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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
“Don't forget,' he says, and Abu Sayeed looks up while he translates, holding the words back a little, 'stories ease the pain of living, not dying. People always think dying is going to hurt. But it does not. It's living that hurts us.”
I LOVED this book and her ability to weave a story and her ability to articulate internal experiences of trauma and make it accessible.
I LOVED this book and her ability to weave a story and her ability to articulate internal experiences of trauma and make it accessible.
A story of a refugee family trying to make their way from war torn Syria into safety. Intermingled with the (phantasy/legend?) of a troupe of explorers mapping out the South Mediterranean / North-East African region in the 11th(?) Century. Raw, heartbreaking and at the same time encouraging and optimistic.
Rate 8/10. I really enjoyed this book. It was gripping and heartbreaking. I had a hard time putting it down.
"I wonder if there is anybody out there who loves the smuggler man. If anyone loves the mean unlovable people in the world. I wonder if bad men are good sometimes when no one is looking."
"I wonder if there is anybody out there who loves the smuggler man. If anyone loves the mean unlovable people in the world. I wonder if bad men are good sometimes when no one is looking."
Like most reviewers I did not like the storyline involving Rawiya. Slow story.
adventurous
hopeful
tense
fast-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
The Map of Salt and Stars is a story about family, home, adventure, bravery, loss and pain.
In this book we follow two girls:
• Nour: a 12-year old girl who was born in Manhattan but moved to Homs after the death of her father. Because of the war in Syria she has to flee her home (2011).
• Rawiya: a mapmaker apprentice who travels around the Mediterranean with the legendary mapmaker al-Idrisi (around 1150).
Their stories intertwine by the places they travel through on their separate journeys. For Rawiya it’s an expedition around the Mediterranean Sea alongside the mapmaker al-Idrisi who works in commission to Roger II of Sicily. Nour and her family become refugees after their house is bombed and travel through the Middle-East into Northern Africa in search for home.
While Rawiya’s story is historical fiction*, there are definitely fantasy elements weaved into it by the appearance of mythical beasts. Nour’s story is the hard reality of war and loss. Please check the trigger warnings at the end of my review.
The prose in this book is absolutely beautiful. It’s lyrical and it’s colourful because of Nour’s synesthesia (to her letters and numbers, objects, people and voices have colours). The author managed to put words together to form sentences that had me in awe.
The book explores the concept of home and belonging. Where do you belong when your home has been destroyed, you don’t feel a connection to your ancestry and your family is torn apart?
The Map of Salt and Stars tells the story of many (Syrian) refugees and displaced people. I am incredibly grateful this book exists and that I decided to read it on a whim. It had me enthralled from the beginning until the end for both POV’s.
*Both al-Idrisi and Roger II were real people and al-Idrisi did indeed make a Mappa mundi.
TW: death of a loved one, sexual assault, attempted rape.
In this book we follow two girls:
• Nour: a 12-year old girl who was born in Manhattan but moved to Homs after the death of her father. Because of the war in Syria she has to flee her home (2011).
• Rawiya: a mapmaker apprentice who travels around the Mediterranean with the legendary mapmaker al-Idrisi (around 1150).
Their stories intertwine by the places they travel through on their separate journeys. For Rawiya it’s an expedition around the Mediterranean Sea alongside the mapmaker al-Idrisi who works in commission to Roger II of Sicily. Nour and her family become refugees after their house is bombed and travel through the Middle-East into Northern Africa in search for home.
While Rawiya’s story is historical fiction*, there are definitely fantasy elements weaved into it by the appearance of mythical beasts. Nour’s story is the hard reality of war and loss. Please check the trigger warnings at the end of my review.
“Things change too much. We’ve always got to fix the map, change the borders of ourselves”.
The prose in this book is absolutely beautiful. It’s lyrical and it’s colourful because of Nour’s synesthesia (to her letters and numbers, objects, people and voices have colours). The author managed to put words together to form sentences that had me in awe.
The book explores the concept of home and belonging. Where do you belong when your home has been destroyed, you don’t feel a connection to your ancestry and your family is torn apart?
The Map of Salt and Stars tells the story of many (Syrian) refugees and displaced people. I am incredibly grateful this book exists and that I decided to read it on a whim. It had me enthralled from the beginning until the end for both POV’s.
*Both al-Idrisi and Roger II were real people and al-Idrisi did indeed make a Mappa mundi.
“The world is ripping apart, I think, leaving pain to spread like blood through Huda’s bandages”.
TW: death of a loved one, sexual assault, attempted rape.
I bought this book years ago and finally read it. This is a story everyone needs to read, the detail between the historic story and modern turmoil is gut wrenching and so good.