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ammbooks's review against another edition
5.0
My second reading of City of Spies was just as enjoyable as the first back in 2015. And the truth in the sentence..."we are defined by the wars we have lived, regardless of whether we can name them." hits way to close to home. An entire generation has been raised in the aftermath of the turmoil that the cold war superpowers helped to create back in the late 70's.
annetjeberg's review against another edition
4.0
Surprisingly good! I had no expectations of this book, but I was not disappointed at all. It was well written, never dragged on and I really liked the main character. She was very relatable and so very normal, that I really enjoyed seeing her world through her eyes. I did not know much about Pakistan in the 70s and now have an idea how life was then. Recommended!
enlamparter's review against another edition
4.0
Different than I expected, but good! I first discovered Sorayya Khan in college, when her book “Noor” was required reading (by a professor who knew the author personally). Having been swept away by the emotion-filled way Khan portrayed the history of the region, I think I was expecting something similar when I read City of Spies. While I ended up being a bit disappointed in the lack of historical background provided, I do still think Khan wrote a beautiful coming of age story that still captured the turmoil of 70s Pakistan as it related to her protagonist.
mindfullibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
CITY OF SPIES is a critically important and fascinating read in our time of political strife and international crisis.
Thank you to Little A for providing me with an advance review copy of this title - all opinions are my own.
Set in the late 1970's in Islamabad, Pakistan, this novel is narrated by a pre-teen girl as she experiences politically and historically monumental events including the Iran Hostage Crisis and the burning of the US Embassy in Islamabad. While these events are occurring, Aliya is also grappling with her own biracial and cultural identity and a tragic accident involving the son of her Pakistani servant. As the child of a father who holds an important place in the government, Aliya attends the American School and is caught in a world between that of her American classmates and Pakistani relatives and neighbors.
As I read this book right after reading HUM IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE WORDS by Bianca Marais, I really can't help comparing the two and recommending that if you liked HUM (set in South Africa during the uprising to end apartheid), you should definitely pick up CITY OF SPIES. The parallels are obvious - narrated by young girl, racial and cultural identity grappled with, political instability, the role of the local population as servants/employees.
Khan's narrative is incredibly compelling and while it is not a fast read and requires close attention, the uniqueness and necessity of the topic matter put this book into my Best of 2017 category.
LIBRARIAN NOTES: While reading, I definitely was trying to place CITY OF SPIES into a "age" recommendation - it is an adult novel, but the content is such that it can definitely be placed into high school libraries. I would have recommended that it be included in the Adult Books for Teens review section of School Library Journal. Titlewave categorizes the title as Adult and Dewey as 813, which I would disagree with. I would place this in my fiction collection.
GOODREADS NOTE: The original edition of this book published by Aleph Book Company of New Delhi in 2015 is listed as a separate title on Goodreads - there are copious reviews there of the original publication. This listing is for the US publication by Little A, a division of Amazon Publishing.
Thank you to Little A for providing me with an advance review copy of this title - all opinions are my own.
Set in the late 1970's in Islamabad, Pakistan, this novel is narrated by a pre-teen girl as she experiences politically and historically monumental events including the Iran Hostage Crisis and the burning of the US Embassy in Islamabad. While these events are occurring, Aliya is also grappling with her own biracial and cultural identity and a tragic accident involving the son of her Pakistani servant. As the child of a father who holds an important place in the government, Aliya attends the American School and is caught in a world between that of her American classmates and Pakistani relatives and neighbors.
As I read this book right after reading HUM IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE WORDS by Bianca Marais, I really can't help comparing the two and recommending that if you liked HUM (set in South Africa during the uprising to end apartheid), you should definitely pick up CITY OF SPIES. The parallels are obvious - narrated by young girl, racial and cultural identity grappled with, political instability, the role of the local population as servants/employees.
Khan's narrative is incredibly compelling and while it is not a fast read and requires close attention, the uniqueness and necessity of the topic matter put this book into my Best of 2017 category.
LIBRARIAN NOTES: While reading, I definitely was trying to place CITY OF SPIES into a "age" recommendation - it is an adult novel, but the content is such that it can definitely be placed into high school libraries. I would have recommended that it be included in the Adult Books for Teens review section of School Library Journal. Titlewave categorizes the title as Adult and Dewey as 813, which I would disagree with. I would place this in my fiction collection.
GOODREADS NOTE: The original edition of this book published by Aleph Book Company of New Delhi in 2015 is listed as a separate title on Goodreads - there are copious reviews there of the original publication. This listing is for the US publication by Little A, a division of Amazon Publishing.
vicki_s's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
anneke_b's review against another edition
4.0
Surprisingly good! I had no expectations of this book, but I was not disappointed at all. It was well written, never dragged on and I really liked the main character. She was very relatable and so very normal, that I really enjoyed seeing her world through her eyes. I did not know much about Pakistan in the 70s and now have an idea how life was then. Recommended!
clara0304's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
It’s definitely a books that makes more sense if you have been or is going to Pakistan and already have an insight in the country. But if that’s the case, this is a really good little story about life as a girl in a conflict filled Pakistan. Though it’s also a story about a young girl being torn between to “identity’s” - American or Pakistani? It’s not a masterpiece or a classic must read but an easy read wich balances greatly between informative and fictional.
cybergoths's review against another edition
4.0
An intriguing book set in the 1970s and spanning the time from the military coup in Pakistan to the burning of the American Embassy and the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviets, all told from the perspective of a teenage Dutch-Pakistani girl living in Islamabad and Lahore. Refreshingly different and autobiographical.
309804490's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0