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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
Stellar. Loved the parallel storytelling structure of Rawiya’s adventures and Nour’s escape. Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar paints a rich picture of Syria and the lands these brave young women cross through.
adventurous
emotional
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:
Complicated
Um misto de dor e poesia
Um livro lindo, sublime e poético, mesmo carregando em si tanta dor e tristeza. Nour e Rawiya atravessam séculos e desertos em suas jornadas, ligadas por um destino que ecoa na história dos povos migrantes.
A escrita é delicada, repleta de imagens sensoriais que fazem cada cena pulsar com cores, cheiros e emoções.
Apesar da perda e do deslocamento, há uma beleza na forma como o livro constrói suas personagens e seus caminhos. É uma leitura que dói, mas encanta, transformando sofrimento em resistência e memória.
Um mapa desenhado com sal e estrelas, é efêmero e eterno ao mesmo tempo ? uma história que se dissolve ao toque, mas nunca desaparece.
Um livro lindo, sublime e poético, mesmo carregando em si tanta dor e tristeza. Nour e Rawiya atravessam séculos e desertos em suas jornadas, ligadas por um destino que ecoa na história dos povos migrantes.
A escrita é delicada, repleta de imagens sensoriais que fazem cada cena pulsar com cores, cheiros e emoções.
Apesar da perda e do deslocamento, há uma beleza na forma como o livro constrói suas personagens e seus caminhos. É uma leitura que dói, mas encanta, transformando sofrimento em resistência e memória.
Um mapa desenhado com sal e estrelas, é efêmero e eterno ao mesmo tempo ? uma história que se dissolve ao toque, mas nunca desaparece.
2020 Popsugar Reading Challenge prompt: A book by a trans or non-binary author.
I absolutely loved this book! The story, though it was fiction, was heart-wrenching. I think because the reality of it is what so many people in Syria lived through. What struck me with this book was the author is beautiful use of language. I was just captivated by the way she described things and I could just picture everything in my head and it was striking.
I highly recommend this book!
I absolutely loved this book! The story, though it was fiction, was heart-wrenching. I think because the reality of it is what so many people in Syria lived through. What struck me with this book was the author is beautiful use of language. I was just captivated by the way she described things and I could just picture everything in my head and it was striking.
I highly recommend this book!
Set in 2011 New York City, young Syrian-American Nour is struggling both with how to cope after her father’s death. Her mother's solution to ease the family/s grief is to the family back to her homeland of Syria. Now why in 2011, anyone would think it's a good idea to move from the USA to Syria is the first element of the story that confused me.
In order to keep her father's memory alive, Nour starts to relay a story her father told her of a courageous teenager who lived 800 years before them. Then suddenly we are plunged into a different story- one of historical, mystical fiction about Rawiya and a famous mapmaker.
Back and forth the book goes between these 2 stories, each one becoming more absurd. The truth is that if I wanted to read a historical novel, I would have. I didn't see the point of entwining these two stories in the same book.
Nour's story also became rather strange. From Syria to Jordan, to Egypt to Libya, the family seemed to be travelling at the speed of light in order to reach all these destinations. Not to mention that along the way they had collected some other random Syrians and somehow had resources to feed everyone despite little money and one tragedy after another.
I was so interested to learn more about Syrian and Syrian culture but I spent most of this book feeling confused. The book is long and it was a struggle to keep going.
Sounded amazing. Sometimes books are meant to be read not listened to. Writing was beautiful. Story kept my interest, but IMO, this was no Kite Runner (as mentioned in the review)
I love when a book uses another story as a parallel for the main character's own journey and that they look too as a source of strength or inspiration. Maybe it's the historian in me? I just love it when authors choose to do this.
I also love when characters undergo a physical journey in their story. Seeing Rawiya travel the world disguised as a man, so she could live, explore, and travel with a well known mapmaker was an intentional juxtaposition against Nour traveling from Homs to Ceuta because the start of the Syrian Civil War left her and her family refugees.
I had to remind myself at times that Nour was only 12 or 13 because she often felt wise beyond her years, and then she would have an outburst or yell during a situation seemingly out of nowhere, which was when I remembered how young she really is. Huda and Zahra have my love and respect as well. I loved Huda and Nour's relationship, and I love that the journey, particularly when it was just Zahra and Nour brought them closer together and to understanding each other.
