Take a photo of a barcode or cover
pooj_b 's review for:
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow
by Zoulfa Katouh
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
This took me about a month to finish because it was so gut wrenching, yet insightful. I had to give myself breaks to process everything. I cried and teared up so many times reading this masterpiece.
Katouh does a fantastic job depicting the psychological and physical effects of war, from Salama’s PTSD and hallucinations to Kenan’s physical symptoms.
I bawled 5 times:
- Salama realizing that Liya has been dead the whole time because Kenan became her new safe space.
- Kenan and Salama’s love confession and his proposal.
- Kenan and Salama trying to fight the soldiers during the hospital raid.
- Dr. Zaid with the babies after the hospital was bombed.
- Yusuf finally spoke!!! 😭
They were all in survival mode for so long that they didn’t know how to be “normal” for a while. I want to reread this to annotate the book.
Beautifully written.
Katouh does a fantastic job depicting the psychological and physical effects of war, from Salama’s PTSD and hallucinations to Kenan’s physical symptoms.
I bawled 5 times:
- Salama realizing that Liya has been dead the whole time because Kenan became her new safe space.
- Kenan and Salama’s love confession and his proposal.
- Kenan and Salama trying to fight the soldiers during the hospital raid.
- Dr. Zaid with the babies after the hospital was bombed.
- Yusuf finally spoke!!! 😭
They were all in survival mode for so long that they didn’t know how to be “normal” for a while. I want to reread this to annotate the book.
Beautifully written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Genocide, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, War
Moderate: Physical abuse, Islamophobia, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse