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cinemasimulacra's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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? It's complicated
3.5
tyara02's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
It's absolutely stunningly written and yet it left me wanting at the end. I do not want to compare this work to Susan Abulhawa's work, but I will anyway. Where Abulhawa is fiercely aware of the class politics in her book, this book papers over it, only briefly mentioning it. It also would have been preferable if there were fewer character points of view so that their narratives could be deeper explored.
raenbow's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
- 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? No
4.75
marisazane's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Alia’s mother reads her future in her coffee dregs before her wedding. She predicts an “unsettled” life for Alia, and that’s exactly what this story is. Her early marriage starts with tragedy and being uprooted from her home in Palestine by the Six Day War. Alia and her husband relocate to Kuwait City, where she feels unsettled. She raises her three (very different) children there and remains until she’s once again uprooted by Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. In her personal life, she’s unsettled by her children’s choices - of spouses, of college degrees, of where they move in the world. This book spans decades and chapters alternate focus on different characters in the family.
—
I wanted to love this book, and choosing it was a safe bet because I normally love multigenerational family sagas. But I found Alia’s character (and some of the others) really tiresome (like the daughter who refused to be aware of her sugar messes!) and that made the book tiresome for me. Being unsettled was super legit, and I understand that the book was supposed to be about this family trying to adapt and live their lives while absolute horror was going on around them. AND Alia’s personality was just not that great.
⭐️⭐️✨✨💫(2.75)
—
I wanted to love this book, and choosing it was a safe bet because I normally love multigenerational family sagas. But I found Alia’s character (and some of the others) really tiresome (like the daughter who refused to be aware of her sugar messes!) and that made the book tiresome for me. Being unsettled was super legit, and I understand that the book was supposed to be about this family trying to adapt and live their lives while absolute horror was going on around them. AND Alia’s personality was just not that great.
⭐️⭐️✨✨💫(2.75)
Content Warnings
Moderate: War
awellreadlady's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
natalie_is_reading's review against another edition
5.0
This book made my cry so much. A beautiful multi generational story about change and getting older and home, from a perspective I’ve read very little of.
wamboldt_t's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-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? It's complicated
5.0
ljesica's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Someone recently pointed out that I’d never read any books by Palestinian authors. This wasn’t by design, just something that hadn’t occurred to me. I try to understand other lives and cultures through books, so I added this one to the list.
It is a story of four generations of a family. They start in Palestine but are displaced and over the years, the family grows and lives in Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, France and America. It is a story about family. It is about survival and having the money to constantly move away from war but also about loving your homeland, wherever that may be. It starts in 1967 and spans through 2014. It’s about times changing, technology catching up, cultures and fashion changing. But mostly it’s about humans. How no matter how different we are, we’re actually so similar. It’s about love and loss and those tiny moments that make a life.
katharim's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
audra_spiven's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
4.0