A review by escape_through_pages
What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad

challenging emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

📖 REVIEW 📖

‘In their silent reticence was evident the reality that somewhere along the journey they’d passed the point where human goodness gave way to the calculus of survival.’

What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad

Bodies wash up on beaches. At first shocking, traumatising; but when it becomes a frequent occurrence desensitisation occurs, sympathy wanes and a will to help gives way to hostility. 

A Greek island overwhelmed with those in need, a repurposed school gym bursting at the seams with refugees, hoteliers increasingly angered by their golden sands being turned into graveyards of wrecked lives and a growing mistrust of the motivations of surviving migrants. 

But here is a boy. A boy who never planned to be on a boat, not least a boat falling apart, poorly equipped and overloaded with the scared, the desperate, those down to their last hope. Passengers exploited, seen as nothing but their crossing fee. Provided with makeshift life jackets filled with foam that would only serve to soak up the sea. 

Here is his story. His history. His journey. The cruelty and the kindnesses he experiences. The human experience of a crisis most of us don’t get any closer to than the headlines we read. 

This is beautiful and it’s devastating and it’s so superbly written, juxtaposing the differing perspectives. Omar El Akkad won the #GillerPrize for this novel and it’s easy to understand why. I highly recommend.