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

5.0

FINALLY! I shockingly haven't rated a book five stars since July of last year. I was really starting to think the problem was me (and maybe it was), but this book honestly felt like a five star read from the first chapter, so maybe I just haven't been picking up the right books. I was immediately engaged by the writing and it only got better from there, which came as a pleasant surprise considering I couldn't really connect with Joukhadar's second book, Thirty Names of Night. This novel is beautiful but devastating, unrelenting but ultimately hopeful. Nour and Rawiya's parallel stories complemented each other so perfectly. I loved how the poems that opened each section eventually connected to the narrative. I'll forever be crying over Abu Sayeed. What a special book this turned out to be!