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A review by le_lobey
Home Is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Really beautiful and moving story about family, identity, and belonging. I particularly appreciated how cultural artifacts of all sorts were used through the book to construct memories, identities, and community.
Elhillo richly describes food, clothing, music, and dance. The sensuousness of the language was a real strong suit. I haven't read many novels in verse, so I don't know how this compares with others in the genre, but the text seemed to favor the novelistic over the poetic. It was almost prose-like, though maybe I wasn't attuned to rhythmic aspects. Elhillo does slam poetry, and I tried to read with pauses inserted where there were breaks in the text, but I often found myself reading through the chapters as if they were sentences in a prose text and had no issue. I'd love to read some of her poetry to see if/how it differs.
Elhillo richly describes food, clothing, music, and dance. The sensuousness of the language was a real strong suit. I haven't read many novels in verse, so I don't know how this compares with others in the genre, but the text seemed to favor the novelistic over the poetic. It was almost prose-like, though maybe I wasn't attuned to rhythmic aspects. Elhillo does slam poetry, and I tried to read with pauses inserted where there were breaks in the text, but I often found myself reading through the chapters as if they were sentences in a prose text and had no issue. I'd love to read some of her poetry to see if/how it differs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Islamophobia, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Police brutality