A review by august_ambrosia
The Family Tree by Sairish Hussain

emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

woo the longest book of my year so far! i picked it up because i knew i would deeply resonate with the characters, being muslim and indian myself. i really wanted to enjoy this book, and genuinely i started off loving it. the characters are so human and make such human mistakes! however, there was moments i could tell that this was a debut. moments turned into chapters, and the last part of the novel was just... not it.

(1) what happened with ehsan? was he or was he not attacked! why is it so relevant that he was not seen! (2) there was a lot of medical talk, and it felt slightly unrealistic at times! i dont know that people can stay in vegetative states for 10 years! and (3) zahra was so ... not nice !!!!! her reactions to saahils story felt SO unrealistic, and the story itself was sort of tricky to follow because saahil's narration said things that he hadn't told zahra, so it felt quite disjointed.

so its uh 1 star for plot, 1 star for characters and half for a compelling story + idea.