A review by yvo_about_books
The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar

adventurous emotional medium-paced

2.0

Finished reading: December 7th 2024

"The most important places on a map are the places we haven't been yet."

WARNING: it's another unpopular opinion review!!

Right... I wasn't expecting this to happen to be honest. I absolutely loved the sound of the premise of The Map Of Salt And Stars with its dual timeline and the Middle East/North Africa setting. I was looking forward to meet both characters and read about their journey... But as soon as I read the first couple of pages, I just knew this story and me wouldn't get along. Why? It's simple: the writing. To say that I clashed horribly with the writing style would be the understatement of the century, and this is just something that is almost impossible to overcome. The plot is buried under a mountain of metaphors, and having to plough through one metaphor after another made me want to scream and throw my kindle at the wall. Seriously, how many does a story need?! The constant repetition of one of the main characters seeing in color also became extremely frustrating after a while. Sure, the synesthesia was a neat feature in the beginning, but do we really have to be reminded every other sentence?! It really alienated me from Nour, and I struggled to connect to her in the first place. Rawiya's POV was at least a respite from the color talk, and as a result I think I preferred the past timeline. That said, the past timeline wasn't without issues either. I think this also had to do with the fact that the switches between timelines were so abrupt, and there was no proper connection between the two on a deeper level. I confess that I started skimreading long before the halfway mark, and I probably should have just DNFed it... It's a shame I had such a negative reaction to the writing style, because the plot itself had SO much potential. I've tried multiple times to look past the writing and concentrate on Nour and Rawiya's story, but in the end I just couldn't do it. I know that I'm in the minority though... I think your reaction to The Map Of Salt And Stars depends a lot on how you react to the writing. If your reaction is positive, I'm sure you will love this story just like the majority does.