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A review by mldias
Origin by Diana Abu-Jaber
5.0
This book transcends its constituent parts. It is more than a mystery, more than a forensic thriller or police procedural, more than a love story. It is a haunting character study, an exploration of origin and identity.
Lena Dawson is the rare first-person heroine with depth, who is written with such conviction and awareness that her development isn't encumbered by the first-person perspective. She is the lens through which we view a strange, seemingly disjointed flurry of events. Her world view is not like ours--she has constructed a past with which she can cope, drawing upon sensory experience and disjointed shards of memory.
Diana Abu-Jaber knows how to haunt a reader. She knows how to forge bonds between characters that are simultaneously poignant and realistic. It is quite a feat to write literature that is so innately personal without ever allowing it to become maudlin.
Lena Dawson is the rare first-person heroine with depth, who is written with such conviction and awareness that her development isn't encumbered by the first-person perspective. She is the lens through which we view a strange, seemingly disjointed flurry of events. Her world view is not like ours--she has constructed a past with which she can cope, drawing upon sensory experience and disjointed shards of memory.
Diana Abu-Jaber knows how to haunt a reader. She knows how to forge bonds between characters that are simultaneously poignant and realistic. It is quite a feat to write literature that is so innately personal without ever allowing it to become maudlin.