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greenlivingaudioworm 's review for:
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow
by Zoulfa Katouh
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This is one of those books that has a bit of a slow burn but by the end of the book, your heart has been ripped out of your chest and you're panting, screaming, aching for the characters and wishing you could do something, anything really, to help them. About 1/3 of the way through this book I told my mom it was "fine but nothing special" and "honestly, I'll just finish it because it's a Project LIT book choice and their choices are typically pretty decent."
I was wrong.
So wrong.
This story is hauntingly beautiful in a way I haven't experienced in quite some time. The beginning of the book drops you in following Salama, an eighteen year old pharmacist student turned surgeon after the beginnings of the war in Syria. Her family is gone and Salama wonders if she should stay in Syria doing so much with so little and, at the same time, not doing nearly enough for the injured who stream through the hospital doors day after day. Salama grew up far too quickly and often reads far older than her 18 years. Yet after she meets Kenan and is falling in love with him, it's then that glimpses of Salama as a teenager peek through. I found myself wishing Salama's story could simply turn into a romance story, removed from the harsh brutality of living in a warzone.
While it took awhile for me to become emotionally invested in these characters, by the end, I was gasping out loud with that feeling of my heart plummeting down my chest. All of these characters -Salama, Layla, and Kenan - felt so real that, at times, it was hard for me to remember I was hearing a fictional story. I did feel the ending was a bit rushed or maybe that the gap between the final chapter and the epilogue jumped too far for my taste. However, I'm willing to overlook that since this book left me sitting in silence for much longer than normal. This is a book that will stick with me.
I was wrong.
So wrong.
This story is hauntingly beautiful in a way I haven't experienced in quite some time. The beginning of the book drops you in following Salama, an eighteen year old pharmacist student turned surgeon after the beginnings of the war in Syria. Her family is gone and Salama wonders if she should stay in Syria doing so much with so little and, at the same time, not doing nearly enough for the injured who stream through the hospital doors day after day. Salama grew up far too quickly and often reads far older than her 18 years. Yet after she meets Kenan and is falling in love with him, it's then that glimpses of Salama as a teenager peek through. I found myself wishing Salama's story could simply turn into a romance story, removed from the harsh brutality of living in a warzone.
While it took awhile for me to become emotionally invested in these characters, by the end, I was gasping out loud with that feeling of my heart plummeting down my chest. All of these characters -Salama, Layla, and Kenan - felt so real that, at times, it was hard for me to remember I was hearing a fictional story. I did feel the ending was a bit rushed or maybe that the gap between the final chapter and the epilogue jumped too far for my taste. However, I'm willing to overlook that since this book left me sitting in silence for much longer than normal. This is a book that will stick with me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, War, Injury/Injury detail