You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
This was a truly beautiful book. I listened to the audiobook, which I don't usually like to do. But the reader was excellent. The imagery was intense. The characters were so well written that I felt I knew them. And the storyline, a beautiful tribute to the strength of soul, and family.
While the writing is beautiful, I found it lacked in forward movement. Told in dual timelines, the first part tells the story of an American girl, Nour whose mother returns to Syria with her and their family after their father’s death. Her mother is a mapmaker. Her father used to tell her legends about Rawiya a girl who grew up in Medieval times and apprenticed to a mapmaker who was fulfilling a project for Roger III, King of Sicily. I don’t usually mind dual timelines, but the structure of this one was such that I never engaged in either story enough to continue. DNF 38%
This book was so wonderful. It spoke to so many different parts of myself. I struggled to get into it at first (which is why I put it at 4 stars and not 5) but once I got going, I really couldn’t stop. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.
The writing was wonderful, and I really liked the symbolism within the story. I can understand why it is loved by people! It's just not what I usually read and I didn't really enjoy it for that reason, I think. Which is why I've given it 2 stars.
I originally picked it up as the authors next book (The Thirty Names of Night) sounds really interesting, and I wanted to see if I'd like their work before their next one was published. As it is, I'm not sure if I'll read their next book now or not!
I originally picked it up as the authors next book (The Thirty Names of Night) sounds really interesting, and I wanted to see if I'd like their work before their next one was published. As it is, I'm not sure if I'll read their next book now or not!
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
A dual narrative story. One is something you'd hear a storyteller spin, and the other is something that could (and is) happening now.
The first story takes place in 2011. Nour and her family have moved back to Syria after the death of her father because her mother thought it'd be easier to be closer to family. Reading this book in 2018 it's very easy to scream "WHY?!?!", but for them at the time, it seemed to be a wise decision. Nour's story tackles the shellings that happen in Syria in 2011, the Arab Spring in general, and the refugee crisis that it causes. It's heartbreaking and raw, from the eyes of a child slowly losing her innocence.
The second story is a work of historical fiction taking place in the 1100's. It is about Rawiya, a young girl who pretends to be a boy so she can join the great (real) cartographer Muhammad al-Idrisi as an apprentice. They're on a mission from King Roger (also real) to map parts of the Middle East. This story seems to be a tale that Nour's family told her and there are parallels as the stories go.
Each chapter starts with Rawiya's story and ends with Nour's. While both stories are interesting enough at the start, Nour's story became the story I wanted more of. I have to confess that I started skimming Rawiya and what her crew was going through just to get to Nour and her family faster. I'm obviously speaking for myself when I say that I don't think both stories should have had equal weight. Rawiya's short have been firmly relegated to more of a story within a story. And I think ultimately, the distraction of switching between two stories brought the rating of the book down for me.
The Syrian Civil War is still happening. People are still dying. As of November 2018:
~13.1 million people in the country need humanitarian assistance.
~5.6 million Syrians have fled the country as refugees
~6.2 million people are displaced within Syria
~ 20,819 children killed
there's no consensus on death toll numbers but "The last comprehensive number widely accepted internationally — 470,000 dead" was from 2016.
This story is heart breaking and hard, but it can't compare to what's actually happening. This book gives a story to all the numbers I spouted above.
A dual narrative story. One is something you'd hear a storyteller spin, and the other is something that could (and is) happening now.
The first story takes place in 2011. Nour and her family have moved back to Syria after the death of her father because her mother thought it'd be easier to be closer to family. Reading this book in 2018 it's very easy to scream "WHY?!?!", but for them at the time, it seemed to be a wise decision. Nour's story tackles the shellings that happen in Syria in 2011, the Arab Spring in general, and the refugee crisis that it causes. It's heartbreaking and raw, from the eyes of a child slowly losing her innocence.
The second story is a work of historical fiction taking place in the 1100's. It is about Rawiya, a young girl who pretends to be a boy so she can join the great (real) cartographer Muhammad al-Idrisi as an apprentice. They're on a mission from King Roger (also real) to map parts of the Middle East. This story seems to be a tale that Nour's family told her and there are parallels as the stories go.
Each chapter starts with Rawiya's story and ends with Nour's. While both stories are interesting enough at the start, Nour's story became the story I wanted more of. I have to confess that I started skimming Rawiya and what her crew was going through just to get to Nour and her family faster. I'm obviously speaking for myself when I say that I don't think both stories should have had equal weight. Rawiya's short have been firmly relegated to more of a story within a story. And I think ultimately, the distraction of switching between two stories brought the rating of the book down for me.
The Syrian Civil War is still happening. People are still dying. As of November 2018:
~13.1 million people in the country need humanitarian assistance.
~5.6 million Syrians have fled the country as refugees
~6.2 million people are displaced within Syria
~ 20,819 children killed
there's no consensus on death toll numbers but "The last comprehensive number widely accepted internationally — 470,000 dead" was from 2016.
This story is heart breaking and hard, but it can't compare to what's actually happening. This book gives a story to all the numbers I spouted above.
adventurous
dark
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:
Complicated
I've been meaning to read this for a while. It was a little fitting because of current events. Really did enjoy it.
I’m still processed this book. It was beautifully written and the story (or, rather, stories - it alternates between present day Nour and her struggles as a refugee and mythical Rawiya and her struggles traveling with famous map maker Al-Idrisi) were captivating and made me want to keep reading. I’m just not sure if some of the imagery was over my head or a bit forced. Either way, a fascinating, entertaining and worthwhile read.
Beautiful writing. I'm glad I read it while teaching maps to middle schoolers - I would likely have missed a bunch otherwise. The young refugee aspect was extra heartbreaking in light of what's happening in Gaza right now.
The story of a Syrian refugee family is quite powerful, and the parallel story was both interesting and entertaining. But I found that too many characters spoke in cliches and platitudes that were meant to be meaningful but ended up being somewhat tiresome. Not a bad book but it didn't really work for me.