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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book is a work of art.
Zeyn is so talented at weaving together multiple timelines and building character relationships that feel almost too real.
There is so much hardship in the second act of this book that I had to set it down and come back to it over a year later, and I’m really glad that I did.
The ending is so satisfying, it truly feels like being carried all the way through to a soft landing after turbulence is b a plane, or the slow float of a boat onto a sandy beach.
Zeyn is so talented at weaving together multiple timelines and building character relationships that feel almost too real.
There is so much hardship in the second act of this book that I had to set it down and come back to it over a year later, and I’m really glad that I did.
The ending is so satisfying, it truly feels like being carried all the way through to a soft landing after turbulence is b a plane, or the slow float of a boat onto a sandy beach.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault, Violence, Death of parent
Minor: Sexual harassment
Not long after finishing 'The Map of Salt and Stars,' I had a conversation with a colleague about the kinship that can be found in reading about bad things that have happened to people in the past, people who've suffered through epidemics, wars, oppression and loss. I am not alone in my fear or my grief; they would know what I am going through. There's a strange comfort in that. I can almost feel those sympathetic ancestors patting me on the shoulder, and then gently pressing me forwards to face the world regardless. 'The Map of Salt and Stars' feels this too, I think.
During the course of the novel, Nour loses her father and her uncle and suffers many near-death incidents (including two shipwrecks and getting lost in the desert) as her family flees the start of the Syrian Civil War and seeks refuge in Spain. In making this journey from the Levant to the Strait of Gibraltar, she finds herself roughly re-tracing the path of Rawiya, the hero of her favourite childhood story. Rawiya and Nour's stories unfold in parallel and share many features; both girls have left their childhood home behind after losing their fathers, both cut their hair to pass as a boy for greater safety and freedom, and both face many great and unexpected dangers on their journeys with courage and resourcefulness. In telling Rawiya's story, Nour manages to push herself onward, keep her father's memory alive, and find life and meaning in the unseen world over the horizon.
Rawiya's story has some fantastic elements from Arabic mythology sprinkled into it, such as giant eagles and snakes, but it is Nour's story that is the more lyrical and dreamlike, thanks to her synesthesia. This element of the novel feels like a necessary filter, shielding Nour and the reader from the stark, unmediated horrors of war and the gnawing desperation of poverty and homelessness, and gives the novel a unique and memorable subjectivity. The plot has a "one thing after another" feel to it that starts to grind eventually, but in between the frequent peril lies an urgent reminder to love beautiful things, unnecessary things, while we're able to. Cold ice cream on hot days; colourful rocks and stones; the last gift from a loved one; stories about the stars; and a map that points to home.
During the course of the novel, Nour loses her father and her uncle and suffers many near-death incidents (including two shipwrecks and getting lost in the desert) as her family flees the start of the Syrian Civil War and seeks refuge in Spain. In making this journey from the Levant to the Strait of Gibraltar, she finds herself roughly re-tracing the path of Rawiya, the hero of her favourite childhood story. Rawiya and Nour's stories unfold in parallel and share many features; both girls have left their childhood home behind after losing their fathers, both cut their hair to pass as a boy for greater safety and freedom, and both face many great and unexpected dangers on their journeys with courage and resourcefulness. In telling Rawiya's story, Nour manages to push herself onward, keep her father's memory alive, and find life and meaning in the unseen world over the horizon.
Rawiya's story has some fantastic elements from Arabic mythology sprinkled into it, such as giant eagles and snakes, but it is Nour's story that is the more lyrical and dreamlike, thanks to her synesthesia. This element of the novel feels like a necessary filter, shielding Nour and the reader from the stark, unmediated horrors of war and the gnawing desperation of poverty and homelessness, and gives the novel a unique and memorable subjectivity. The plot has a "one thing after another" feel to it that starts to grind eventually, but in between the frequent peril lies an urgent reminder to love beautiful things, unnecessary things, while we're able to. Cold ice cream on hot days; colourful rocks and stones; the last gift from a loved one; stories about the stars; and a map that points to home.
Two unforgettable journeys filled with adventure, heartbreak, and love. Though I wasn't drawn in immediately in the beginning, this beautifully written story eventually captured my heart.
This was a truly beautiful book. I listened to the audiobook, which I don't usually like to do. But the reader was excellent. The imagery was intense. The characters were so well written that I felt I knew them. And the storyline, a beautiful tribute to the strength of soul, and family.
