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A review by goldfishreads
Fencing with the King by Diana Abu-Jaber
3.0
3.5 stars rounded down.
I enjoyed this novel up until the last hundred pages or so. I admit I am not very familiar with the history and politics of Palestine and Transjordan, and this novel made me interested in learning more. From the beginning, the complicated relationships in Amani's family, the mystery of the blue letter written by her grandmother Natalia, and the grandiose of mingling with Jordanian royalty, was appealing and drew me into the story. I was intrigued to find out more about Amani's family history and what secrets they were hiding, especially her father Gabe and her uncle Hafez. By the end of the novel I felt like there were a lot of plot holes and things left unanswered. Gabe was one of my favourite characters and I didn't think there was enough depth into his character. The novel never really explained why he had such a fraught relationship with his family or why he didn't want to talk to Amani about his mother. Uncle Hafez was definitely more flushed out and even though he wasn't likeable, the reader can see where his insecurities are coming from and how that fuels his actions. But, there were no consequences or follow up regarding what he had done, it just sort of tapered off with an announcement that he retired? As much as I know happy endings don't always exist, I still hoped for Hafez getting what he deserved. And Carole?! She seemed like she could have been such a strong character but not much was done with her. There were a lot of characters that had a lot of potential in the story and they fell short for me, which was a bit of a disappointment.
I enjoyed this novel up until the last hundred pages or so. I admit I am not very familiar with the history and politics of Palestine and Transjordan, and this novel made me interested in learning more. From the beginning, the complicated relationships in Amani's family, the mystery of the blue letter written by her grandmother Natalia, and the grandiose of mingling with Jordanian royalty, was appealing and drew me into the story. I was intrigued to find out more about Amani's family history and what secrets they were hiding, especially her father Gabe and her uncle Hafez. By the end of the novel I felt like there were a lot of plot holes and things left unanswered. Gabe was one of my favourite characters and I didn't think there was enough depth into his character. The novel never really explained why he had such a fraught relationship with his family or why he didn't want to talk to Amani about his mother. Uncle Hafez was definitely more flushed out and even though he wasn't likeable, the reader can see where his insecurities are coming from and how that fuels his actions. But, there were no consequences or follow up regarding what he had done, it just sort of tapered off with an announcement that he retired? As much as I know happy endings don't always exist, I still hoped for Hafez getting what he deserved. And Carole?! She seemed like she could have been such a strong character but not much was done with her. There were a lot of characters that had a lot of potential in the story and they fell short for me, which was a bit of a disappointment.