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A review by amberleelettersandreads
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh
challenging
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Absolutely one of the best books I've ever read.
Salama is a young woman who was training to be a pharmacist. After war breaks out, she works in a hospital facing horror after horror. Her grief/guilt/ptsd manifests in hallucinations of Khawf who haunts her and makes her second-guess the impossible decisions she's forced to make.
Salama meets Kenan after she treats his little sister. He reveals to her that they were to meet before in a sort of pre-marriage meeting. That ended up not happening after war broke out and the deaths of many of their family members. The way they come together is so beautiful and organic. It feels like fate. Kenan records protests and uploads them to YouTube. They get a lot of hits and comments, but in reality, there seems to be no one to actually help them in Syria. That really hit home for me. So many times, we want to help those suffering from the horrors of war, yet, it's almost impossible to provide them with what they need and to get evil people to stop being evil.
They have to make another impossible decision to leave Syria, which both Salama and Kenan have extreme amounts of guilt over. My heart hurt for them as they painfully made decisions that no one wants to have to make. The end of this book had me holding my breath.
As a French teacher, I taught several lessons on the Syrian Refugee Crisis. I wish I would have had this book to recommend to students. So any of my former students reading my reviews - here is a reading recommendation for you!
Salama is a young woman who was training to be a pharmacist. After war breaks out, she works in a hospital facing horror after horror. Her grief/guilt/ptsd manifests in hallucinations of Khawf who haunts her and makes her second-guess the impossible decisions she's forced to make.
Salama meets Kenan after she treats his little sister. He reveals to her that they were to meet before in a sort of pre-marriage meeting. That ended up not happening after war broke out and the deaths of many of their family members. The way they come together is so beautiful and organic. It feels like fate. Kenan records protests and uploads them to YouTube. They get a lot of hits and comments, but in reality, there seems to be no one to actually help them in Syria. That really hit home for me. So many times, we want to help those suffering from the horrors of war, yet, it's almost impossible to provide them with what they need and to get evil people to stop being evil.
They have to make another impossible decision to leave Syria, which both Salama and Kenan have extreme amounts of guilt over. My heart hurt for them as they painfully made decisions that no one wants to have to make. The end of this book had me holding my breath.
As a French teacher, I taught several lessons on the Syrian Refugee Crisis. I wish I would have had this book to recommend to students. So any of my former students reading my reviews - here is a reading recommendation for you!