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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
tense
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
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Death, Grief, Death of parent
Minor: War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Trafficking, War
With all the hardship that Syria has been through in the recent history, it was wonderful to hear the perspective of young women. I could really get a feel of the culture and beauty conveyed by the author. and the historical back and forth was very well done.
PS. I would love to see this book turned into a movie!
PS. I would love to see this book turned into a movie!
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-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
4 for the beauty of the language. A bit too many calamities for my taste.
adventurous
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A beautifully written story, I couldn’t help but get lost in the storytelling. This author just has a way with words just satisfying my need for well balanced prose and plotting. Good pacing, a little on the slow side in some chapters. The characters are simple but well developed. I enjoyed the parallel back and forth storytelling. My only complaint is that a lot of Nour’s story was just too convenient to be believable. Overall, it was a great reading experience and I will read anything this author has are will write. Love it!
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Picked this one up for National Arab American Heritage Month. The Map of Salt and Stars is lyrical, layered, and deeply emotional—a story that blends historical fiction and the modern refugee experience. It tells two parallel tales: Nour, a young Syrian-American girl fleeing the civil war in 2011, and Rawiya, a girl in 12th-century Syria who disguises herself as a boy to apprentice under a legendary mapmaker. Their stories echo across time in ways that are subtle, powerful, and beautifully woven.
The writing is absolutely stunning. Joukhadar’s prose is rich and poetic, filled with sensory details that make the pain, beauty, and resilience of these characters come alive. There’s a dreamlike quality to it—especially in the way fantasy elements are introduced through stories passed from parent to child. It’s not quite magical realism in the traditional sense, but it toes the line, using myth and childhood memory to underscore the trauma and legacy of displacement.
I loved how the two timelines complemented each other, each journey echoing the other in theme and tone. But I’ll admit that listening to the audiobook made this WAY more difficult than I expected. Without clear markers between the two, the transitions could be confusing, and I often found myself scrambling to reorient, which pulled me out of the experience. This is one I’d likely recommend in print instead, where the structural beauty of the book can really shine. Unfortunately, since the narrator is excellent.
That said, this novel is haunting. It's sad—achingly so at times—but also shot through with hope. It's a story of survival, not just across countries and centuries, but across identity, memory, and grief. A powerful story that left me both heartbroken and quietly uplifted.
The writing is absolutely stunning. Joukhadar’s prose is rich and poetic, filled with sensory details that make the pain, beauty, and resilience of these characters come alive. There’s a dreamlike quality to it—especially in the way fantasy elements are introduced through stories passed from parent to child. It’s not quite magical realism in the traditional sense, but it toes the line, using myth and childhood memory to underscore the trauma and legacy of displacement.
I loved how the two timelines complemented each other, each journey echoing the other in theme and tone. But I’ll admit that listening to the audiobook made this WAY more difficult than I expected. Without clear markers between the two, the transitions could be confusing, and I often found myself scrambling to reorient, which pulled me out of the experience. This is one I’d likely recommend in print instead, where the structural beauty of the book can really shine. Unfortunately, since the narrator is excellent.
That said, this novel is haunting. It's sad—achingly so at times—but also shot through with hope. It's a story of survival, not just across countries and centuries, but across identity, memory, and grief. A powerful story that left me both heartbroken and quietly uplifted.