A review by karingforbooks
Refuge by Dina Nayeri

3.0

More like a 3.5. I can't decide. It's a well written book (with the exception of one glaring typo that they're going to fix in future) with a good pace. The best parts were the snap shots of the cities that Niloo and her father visited in over the years, and the snap shot in time, one of them being in 2001. I enjoyed how it went back and forth between the visits in first person from Niloo's POV to third person Amsterdam following her and her husband. The setting was great. However, the characters didn't feel relatable to me. I didn't like them, particularly, and since I've never immigrated, it made it hard to relate. That said, this was also a good book because of that; it provided a (albeit fictional) portrait of an immigrant's life in today's world, specifically Europe, and I think it did a good job. It's important to know other's stories, which this book described beautifully. I just couldn't relate to the characters, or even like them for the most part, hence the reason it's a 3.5. Still a well written book though.