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

challenging emotional hopeful tense medium-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? No

5.0

I woke up at 6am to be able to have some hours for myself to cry reading this book. It's a love story set during Al-Assad's dictatorship in Syria, heartbreaking. Katouh does a brilliant job mixing sad moments with hope, it reads young and fresh, and at the same time there is so much detail about the personal effects of war that you cannot stop crying and feeling for the characters. 

Given current European militarisation dreams, far-right governments, defunding of asylums and refugee help, it was good to read this book to humanize of the numbers and act to build an opposition.