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carrotspi's review against another edition
4.0
I ended up highlighting almost the entire fourth part
springsnow_'s review against another edition
toooo slow paced, just never got fully into it
ialim01's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
laura_corsi's review against another edition
4.0
Maybe 4.5 stars really. It is almost a 5 star book but the pacing is a little off in the 2nd part. It comes together so beautifully though in the 3rd part that it makes it all worth while. This is a gem of a book. My biggest complaint is that the middle child in the family is never given a chance to speak. We get interior perspectives to everyone except Huda. I found this book heartbreaking, moving, beautiful, and joyous.
hanzy's review against another edition
3.0
3.75
It's the last section of the book that bumped a whole star up for me.
It's the last section of the book that bumped a whole star up for me.
jadehi79's review against another edition
5.0
There are so many lessons that this book gives us. The most important is that it is very easy to love someone and not show them. How easy it is to push people away just by not speaking your thoughts. This book does a great job of weaving together the points of view from different characters. By doing this we are able to see the same events from these differing views. The timeline jumps around frequently without any real indication of when the story is in the timeline, such as indicating the year, but it is very easy to determine what timeframe the story is at by paying attention to the events that are mentioned. Normally I don't think this type of jumping around works, but from my perspective it flowed very well. This was a very touching story and is one of the most amazing stories I have read in a long time. I give it 5 stars & 4 tissues!
jliu22's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
jennrocca's review against another edition
4.0
The writing is beautiful and the characters are interesting and complex. I listed to it in audio and I think it would be better in print. There is a lot of jumping through timelines and it took me a long time to learn the characters and the timelines.
mochiboy99's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
leaned a bit too far into tropes i’ve heard before — emotionally burdened eldest daughter, erased middle child, emotionally erratic youngest son, flat immigrant mother, abusive immigrant father, idealized competing family with perfect parallels to the family at the center of the story. i found it predictable and tired because of that, but i was also deeply deeply moved by the vivid portrayal of a pakistani muslim family so similar (but different) to my own. the character development is great, the imagery is well done, the characters are evocative and startlingly close to real people i know.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer
kirsto515's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
4.0
The finish saved the book. Was not enjoying it that much. Story of Muslim Indian family in CA with 2 sisters and a drug addict brother. The last section from dad’s perspective talking to his lost son are beautiful.