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alyssatuininga's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
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? No
4.5
I picked this book up as part of my around-the-world challenge. The author is Lebanese. This story is about a trans woman from Lebanon who travels to Lesbos, Greece to help Middle Eastern refugees arriving on the shores of Lesbos as refugees. The book is actually a venue to tell the story of different refugees, including the main character and an author she meets. The writing in this book is absolutely beautiful, almost poetry. The characters are deep, complex, and feel so real, even some characters we only see for a few pages. My only complaint about the book is that it can be slightly disjointed. There were stories that I dearly oved and wanted to read more of. Some of the stories were less interesting and felt like they could have been skipped. Overall a fantastic book and I will definitely read more of his books.
Content Warnings
Minor: Cancer, Child death, Death, Sexual violence, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, and War
tracey1981's review
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
This novel is packed with many different refugee stories in addition to the main story about a doctor and a writer (and their friends/family) supporting newly arrived Syrian refugees in Lesbos. I felt like I got a short story collection and a novel all-in-one and all of it brilliant. There is lots of hardship and sadness here but also humour, kindness, anger, a full range of human emotion & expression which brings the story of Syrian refugees to multi-dimensional life in ways I have rarely seen. Highly recommended.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and War