A review by piprigsby
As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

emotional 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? Yes

4.75

this book is so good. first of all, it is so very informative (despite being fiction) about the syrian civil war, and the reflections of grief and trauma are written beautifully. secondly, THIS IS LOVE PEOPLE. kenan and salama are so freaking cute and the course of their romance is so good. every time kenan called her "my wife" made me silent scream it was so good. 


SPOILERS

i do have to say that i was very worried that the author would not address salama using samar's life as leverage to get away from syria, just because i had it in the back of my mind every time salama and kenan were super happy, but i was satisfied with how salama told kenan, and his reaction of "you have suffered enough" because of what she did changed my life. especially because i totally recognize that she was just trying to lookout for her loved ones, but that she recognized that it was still not a great thing to do. 

SPOILERS OVER

i think i'm kind of around a 4.75 just because of the whole holding a child's life hostage, despite knowing that she was doing it for her loved ones and to keep her promise to hamza, and i can't judge her too much because she was forced into a horrible position. 
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