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A review by lucysbookshelf
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
5.0
I don't think I'll ever find the right words to describe the experience reading this book is but I'll try.
I want to start by saying that this is a love letter to Syria and to humanity in so many ways that I can't convey it in only phrases. The author describes the brutal reality our characters live in while also showing so much love and respect for their history, their nation and humanity.
The writing was beautiful from the very beginning. This author doesn't get lost in forced dialogue or exaggerated descriptions, she goes to the point and sets a serious tone for everything that happens in the book.
This leads me to talk about the characters and I can't be objective, Salama is someone you feel like a friend and like someone you want to protect from all harm from the very beginning and until the last page of this story. Then appears Kenan and you start feeling the same way Salama does, like there can be some hope and happiness even in the worst realities imaginable, like there is still some hope for humanity as long as we have this heroes that risk their lives for others and dream of a better life for themselves and for all generations to come.
Some scenes in this book are impressionable and I thought I was going to DNF because of them but it had the contrary effect, I wanted to read it all and inform myself better about what Syria lived through in those years that I was so young to even comprehend it (I think I was 10 years old when the Civil War started).
I could talk about how much I loved this book, some scenes, it's characters and quotes for months but I'd rather just say that this book deserves every praise imaginable and that everyone should read it.
I want to start by saying that this is a love letter to Syria and to humanity in so many ways that I can't convey it in only phrases. The author describes the brutal reality our characters live in while also showing so much love and respect for their history, their nation and humanity.
The writing was beautiful from the very beginning. This author doesn't get lost in forced dialogue or exaggerated descriptions, she goes to the point and sets a serious tone for everything that happens in the book.
This leads me to talk about the characters and I can't be objective, Salama is someone you feel like a friend and like someone you want to protect from all harm from the very beginning and until the last page of this story. Then appears Kenan and you start feeling the same way Salama does, like there can be some hope and happiness even in the worst realities imaginable, like there is still some hope for humanity as long as we have this heroes that risk their lives for others and dream of a better life for themselves and for all generations to come.
Some scenes in this book are impressionable and I thought I was going to DNF because of them but it had the contrary effect, I wanted to read it all and inform myself better about what Syria lived through in those years that I was so young to even comprehend it (I think I was 10 years old when the Civil War started).
I could talk about how much I loved this book, some scenes, it's characters and quotes for months but I'd rather just say that this book deserves every praise imaginable and that everyone should read it.