I also love when characters undergo a physical journey in their story. Seeing Rawiya travel the world disguised as a man, so she could live, explore, and travel with a well known mapmaker was an intentional juxtaposition against Nour traveling from Homs to Ceuta because the start of the Syrian Civil War left her and her family refugees.
I had to remind myself at times that Nour was only 12 or 13 because she often felt wise beyond her years, and then she would have an outburst or yell during a situation seemingly out of nowhere, which was when I remembered how young she really is. Huda and Zahra have my love and respect as well. I loved Huda and Nour's relationship, and I love that the journey, particularly when it was just Zahra and Nour brought them closer together and to understanding each other.
DNF at 24% I couldnt get into it even though the story was so intriguing to me. I couldnt really connect with the fantasy storyline and the POVs and felt disruptive of the refugee storyline. I have no doubt it all comes together in the end but unfortunately I wont sit this one trough. I am looking forward to the authors new novel coming out this year as I highly appreciate her view on the world.
this book has been on my TBR for literal years and i'm so glad i finally got around to reading it! in the map of salt and stars we follow two girls and their stories, 800 years apart. i enjoyed reading both of their POVs, i found them both to be interesting main characters; we have rawiya living during the 13th century who decides to join the infamous map maker al-idrisi disguised as a boy and turns into a warrior, and we have 12 year old nour who has synesthesia, living in 2011 as a syrian refugee.
like i said i really enjoyed both main characters as well as their families and companions, i loved the way the writing style changed between the changed perspectives. there was a diverse cast of characters in this and they all had distinct reactions to the same events, showing beautifully how different circumstances can influence the way you think. the writing generally was beautiful and having a very young character with synesthesia made it highly immersive in my opinion. the author found a beautiful way to take two specific characters and get them into deep and meaningful conversations with each other, there were multiple moments were nour and one of her older sisters or her mother or one of her friends were alone with her and had these really impactful conversations and i enjoyed those parts of the book a lot!
furthermore i loved the way the story was intertwined. i oftentimes thought of the quote "oh, but history moved in such vicious circles." since rawiya and nour's stories were connected in a way, even when they were living 800 years apart. there were lots of parallels with their feelings, the events surrounding them, the themes and symbolism and that was awesome to read. there was of course a lot of map making/cartography in this, geology, descriptions of salt, love for astrology and parallel events happening.
overall i really enjoyed this book, i think it's relevant to this day and beautifully and meaningfully written. the biggest con would be the pacing that sometimes wasn't perfect (to me, at least) and made it hard to get into the book but that's about it. there are of course some heavy (and very important!!) topics depicted so i'd recommend looking over the trigger warnings first.
like i said i really enjoyed both main characters as well as their families and companions, i loved the way the writing style changed between the changed perspectives. there was a diverse cast of characters in this and they all had distinct reactions to the same events, showing beautifully how different circumstances can influence the way you think. the writing generally was beautiful and having a very young character with synesthesia made it highly immersive in my opinion. the author found a beautiful way to take two specific characters and get them into deep and meaningful conversations with each other, there were multiple moments were nour and one of her older sisters or her mother or one of her friends were alone with her and had these really impactful conversations and i enjoyed those parts of the book a lot!
furthermore i loved the way the story was intertwined. i oftentimes thought of the quote "oh, but history moved in such vicious circles." since rawiya and nour's stories were connected in a way, even when they were living 800 years apart. there were lots of parallels with their feelings, the events surrounding them, the themes and symbolism and that was awesome to read. there was of course a lot of map making/cartography in this, geology, descriptions of salt, love for astrology and parallel events happening.
overall i really enjoyed this book, i think it's relevant to this day and beautifully and meaningfully written. the biggest con would be the pacing that sometimes wasn't perfect (to me, at least) and made it hard to get into the book but that's about it. there are of course some heavy (and very important!!) topics depicted so i'd recommend looking over the trigger warnings first.
It took me a good, long while to read this book. The writing is poetic and the story is tragic - beauty bound by words and salt and stars.