A review by hannahmayreads
Once a Stranger by Zoya Patel

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Patel is brilliant at building up the tension of loving someone who is lost to you, especially as she is able to do this from both sides without making the reader feel either is necessarily wrong. It's almost perfectly balanced. But the ending, or lack thereof, felt like a cop-out and it tainted the whole book for me. It's ok to have an ambiguous ending. It doesn't need to be neat and tidy, but an epilogue wouldn't have done a disservice to the book's purpose. If an author decides against a happy or convenient ending, they should be prepared to take their characters to difficult places. Not having her characters face the aftermath of their trip was a lost opportunity. The exploration of the complex tension in the family and all the meaning and feeling that has built up has been lost to ambiguity. I really wished she'd gone there. I can't let it go, which is unfortunate because it was an otherwise enjoyable and interesting read.