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A review by athenamangoes
Refuge by Dina Nayeri
4.0
One of my reading goals for 2019 is to reread the entirety of my top ten books from 2017. I've got a tin on my desk with those ten titles written down, and once a month I'll randomly pick a book to reread, reminisce, and reevaluate.
This was my pick for February, and though I had read this book in about a week back in 2017, this time around it took over a month. Refuge was a sucker punch of a book that resonated with me on multiple levels (disconnection with a parent, a constant search for community, and continuous self-sabotage). The second time around, it took longer for each layer of the novel to settle with me, but it left a much stronger impression.
What changed for me this time around was my impression of Niloo, the main character. She is complex and at times hard to like. She's cruel to those who love her and hardened by her own traumas. Her identity is tangled and confusing, something she acknowledges, but her attempts to untangle the mess complicates things further. Niloo's narrative, companioned by that of her father who's still trapped in Iran, is striking.
There was a point while I was rereading where I couldn't remember what had earned Refuge a place on my Top Ten of 2017 in the first place. The problem was me, reading one chapter at a time over the span of a month didn't do the story justice. By the end of the book, a little sad but overall hopeful for the character's futures, I realized it was better the second time around. This is the kind of book I could reread every other year, and recommend wholeheartedly.
This was my pick for February, and though I had read this book in about a week back in 2017, this time around it took over a month. Refuge was a sucker punch of a book that resonated with me on multiple levels (disconnection with a parent, a constant search for community, and continuous self-sabotage). The second time around, it took longer for each layer of the novel to settle with me, but it left a much stronger impression.
What changed for me this time around was my impression of Niloo, the main character. She is complex and at times hard to like. She's cruel to those who love her and hardened by her own traumas. Her identity is tangled and confusing, something she acknowledges, but her attempts to untangle the mess complicates things further. Niloo's narrative, companioned by that of her father who's still trapped in Iran, is striking.
There was a point while I was rereading where I couldn't remember what had earned Refuge a place on my Top Ten of 2017 in the first place. The problem was me, reading one chapter at a time over the span of a month didn't do the story justice. By the end of the book, a little sad but overall hopeful for the character's futures, I realized it was better the second time around. This is the kind of book I could reread every other year, and recommend wholeheartedly.