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

challenging sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

This is a traumatic story woven from the horrors of war in Syria. The cadence of the writing was off putting to me. Somehow the writing was molasses slow, but the action of the story was frenzied and frighteningly fast (as befitted the time and place of the story). I'm glad I read it, as it has inspired me to learn more about Syrian culture and its history, but the book itself felt clunky and I felt like I was reading the same chapter over and over again. Perhaps that was intentional, as the people surviving trauma are often caught in a cycle of hardships that repeat and repeat and repeat.