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A review by bhnmt61
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
3.0
This book wasn’t at all what I was expecting. I knew something about a young couple in love escaping from their war torn home country through magical doorways— it sounded like a quest/adventure and for some reason I thought time travel would be involved.
But actually, other than the doorways, Exit West is set in a detailed, realistic world easily recognized as our own. At first, it really worked and for about the first half I loved it. Saeed and Nadia are well-drawn and believable, and their escape through the unexplained doorway is compelling. But by the end the premise had worn thin, and the ornate writing style with its long, piled up sentences went from evocative to annoying. I loved the mind bending insights into economic inequality and migrations of people, but in the end I was disappointed. Still, worth reading, and it’s fairly short so doesn’t require a big commitment of time.
But actually, other than the doorways, Exit West is set in a detailed, realistic world easily recognized as our own. At first, it really worked and for about the first half I loved it. Saeed and Nadia are well-drawn and believable, and their escape through the unexplained doorway is compelling. But by the end the premise had worn thin, and the ornate writing style with its long, piled up sentences went from evocative to annoying. I loved the mind bending insights into economic inequality and migrations of people, but in the end I was disappointed. Still, worth reading, and it’s fairly short so doesn’t require a big commitment of time.