A review by sydapel
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

challenging dark sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

If you read any YA book this year, let it be this one (A million blessings to that one person on TikTok who recommended this - sometimes the algorithm is good). For girls who hyper fixated on the Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, I am about to ruin your year. This is such an unflinchingly earnest book - from how it describes the realities of teenagers living under siege in Syria, the constant threat of death or worse and the inexorable remainder of hope and love and patriotism in spite of everything. I, like many white Americans, have not thought about Syria and its losses perhaps ever and this book singlehandedly changed that. Please read it, I promise you, despite the tears and the ache it leaves, you will thank me. 
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