), this book really stuck with me, especially after I read the Hobbit, and realized what that weird dream about food was all about. update over
This book was a bit of a trip. I feel like I spent 99 nights just trying to read it.
"During the whole length of the battle, I was scared of hiding and becoming caught. Of running and being hit. Of shooting and becoming a killer. And all my fears warred inside of me, until they massacred one another, so that it wasn't courage that let me fight, but the death of my fear."
Obligatory Summary
Marwand is a 12 year old traveling from America to Afghanistan, his homeland, right in the middle of relative peace during the Afghan-American war in the early 2000s following 9/11. There he meets his extended family—his aunts and uncles and cousins, his grandmother and grandfather—hearing their tales of love, war, and innocence lost. He also meets the family dog, Budabash, who bites off the tip of his finger and, several days later, runs away.
Marwand and his buddies go on the hunt, against their older relatives orders, and find themselves trapped in a strange battle with incurable land-induced seasickness, unending hunger, and abandoned mazes that end in darkness.
The Writing (and Worldbuilding?) and Characters
It kind of pains me to rate this so low. It really wasn't that bad, to be completely honest with you, and I've rated worse books higher, but its particular sins made this reading experience unnecessarily difficult, and so that greatly influence my ultimate review.
"It's okay to change a story a little if you make it better. And heroes and love, they always make things better. Otherwise, you know, what's the point?"
This book seemed to take this quote to heart. The narrator was so unreliable, the divide between magical realism and straight up fantasy so blurry, I had such a hard time making sense of anything.
A strength of the book was the immersion and the characters. While I got confused a lot about the terminology, being a white girl from the USA, and that terminology was explained once, if at all, I did get the hang of things and actually appreciated the conversational feel the immersion gave the novel. I loved all the characters and felt that they added some realism to the story (for the most part). I really liked Marwand's family and their dynamic, especially his buddies, Zia, Gulbuddin, and Dawood. They all brought something unique to the story. Jawed the Thief was iconic. He gave it such a storybook, fairytale quality and seemed to be the only person who knew what was going on. I sure didn't.
"Even ghosts need company," Jawed said.
The plot was paced oddly but in a way that felt like natural tangents and asides, like Marwand was with me regaling me with his strange tale. It reminded me a lot of The Life of Pi in that way.
Another book it reminded me of was The God of Small Things, which isn't a compliment. That book was so confusing and strange, which such a weird and actually quite disgusting ending, that I had no idea what any of it meant. And so was the case with this book, but significantly less disgusting (though the blatant animal abuse didn't help). I was trying to piece together the meaning but was at such a loss. I'm entirely unsure what any of it was supposed to mean, and if some events even happened or not.
"Ever since that night on the road beneath the mulberry tree, all day and night all I can think about is how God will punish me. Or. How He won't. That scares me too. That scares me more. But Marwand, the cows weren't scared. They were dying, and they knew they were dying, but they were at peace. There was no hate in them. No doubt. They just breathed until they couldn't. The waters rose until it stopped. I was the only one floating."
Now here comes the biggest sin, and I'm not sure if it'll be this way in the fully released version, but I'm rating what I was given.
That 3 page reveal of a secret that had been hinted at for the entire book, that I was so extremely anticipating. It wasn't in English. No translation was given. The next chapter doesn't reference it or explain anything. It's all in Pashto and I CANNOT READ PASHTO. I have a friend who reads Urdu, but she obviously cannot help me. If anyone here reads Pashto (my friend is pretty sure it's Pashto), please help me. I wanna know what freaking happened to the uncle. (I'd translate it all myself that would take a million years.)
Conclusion
This is being referred to as a middle grade novel and I have to wonder if the people calling it that have ever read middle grade novels before. Or ever been 12. Just because the protagonist is 12 all throughout, and just because the back of the book says it's a "coming-of-age" doesn't mean this is middle grade by any means. This is literary fiction in all its messy glory.
Honestly this was a 4 star book bogged down by 1 star issues until what was good was only annoying in its decency when what was bad took center stage. I think Jamil Jan Kochai is very promising and I'm intrigued by what else he has to offer (as long as it's all in a language I can actually read).
"It's a terrible, terrible thing, my little bird. It's like waking up one morning without a limb or an organ. Without your lungs. Your liver. Your skin."
Read this review and more on my blog here!
jacquie_macmullin's review against another edition
1.0
I couldn’t finish it. I hated it. There was way too much foreign vocab that I didn’t know the meaning of. Having to Google every page gets old quick. There was a million different people and it became impossible to keep track of them. I would have appreciated a glossary and a family tree to reference.
_askthebookbug's review against another edition
3.0
99 nights in Logar.
~
@bloomsburyindia was super kind to send this lovely book.
~
99 nights in Logar is a book that beautifully describes Afghanistan and Islamic faith. The book begins with a streak of adventure when Marwand along with his cousins head out to find the missing wolf dog, Budabash. Marwand loses his finger when he extends his hand towards the dog and even the injured stub of his finger is narrated in great detail. Though I enjoyed the book, it was quite confusing to remember all the names and nicknames since they had mostly to do with native language.
~
The narration is wonderful and almost poetic as little Marwand talks about his culture and the people in his joint family. The author even takes time out to talk about Talibans and Americans back when they had bases in the country. Couple of things did upset me, one of them being how the mistreatment of animals has been openly written. The book proceeds slowly and might often make readers to abandon it in the middle. One other thing that bothered me was the ending where an entire chapter has been written in Arabic (I'm guessing it to be) or the local language with no translation provided. I didn't know what to make of it but couldn't help but wonder about the author's intention behind this work.
~
This book will definitely fascinate people in ways as it often does when one talks about tradition and family values. It has a subtle resemblance to the writing style of Arabian nights and it's very clear that the author has a splendid way of describing things and people that makes you miss your homeland.
~
Rating - 3/5.
~
@bloomsburyindia was super kind to send this lovely book.
~
99 nights in Logar is a book that beautifully describes Afghanistan and Islamic faith. The book begins with a streak of adventure when Marwand along with his cousins head out to find the missing wolf dog, Budabash. Marwand loses his finger when he extends his hand towards the dog and even the injured stub of his finger is narrated in great detail. Though I enjoyed the book, it was quite confusing to remember all the names and nicknames since they had mostly to do with native language.
~
The narration is wonderful and almost poetic as little Marwand talks about his culture and the people in his joint family. The author even takes time out to talk about Talibans and Americans back when they had bases in the country. Couple of things did upset me, one of them being how the mistreatment of animals has been openly written. The book proceeds slowly and might often make readers to abandon it in the middle. One other thing that bothered me was the ending where an entire chapter has been written in Arabic (I'm guessing it to be) or the local language with no translation provided. I didn't know what to make of it but couldn't help but wonder about the author's intention behind this work.
~
This book will definitely fascinate people in ways as it often does when one talks about tradition and family values. It has a subtle resemblance to the writing style of Arabian nights and it's very clear that the author has a splendid way of describing things and people that makes you miss your homeland.
~
Rating - 3/5.
agreco92's review
adventurous
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
onesime's review against another edition
5.0
An excellent maze of stories that give an incredible sense for the proximity of humanity and horror in a war-torn country