The story of two girls living eight hundred years apart?a modern-day Syrian refugee seeking safety and a medieval adventurer apprenticed to a legendary mapmaker. It is the summer of 2011, and Nour has just lost her father to cancer. Her mother, a cartographer who creates unusual, hand-painted maps, decides to move Nour and her sisters from New York City back to Syria to be The story of two girls living eight hundred years apart?a modern-day Syrian refugee seeking safety and a medieval ...
| Title | : | The Map of Salt and Stars |
| Author | : | Zeyn Joukhadar |
| Rating | : | |
| Genres | : | Historical |
| ISBN | : | The Map of Salt and Stars ISBN |
| Edition Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 361 pages pages |
The Map of Salt and Stars Reviews
My last book of 2018! ...
Maybe a 3.5 stars? Watch me discuss it in my December wrap up: https://youtu.be/ReIV4UHlHCI ...
I really struggled with this one. It just didn't click with me. Too slow. ...
?E. M. Forster taught us that ?fiction is truer than history than history because it goes beyond the evidence.? Jennifer Zeynab Maccani?s magic first novel is a testimony to that maxim. We?ve all been aware of the plight of Syrian refugees, but in this richly imaginative stor...
The narrator?s synesthesia suffuses the narrative with a harlequin array of colours; from the purple-hued breath of individuals she comes across to the glittering reflections of sunlight on cerulean sea, ?The Map of Salt and Stars? is a novel whose colouration reflects the world-...
I am going to admit I had a hard time staying with this book. It was one of the cases where I would read a chapter put the book down to return later. It was not that the writing was poor. Point in fact the writing was amazing, but the story line just could not seem to pull me into that...
A wonderful and heartbreaking story that follows a refugee family in 2011 and an explorer in the 1200s, showing how their lives parallel one another and intertwine across time and space. The motif of the maps and colors were a lovely touch. This was a pretty impressive debut novel, wit...
This novel follows the story lines of two young girls, Nour and Rawiya. Nour, raised in present day New York, moves back to Syria with her mother and two sisters, after the death of her father. However, their home in the city of Hom is bombed and they are forced to flee their home as r...
A gorgeous, smart novel that follows 12-year-old Nour through a harrowing journey to find safety after her city is bombed during the Syrian Civil War. I flagged many amazing passages and insightful sentences. Too many to mention. I encourage everyone to read this book to understand the...
I received a free hardback copy of The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar from Goodreads for my honest review. This is a beautifully rich and moving novel. It is a story of two girls that are living eight hundred years apart. A Syrian refugee seeking safety and a ad...
So badly overwritten I was unable to persist beyond a few pages. In those pages, salt stains are said to be everywhere because the narrator?s father has just died?enough tears, basically, to drown any interest I may have had in this book. An overabundance of entirely unnecessar...
Bumping this up to five stars because months later the story is still crystal clear in my mind... And I also went out and bought myself a physical edition of this beauty. Definitely among my top reads of 2018. ------- Happy book birthday to this wonderful book!!! You know that...
There have been quite a few novels written over the last several years about the refugee experience, mostly how they are trying to manage their new lives in the US. This book was somewhat different with a family moving back to Syria in 2011 after the father dies. This proved to be th...
You cannot read this book without gaining a new respect for Syrian Refugees. In this richly drawn story a contempoary Syrian family is torn apart after their home is destroyed. As the family attempts to escape the violence and leave Syria the reader is given an intimate window to the e...
The salt breeze pours black water into me. It sinks deep, into a place I can't name, a place I can't chart. 3.5 stars. Exquisite writing. I can't remember when last I read such beautiful descriptions. The author definitely has a way with words. She created such vivid, colourful images...
What kind of magic is this? Q: God smiles through the cracks in broken things. (c) Q: Stories are powerful, but gather too many of the words of others in your heart and they will drown out your own. Remember that... (c) Q: Stones don't have to be whole to be lovely," he says. "...
There are some books where words will never be able to adequately express the power and feelings within it's pages. The Map of Salt and Stars is one of these books. There feels like so much to say about how incredibly emotional this book is; and yet I struggle to find the words. Th...
?The Syria I knew is in me somewhere. And I guess it?s in you too, in its own way.? This book is really beautifully written and I found myself getting emotional a few times while reading. I really appreciate that the writer didn't go into the politics of the situation in Syria...
It would be impossible to overstate how proud we are to be publishing this gorgeous and important novel. Nour's voice will capture your heart and linger in your mind long after you read the final page. Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar is not only immensely talented, but has a story that needs...
4.5 stars. The Map of Salt and Stars is one of the best stories I?ve read this year. This diverse read is filled with poignant themes, unforgettable characters including two inspiring female protagonists, and beautiful writing. See more about why I loved this story by visiting my blo...
This book didn't work for me, but the things I disliked about it probably wouldn't bother a lot of people. I usually have a problem with dual timeline stories because one is generally more compelling than the other. That leaves me liking only half, at most, of a book. In this case, I j...
This rich, moving, and lyrical debut novel is to Syria what The Kite Runner was to Afghanistan; the story of two girls living eight hundred years apart?a modern-day Syrian refugee seeking safety and a medieval adventurer apprenticed to a legendary mapmaker?places today?s headline...
3.5 heartwarming stars Full Disclosure, I chose this book based on its stunning cover, its eye-catching title, and the fact that the synopsis drops in the comparison to The Kite Runner . Set against the backdrop of the unrest in Syria and coupled with a 12th century romance adventu...
Many thanks to Touchstone Books for my free copy of MAP OF SALT AND STARS by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar - all opinions are my own. This is a gorgeously written, heartbreaking, and inspiring story. It?s written with a unique perspective, not of a refugee figuring out life in America...
Thanks to Touchstone for sending me a copy to review! This novel follows the story lines of two girls, Nour and Rawiya. Nour grew up in present day New York, but after the death of her father her family returned to Syria. Before long, they must flee their home as refugees. Eight hun...
This is a top read of 2018 for me 100%. Rafiwya and Nour are two young women who embark on life changing circumstances. Rafiwya embarks on an adventure to earn her fortune and provide for her family as an apprentice mapmaker whilst disgusting herself as a boy. Nour moves from Manhat...
4 colorful and descriptive stars to The Map of Salt and Stars! ? ? ? ? The Syrian civil war and refugee crisis stay in the forefront of my mind most days. I am heartbroken. I am deeply worried. I am listening. The Map of Salt and Stars had me intrigued since I first lea...
For the first time in years, I think of something Mama told me when I was little: that when you make a map, you don?t just paint the world the way it is. You paint your own. Joukhadar alternates between the legendary tale of a girl battling mythological beasts across windswept dune...
This debut takes us through twelve-year-old Noor?s journey as her family moves from New York to Syria in 2011, then is almost immediately forced to flee Syria once the war begins and her home is destroyed. This book is written in two timelines, present day, and a ?fable? timeline...
?Full review now posted. (This review can also be found on my blog!) ?The land where your parents were born will always be in you. Words survive. Borders are nothing to words and blood.? ? ??Muslim & Arab Reading Month #1 (this book features Arabs as well as hij...
