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kristenlees's review against another edition
3.0
I kept seeing reviews saying the magical realism felt odd or unnecessary and I kept thinking 'why pick up a magical realism book if you don't want to read about magical realism?' and here I am saying it definitely felt odd and unnecessary. The book started off strong, but there would be these random snippets of other people that never seemed to have a point or come back up? Anyway. It was beautifully written and super short, but it wasn't an easy read because just when I'd get into it, the doors would come back up and I'd want to put it back down. I was disappointed in the love story as well. I saw someone's review on here compare it to Monsters Inc and lord I laughed so hard. So true.
daniup's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
thereaderintherye's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
safs_reads's review against another edition
1.0
the love child of a gcse english essay and a preteen wattpad story - every bit as bad a reading experience as you can imagine
jstaton's review against another edition
2.0
Honestly I can't wait for our book discussion - Is this science fiction? I just didn't get it.
wetsmoke's review against another edition
4.0
4 stars.
I’ve seen others describe this book as “quietly beautiful,” and I don’t think I can say it better than that. It was really good, and it broke my heart in the best way.
I’ve seen others describe this book as “quietly beautiful,” and I don’t think I can say it better than that. It was really good, and it broke my heart in the best way.
themitten93's review against another edition
4.0
Writing style takes a little getting used to, but I very much grew to enjoy it. As much as I was not a fan of the ending plot-wise, the point of this book is to understand the characters themselves, to see and understand the relationship they have with their faith, with their people, and with each other, and this was beautifully expressed. I’m looking forward to reading more by Mohsin Hamid!
zoldyeck's review against another edition
3.0
"When we migrate, we murder from our lives those we leave behind.”
When I first started reading this book I thought that I was going to really enjoy it, but halfway through I changed my mind. I actually had to push myself to finish this book and was going to dnf it but then I kept on reading and I'm happy I did because I liked the ending.
The fact that I didn't enjoy much of this book doesn't mean that it was bad. On the contrary, I think that it was a good book, a beautiful book. Especially in the first part before the two main characters Nadia and Saeed, who were living in an unnamed country in the midst of civil war, decided to step through a magical door and migrate to another country. Before this, when they were living in their own country the story was really beautiful. Nadia and Saeed had unique personalities and their relationship was simple yet interesting to follow.
After they left their country this relationship changed and that's normal but the problem is that since there is no dialogue in the novel as a reader I kept waiting for the narrator to pay attention to them and tell me what happened, how they felt and all that stuff but all I was given is long sentences (paragraphs at times) that only described the new place to which they transferred and the people they met there. Of course in this part, Mohsin Hamid was perhaps focusing on the main subject matter of the novel which is migration but I felt he didn't do a very good job at that. And maybe this is just me, but the book would have been so beautiful had he focused on the characters' development and allowed the reader to feel the effects of migration on people through Nadia and Saeed.
The cuts/sub-stories that popped up out of nowhere felt nonsensical. This book contains many motifs and symbols that could be analyzed and maybe those short stories of other unnamed people are part of it too but still, I believe they just made the book heavy.
The contrast between Nadia and Saeed's lives before and after stepping through a magical door is so obvious that at times I thought that it could have been intentional since leaving one's country is something not even writing could beautify. Also at the end, Saeed and Nadia's meeting was like their past meetings short, quiet and beautiful and that's perhaps because it took place in their own country and this again makes me wonder whether the heaviness of the second part was a deliberate choice made by the writer.