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A review by cassiealexandra
Everything Sad Is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.75
Wow. It took me quite a while to get through this “middle grade/YA” book, but it sure was worth it. Nayeri tells the story of his immigration from Iran to Edmond, Oklahoma with so much detail and humor. This is mainly due to the choice he made to share his memories through the lens of his seventh-grade self. Everything was beautifully written and the strong voice we get in middle school Daniel is mature and wise beyond his years, which makes sense with his refugee experience. He takes us on a meandering path from his earliest memories of grandparents to his most recent memory of his father coming from Iran to visit America, paying his classmates a hello as well. Daniel takes us from Iran to London, to Dubai, UAE, to Italy, and eventually settling in Oklahoma. From start to finish I was captured by the stories, enveloped in his experience, and forced to think about my own memories and life’s meaning.
My one issue was that it included perhaps just a little too much middle-school humor, bathroom talk in particular, but it is definitely true to the junior high boys I have worked with in the past or know presently. This is a me thing, a personal preference, but even in these sections, Nayeri makes points about class, immigration, and social standing.
I said the prose was meandering. There are no chapter divisions and one story bleeds into another, sometimes circling back at a later time. Daniel tells his story as a modern-day Scheherazade, holding the interest of his audience throughout. At one point, Nayeri writes: “Mrs. Miller says I have ‘lost the plot,’ and am now just making lists of things that happened to fill space. But I replied that she is beholden to a Western mode of storytelling that I do not accept and that the 1,001 Nights are basically Scheherazade stalling for time, so I don’t see the difference.” If I had any trouble with this book, it is likely because I am also beholden to a Western lens.
The bottom line: This was a beautiful fictionalized memoir written from the perspective of a seventh-grade boy, full of hope and heartache.
— NOTES —
Genres: literary fiction; middle grade to YA, but maybe more accessible to adults
POV: first-person, single
Content: domestic violence, refugee experience, divorce, animal death, mentions of war
— MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS —
(all out of 5)
Pace: 4
Enjoyment: 4.5
Craft: 5
My Gut Feeling: 5
Total Stars: 4.625
My one issue was that it included perhaps just a little too much middle-school humor, bathroom talk in particular, but it is definitely true to the junior high boys I have worked with in the past or know presently. This is a me thing, a personal preference, but even in these sections, Nayeri makes points about class, immigration, and social standing.
I said the prose was meandering. There are no chapter divisions and one story bleeds into another, sometimes circling back at a later time. Daniel tells his story as a modern-day Scheherazade, holding the interest of his audience throughout. At one point, Nayeri writes: “Mrs. Miller says I have ‘lost the plot,’ and am now just making lists of things that happened to fill space. But I replied that she is beholden to a Western mode of storytelling that I do not accept and that the 1,001 Nights are basically Scheherazade stalling for time, so I don’t see the difference.” If I had any trouble with this book, it is likely because I am also beholden to a Western lens.
The bottom line: This was a beautiful fictionalized memoir written from the perspective of a seventh-grade boy, full of hope and heartache.
— NOTES —
Genres: literary fiction; middle grade to YA, but maybe more accessible to adults
POV: first-person, single
Content: domestic violence, refugee experience, divorce, animal death, mentions of war
— MY RATING CONSIDERATIONS —
(all out of 5)
Pace: 4
Enjoyment: 4.5
Craft: 5
My Gut Feeling: 5
Total Stars: 4.625
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death and Domestic abuse
Minor: War