You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

4.03 AVERAGE


 This was a really good book.  My favorite part was the intertwining of the story of Rawiya and Nour's real life.  The writing is pretty good and I liked most of the characters.  Nour annoyed me at times, but she was probably supposed to since she was a 12 year old character.  The ending was good. 
adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense fast-paced
Strong character development: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous emotional 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

This book was very well written, and very powerful.
adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense fast-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
hopeful inspiring 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

Pace was just too slow and I struggled to get into it despite several attempts.

The writing style is very poetic--full of metaphors and comparisons to color--partly due to Nour's sound-color synesthesia. Definitely a lot of color repetition, but I don't think it crosses the line into purple prose since it's simply how the character thinks. The two stories work as a tandem read, one being a bit more interesting the the beginning, but by the midway point both have their hooks in to motivate you through the switches.

The author's love of Middle Eastern history and culture was very evident and this is definitely one of the better historical fiction books I've read, even if it took a bit longer to get through.
dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
emotional hopeful 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