While the writing is beautiful, I found it lacked in forward movement. Told in dual timelines, the first part tells the story of an American girl, Nour whose mother returns to Syria with her and their family after their father’s death. Her mother is a mapmaker. Her father used to tell her legends about Rawiya a girl who grew up in Medieval times and apprenticed to a mapmaker who was fulfilling a project for Roger III, King of Sicily. I don’t usually mind dual timelines, but the structure of this one was such that I never engaged in either story enough to continue. DNF 38%
This book was so wonderful. It spoke to so many different parts of myself. I struggled to get into it at first (which is why I put it at 4 stars and not 5) but once I got going, I really couldn’t stop. I’ll be thinking about this one for a long time.
The writing was wonderful, and I really liked the symbolism within the story. I can understand why it is loved by people! It's just not what I usually read and I didn't really enjoy it for that reason, I think. Which is why I've given it 2 stars.
I originally picked it up as the authors next book (The Thirty Names of Night) sounds really interesting, and I wanted to see if I'd like their work before their next one was published. As it is, I'm not sure if I'll read their next book now or not!
I originally picked it up as the authors next book (The Thirty Names of Night) sounds really interesting, and I wanted to see if I'd like their work before their next one was published. As it is, I'm not sure if I'll read their next book now or not!
I received this book in exchange for an honest review.
A dual narrative story. One is something you'd hear a storyteller spin, and the other is something that could (and is) happening now.
The first story takes place in 2011. Nour and her family have moved back to Syria after the death of her father because her mother thought it'd be easier to be closer to family. Reading this book in 2018 it's very easy to scream "WHY?!?!", but for them at the time, it seemed to be a wise decision. Nour's story tackles the shellings that happen in Syria in 2011, the Arab Spring in general, and the refugee crisis that it causes. It's heartbreaking and raw, from the eyes of a child slowly losing her innocence.
The second story is a work of historical fiction taking place in the 1100's. It is about Rawiya, a young girl who pretends to be a boy so she can join the great (real) cartographer Muhammad al-Idrisi as an apprentice. They're on a mission from King Roger (also real) to map parts of the Middle East. This story seems to be a tale that Nour's family told her and there are parallels as the stories go.
Each chapter starts with Rawiya's story and ends with Nour's. While both stories are interesting enough at the start, Nour's story became the story I wanted more of. I have to confess that I started skimming Rawiya and what her crew was going through just to get to Nour and her family faster. I'm obviously speaking for myself when I say that I don't think both stories should have had equal weight. Rawiya's short have been firmly relegated to more of a story within a story. And I think ultimately, the distraction of switching between two stories brought the rating of the book down for me.
The Syrian Civil War is still happening. People are still dying. As of November 2018:
~13.1 million people in the country need humanitarian assistance.
~5.6 million Syrians have fled the country as refugees
~6.2 million people are displaced within Syria
~ 20,819 children killed
there's no consensus on death toll numbers but "The last comprehensive number widely accepted internationally — 470,000 dead" was from 2016.
This story is heart breaking and hard, but it can't compare to what's actually happening. This book gives a story to all the numbers I spouted above.
A dual narrative story. One is something you'd hear a storyteller spin, and the other is something that could (and is) happening now.
The first story takes place in 2011. Nour and her family have moved back to Syria after the death of her father because her mother thought it'd be easier to be closer to family. Reading this book in 2018 it's very easy to scream "WHY?!?!", but for them at the time, it seemed to be a wise decision. Nour's story tackles the shellings that happen in Syria in 2011, the Arab Spring in general, and the refugee crisis that it causes. It's heartbreaking and raw, from the eyes of a child slowly losing her innocence.
The second story is a work of historical fiction taking place in the 1100's. It is about Rawiya, a young girl who pretends to be a boy so she can join the great (real) cartographer Muhammad al-Idrisi as an apprentice. They're on a mission from King Roger (also real) to map parts of the Middle East. This story seems to be a tale that Nour's family told her and there are parallels as the stories go.
Each chapter starts with Rawiya's story and ends with Nour's. While both stories are interesting enough at the start, Nour's story became the story I wanted more of. I have to confess that I started skimming Rawiya and what her crew was going through just to get to Nour and her family faster. I'm obviously speaking for myself when I say that I don't think both stories should have had equal weight. Rawiya's short have been firmly relegated to more of a story within a story. And I think ultimately, the distraction of switching between two stories brought the rating of the book down for me.
The Syrian Civil War is still happening. People are still dying. As of November 2018:
~13.1 million people in the country need humanitarian assistance.
~5.6 million Syrians have fled the country as refugees
~6.2 million people are displaced within Syria
~ 20,819 children killed
there's no consensus on death toll numbers but "The last comprehensive number widely accepted internationally — 470,000 dead" was from 2016.
This story is heart breaking and hard, but it can't compare to what's actually happening. This book gives a story to all the numbers I spouted above.
adventurous
dark
emotional
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:
Complicated