A review by lazygal
The Secret Sky by Atia Abawi

3.0

Yet another "Romeo & Juliet"-esque story, this time against the setting of Afghanistan and the threat of the Taliban. She's from the Hazara tribe, daughter of a peasant farmer who works land owned by a Pashtun khan. He's the beloved son of the Pashtun landlord, and they grew up together, friends until puberty and he went to a madrassas. In such a proscribed society, can their love flourish? Add to the mix his cousin, a Taliban member. Sadly, the plot doesn't deviate from the usual.

It's the injection of Afghanistan and its tribes, tribal customs that differentiates this from the normal R&J story. If only Rashid (the Taliban cousin) had been slightly different, this would have been a four-star.

ARC provided by publisher.