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junglejelly's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
4.75
I was absolutely blown away by this book. What an incredible debut!
The writing was great, the character development amazing and the scenery descriptions beautiful.
I was hooked from the start. What a story and what a range of topics explored and using characters who were complex but felt real.
I would thoroughly recommend this book.
The writing was great, the character development amazing and the scenery descriptions beautiful.
I was hooked from the start. What a story and what a range of topics explored and using characters who were complex but felt real.
I would thoroughly recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Violence
Moderate: Alcoholism, Grief, and Deportation
Minor: War, Islamophobia, and Suicidal thoughts
laurao's review against another edition
There are two protagonists. The modern one is entirely written in passive voice and never takes control of his life. The one in the past is a hypocrite. It was a grating read. I wanted a book to learn about the history of Uganda and someone recommended this book to me, but the subject matter in Uganda is very specific and I have no way to put it in context yet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia and Racism
Moderate: Classism, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Police brutality, Colonisation, Sexism, Racial slurs, and Deportation
Minor: Pregnancy, Violence, Murder, Blood, and Religious bigotry
The content warnings are all relevant to the story either as part of history or part of culture.remytherat's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
This story is told in two perspectives. The first, Sameer, an East African Asian lawyer, follows him just months before he's set to move for job; then his plans get changed quite dramatically. The second perspective is epistolary; it takes the form of letters written from Hasan (Sameer's grandfather) to his first wife, Amira.
This was an incredibly well-written story about identity, the nature of family, and the intergenerational effects of colonialism. The first half took a bit of time to get started, but the lyrical prose and characters who felt human made up for it.
The characters were really well written; Sameer's arc is well paced and has a realistic end. Sameer is a better person by the end of the book, but he isn't perfect.
While his arc is good, I ended up liking some of the side characters more than I liked Sameer; this, however, isn't really a bad thing. Annoying dudes™️ and bad people can still be really compelling characters, and Sameer really was. Zayyan's understanding of people felt really tangible the entire time I was reading.
The last third of the book is almost entirely dedicated to Sameer starting his juice start-up; I don't care about Business™️ at all, so that ended up being a bit of a slog to get through. Disappointingly, we learned very little about the actual juices.
This was an incredibly well-written story about identity, the nature of family, and the intergenerational effects of colonialism. The first half took a bit of time to get started, but the lyrical prose and characters who felt human made up for it.
The characters were really well written; Sameer's arc is well paced and has a realistic end. Sameer is a better person by the end of the book, but he isn't perfect.
While his arc is good, I ended up liking some of the side characters more than I liked Sameer; this, however, isn't really a bad thing. Annoying dudes™️ and bad people can still be really compelling characters, and Sameer really was. Zayyan's understanding of people felt really tangible the entire time I was reading.
The last third of the book is almost entirely dedicated to Sameer starting his juice start-up; I don't care about Business™️ at all, so that ended up being a bit of a slog to get through. Disappointingly, we learned very little about the actual juices.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Racial slurs, Racism, Deportation, and Hate crime
Moderate: Alcoholism, War, Religious bigotry, and Classism
Minor: Domestic abuse and Classism
whatannikareads's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
whew, i have soooooo many thoughts--as expected, i guess, for a book that's almost 400 pages. overall, i'm glad i read this book. i learned so much about ugandan history as well as east african asian presence, which i had no idea about beforehand. it's quite an informative book that was enjoyable to read and would be good for fans of generational stories like pachinko, homegoing, salt houses, etc., which is why i also initially picked up the book.
good stuff:
- the descriptions of uganda, especially in hasan's letters were gorgeous! i wish the book was overall written in the style of hasan's letters
- the novel tackled a lot of different cultures, relationships, and history, so it kept me hooked wanting to figure out what happened next
- the alternating storylines of the letters from the 20th century to Sameer's present day life was an interesting concept; it felt like it was all coming down to one point, the climax that would reveal how these two were intertwined
- i'm not religious, but the descriptions of sameer's reignited faith was very beautiful and hopeful. it was refreshing to read about practicing muslim in a positive light
not so good stuff:
- because hasan's letters were so beautifully written, i was confused why sameer's narrative style was so different. his chapters were so tell not show. i understand he's like a 20-30 something year old straight man, so i guess it's meant to reflect that?
- that being said, hasan's letters also didn't feel realistically written, as in one would not write a love letter 10 pages long with descriptions of miniscule actions, but that's one of the smaller bones to pick
- sameer and maryam's romance did feel a bit underdeveloped and rushed
- also i had a problem/was confused with sameer's fixation on black people's skin color? like idk why the author chose to describe characters' skin like that...sameer wants to shame his grandfather for racist remarks but he's talking about how shiny and nice his black friend's skin is??? i was just really confused
- the ending was so abrupt, i literally turned the page and was like, "...that's it?" i don't necessarilly have a problem with open endings but it just felt so jolted and the pacing was interrupted
overall i would read another one of this author's works! it's a really impressive piece of fiction for a debut novel.
good stuff:
- the descriptions of uganda, especially in hasan's letters were gorgeous! i wish the book was overall written in the style of hasan's letters
- the novel tackled a lot of different cultures, relationships, and history, so it kept me hooked wanting to figure out what happened next
- the alternating storylines of the letters from the 20th century to Sameer's present day life was an interesting concept; it felt like it was all coming down to one point, the climax that would reveal how these two were intertwined
- i'm not religious, but the descriptions of sameer's reignited faith was very beautiful and hopeful. it was refreshing to read about practicing muslim in a positive light
not so good stuff:
- because hasan's letters were so beautifully written, i was confused why sameer's narrative style was so different. his chapters were so tell not show. i understand he's like a 20-30 something year old straight man, so i guess it's meant to reflect that?
- that being said, hasan's letters also didn't feel realistically written, as in one would not write a love letter 10 pages long with descriptions of miniscule actions, but that's one of the smaller bones to pick
- sameer and maryam's romance did feel a bit underdeveloped and rushed
- also i had a problem/was confused with sameer's fixation on black people's skin color? like idk why the author chose to describe characters' skin like that...sameer wants to shame his grandfather for racist remarks but he's talking about how shiny and nice his black friend's skin is??? i was just really confused
- the ending was so abrupt, i literally turned the page and was like, "...that's it?" i don't necessarilly have a problem with open endings but it just felt so jolted and the pacing was interrupted
overall i would read another one of this author's works! it's a really impressive piece of fiction for a debut novel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Colonisation, Islamophobia, Racism, Deportation, Death, Bullying, Grief, Hate crime, War, and Xenophobia
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