Reviews with content warning for Grief - The Thirty Names of Night

The Thirty Names of Night is a rich, expansive, heart-opening novel. Our (initially) unnamed narrator is grieving his mother, seeking meaning in his art, and attempting to untangle a family secret. The novel moves between two voices: the present-day narrator and the artist Laila Z, whose journal entries he uncovers. With each diary entry he reads, our narrator comes closer to understanding his mother’s life and death, but he also comes closer to understanding (and embracing) himself and his transness. Joukhadar really masterfully weaves together past and present, creating a striking narrative of family, migration, and intergenerational queerness. Both timelines and narrators felt equally crucial to the story, which I think is really hard to achieve in a novel. I felt so connected to these characters and so invested in their journeys.

While this novel contains a lot of pain (from gender dysphoria to grief to racism and xenophobia), it’s full of love and beauty. The novel is rich with symbolism, birds and ghosts and paintings and flowers and secrets, scenes that took my breath away.

This was another book that allowed me to sit in the wise grief/wise joy that I’ve been reflecting on since I read Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar: “I hope that when there is laughter, it’s laughter made wise by having known real grief—and when there if grief, it is made wise by having known real joy.”

This is a novel about community, and how caring for each other and making art is a form of resistance. Moving from Syria to New York City to Dearborn, Michigan, the story explores how community ties are enshrined in structures, but how they also transcend buildings, places, and cities. Joukhadar also crafts a moving narrative of queer resilience across time and place. The novel’s cast of predominantly queer and trans characters carve out space and community and love and family for themselves, in deeply queer and deeply beautiful ways. Queer and trans people have always been here, and we always will be.

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jennswan's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

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purlewe's review against another edition

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emotional sad medium-paced

4.25

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rhi_'s review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

4.5

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sydneyl23's review

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emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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? No

4.0

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zombiezami's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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reading_mermaid's review

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

This is an incredible book, fullfullfull of emotion and heartache and hope and community.

It is incredibly well written and laid out with endearing, lovable characters. I so highly recommend it.

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apolloann's review

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I plan to come back to this, I'm just finding it very triggering ATM.

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