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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
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:
No
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
The story of three generations of a Palestinian family, told from the perspectives of each of the generations over many decades. Beautifully written story about the Palestinian diaspora, though a bit hard to follow at first with all the characters and different dates.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
“Our mutiny is our remembering”
“We were all here”. I loved all the perspectives, but especially Alia, Atef and their children . I loved seeing everyone’s qualms and joys in life, with war always looming in the background and affecting their lives, whether they realized it fully or not. Even though Mustafa was killed early on in the book, learning more about his character through Atef and Alia’s eyes warmed my heart.
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Genocide, War
emotional
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:
Yes
Salt houses heartbreakingly gives us a glimpse of passed down generational trauma.
Each character is deeply upset by their circumstances, whether that’s the city that they’re living in, frustration towards themselves or their family members, or an anguish about the world.
I feel myself sharing their despair. The author Alyan has brilliantly created a believable family with deep flaws trapped in an endless cycle of moving from wars. I feel trapped within myself reading this. What hurts the most is how a person can understand their situation but not being able to change it or not want to. I appreciate seeing the journey of aging seeing how characters grow and change, the most interesting characters to me being Souad and her mother Alia’s flightiness/fire, Salma’s grandmotherliness and wisdom, Riham’s steadiness and introspection and unbending faith, Atef’s love, and Mustafa’s bravery.
She also puts such beauty on ordinary things, food, plants, laughter, tea, little interactions that make you feel better again.
This book will devastate you. You will fall in love with the characters, you will hope you can live amongst generations of your family.
I would highly recommend this book
Each character is deeply upset by their circumstances, whether that’s the city that they’re living in, frustration towards themselves or their family members, or an anguish about the world.
I feel myself sharing their despair. The author Alyan has brilliantly created a believable family with deep flaws trapped in an endless cycle of moving from wars. I feel trapped within myself reading this. What hurts the most is how a person can understand their situation but not being able to change it or not want to. I appreciate seeing the journey of aging seeing how characters grow and change, the most interesting characters to me being Souad and her mother Alia’s flightiness/fire, Salma’s grandmotherliness and wisdom, Riham’s steadiness and introspection and unbending faith, Atef’s love, and Mustafa’s bravery.
She also puts such beauty on ordinary things, food, plants, laughter, tea, little interactions that make you feel better again.
This book will devastate you. You will fall in love with the characters, you will hope you can live amongst generations of your family.
I would highly recommend this book