This is possibly one of the most powerful works of fiction I have read. The author has worked in refugee camps, giving a horrifying authenticity to her words. Whilst this brings information, it certainly brings no comfort; the words she has to give only bring more horror to her work.
I’ve dived straight into this review because honestly it is one of the most emotional I have written. The book is beautiful, powerful, intense, honest, strong, and devastating. It gives honest displays of PTSD. It shows the reality of what refugees are leaving behind and, almost as horrifying, what they arrive to. Death, drugs, sexual abuse, and the utter destruction of their lives is the reality of what these individuals, both in the book and in the real camps, are dealing with.
I have been involved with Crafting for the refugee projects, but this book makes you wish you could wave a magic wand. That you could give every single one of them a secure future. That you could assure everyone that life would be okay now. That there would be no more bombs, no more suffering, no more loss. No more war.
All the characters from this book want is a life in safety, to work and have purpose, to recover from the horrors they have seen. Every human on this planet deserves that as a basic right.
Following the story of these two people, who love one another but have forgotten what the safety of love can feel like, is both a beauty and a tragedy. If this book doesn’t motivate you to at the very least wish you could do something to help, you are heartless.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to cry again.
And On She Reads 