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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
informative
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:
No
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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:
No
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
emotional
sad
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:
No
Loved this gorgeously written, moving story of a young Syrian girl who is forced to flee her bombed home. Her story runs parallel to another tale of young girl on her own quest 800 years before. The language is beautiful, characters well drawn. Highly recommend.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
emotional
hopeful
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
I liked this more as I got further into it. At first, the main character's synesthesia and the author's description of it was waaaaay overdone, but I noticed it less later on in the book. I also didn't care for the story in a story, but I really loved the modern day refugee storyline.
"And I think to myself how many people have created beautiful things here, how many people go on creating beautiful things even when life is full of pain."
"'A person can be two things at the same time,' Itto says. 'The land where your parents were born will always be in you. Words survive. Borders are nothing to words and blood.'"
"Perhaps the story simply goes on and on. Time rises and falls like an ever-breathing lunch. The road comes and goes and suffering with it. But the generations of men, some kind and some cruel, go on and on beneath the stars."
"'A person can be two things at the same time,' Itto says. 'The land where your parents were born will always be in you. Words survive. Borders are nothing to words and blood.'"
"Perhaps the story simply goes on and on. Time rises and falls like an ever-breathing lunch. The road comes and goes and suffering with it. But the generations of men, some kind and some cruel, go on and on beneath the stars."
There are two parallel stories in this novel: one following intrepid travelers mapping the unknown expanses of the world and mythical creatures of folklore in the early 1100s, and one following a family ripped from their home during the Syrian refugee crisis. Both tales are dripping with shimmering imagery, lively characters, and heart stopping adventures; but the most magical part is that one story feels fictional and the other seems very, very real.
The folklore follows an ancient tale of Rawiya, a young girl from Ceuta, a Spanish city on the tip of Morocco, who disguises herself as a boy and leaves home to find knowledge and fortune to bring back to her mother. She meets lifelong friends, faces fearsome foes, and has just about every adventure you can imagine a girl-disguised-as-a-boy-in-ancient-times has. It's beautiful, exciting, and exactly what you expect from that kind of tale.
The modern story, following 12 year old American born Nour and her family that has recently moved back to their home in Syria, plays no tricks before immediately throwing you into the world of a Syrian refugee: the nostalgia for a home lost, the dangers on the road, the family that goes on and those that they lose in the journey across seas and foreign lands.
There's death in both stories - as you can expect from modern warfare and ancient mythology - but the chilling part is how distant you feel from the folktale and how very, very attached to the modern tale. The story alternates in third person/first person POV, and past/present tense, and masterfully alternates chapters on every. single. cliffhanger.
Both stories are exciting, and heartbreaking, and dripping with descriptions of the colors, the smells, the foods, the streets of the Middle East and the Mediterranean. This is the saddest book I've read in a long time, but it's also the best.
The folklore follows an ancient tale of Rawiya, a young girl from Ceuta, a Spanish city on the tip of Morocco, who disguises herself as a boy and leaves home to find knowledge and fortune to bring back to her mother. She meets lifelong friends, faces fearsome foes, and has just about every adventure you can imagine a girl-disguised-as-a-boy-in-ancient-times has. It's beautiful, exciting, and exactly what you expect from that kind of tale.
The modern story, following 12 year old American born Nour and her family that has recently moved back to their home in Syria, plays no tricks before immediately throwing you into the world of a Syrian refugee: the nostalgia for a home lost, the dangers on the road, the family that goes on and those that they lose in the journey across seas and foreign lands.
There's death in both stories - as you can expect from modern warfare and ancient mythology - but the chilling part is how distant you feel from the folktale and how very, very attached to the modern tale. The story alternates in third person/first person POV, and past/present tense, and masterfully alternates chapters on every. single. cliffhanger.
Both stories are exciting, and heartbreaking, and dripping with descriptions of the colors, the smells, the foods, the streets of the Middle East and the Mediterranean. This is the saddest book I've read in a long time, but it's also the best.