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anntharai's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
3.75
To say I enjoyed this book isn’t quite accurate. It’s good, there’s no question about that, but I don’t know if I can describe the sad and infuriating story as enjoyable.
It’s important for people to understand that while this is fiction, it’s very very real. From the highest level of arms trafficking to the utterly unfair system and hideous treatment of asylum seekers.
It’s very well written, I feel like I know these people now, and I’m left righteously angry at the state of the world.
*another reviewer on GR mentioned that there isn’t street view in Bahrain. When this book was published in July 2021 there was one section - the highway next to the airport. Now there’s a little more. And like that reviewer I’m a bit of a pedant. There’s no way that detail got added in the 4 weeks before publication. I wish all research was treated equally - they looked into the history fairly deeply from what I can tell, but assuming everywhere has street view coverage like London? Not quite a yikes, but certainly an ugh.
It’s important for people to understand that while this is fiction, it’s very very real. From the highest level of arms trafficking to the utterly unfair system and hideous treatment of asylum seekers.
It’s very well written, I feel like I know these people now, and I’m left righteously angry at the state of the world.
*another reviewer on GR mentioned that there isn’t street view in Bahrain. When this book was published in July 2021 there was one section - the highway next to the airport. Now there’s a little more. And like that reviewer I’m a bit of a pedant. There’s no way that detail got added in the 4 weeks before publication. I wish all research was treated equally - they looked into the history fairly deeply from what I can tell, but assuming everywhere has street view coverage like London? Not quite a yikes, but certainly an ugh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Racism, Infidelity, Islamophobia, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Death of parent, Grief, and Alcohol
Minor: Sexual content, Pregnancy, War, and Medical content
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