Reviews

Aria by Nazanine Hozar

mpal's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

2.5

Fairly well-written, my gripe is mainly with the story structure. It felt really top-heavy, Aria's early years were trodden in almost excessive detail, and her later years felt glossed over.
The structure felt misleading, I felt the relationship between Mehri and Aria was poorly developed and we never really got a focus on how Aria's relationship with mother figures in her life affected her as she became a mother. Which isn't like... necessary but it felt like the book was advertised in that way and definitely did not deliver. I know this is a bit juvenile but the way Mitra was portrayed as this mindless ditzy girl and Aria the cool outspoken one who gets the guy was obnoxious to me sorry.... I'm a girl's girl...
All in all, I felt the development of the characters in the second half of the book were weak and certain plot points that I personally disliked made this a 2.5 for me.

danielau's review against another edition

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2.0

Orkade inte läsa till slut. Störde mig på den finska översättningen ingen och tror inte att det handlar om översättaren utan om själva språket som låter så konstgjort och som därmed distaserar mig som läsare. Hade större förhoppningar också på historien, i princip intressant men den var trög och bestod mycket av dialog mellan barn. Boken kändes därför mer som en ungdomsroman (för enkel) och blev tråkig. Hade typ litet dåligt samvete för att jag inte orkade läsa de sista 150 sidorna, väntade hela tiden på att den skulle bli bättre.

nuhafariha's review against another edition

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3.0

Thanks to Knopf DoubleDay and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available August 25 2020

Waltzing in and out of present and past day Iran, Nazanine Hozar's "Aria" paints a mesmerizing portrait of what it means to claim womanhood for both a country and for the main protagonist. With a deft hand, Hozar's "Aria" is still piecing together her complicated family narrative amid a shifting political landscape. What follows is a soft, delicate and meandering narrative that truly does honesty to its protagonist's age and place in history. I enjoyed the author's slowed pace and gentle narrative style, even when describing quite brutal events.

nuhafariha's review against another edition

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3.0

Thanks to Knopf DoubleDay and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available August 25 2020

Waltzing in and out of present and past day Iran, Nazanine Hozar's "Aria" paints a mesmerizing portrait of what it means to claim womanhood for both a country and for the main protagonist. With a deft hand, Hozar's "Aria" is still piecing together her complicated family narrative amid a shifting political landscape. What follows is a soft, delicate and meandering narrative that truly does honesty to its protagonist's age and place in history. I enjoyed the author's slowed pace and gentle narrative style, even when describing quite brutal events.

beccaej's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional informative sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

rabiaakhtar's review

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emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

tamara_mousa's review against another edition

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5.0

Aria is a magnificent vibrant novel by Nazanine Hozar about the wind of change that disrupted the lives of Iranians between 1953 & 1981 after Mossadegh's displacement, during the Shah's regime, & upon the Islamic revolution. It is portrayed by the intricate dramatic life of Aria who had three mothers: Mehri, who delivered but abandoned her; the motherzilla Zahra; & Fereshteh, the rich woman who offered her everything except love.
There is a summary about it in my blog - https://www.tamarayousefmousa.com/

nakbari's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

serendipitysbooks's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 Aria is the story of a young girl, abandoned on the streets of Tehran and taken in by a poor soldier. It follows her through to adulthood and motherhood of her own, while highlighting her relationship with three very different women who mothered her at different times. Aria’s often harrowing story unfolds against the backdrop of Iranian history and the lead up to the 1976 revolution. It did a good job highlighting the many divisions in the country at the time. For me this was one of those frustrating books that I wanted to love but only ended up liking without quite being able to say why. 
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dels's review against another edition

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emotional informative tense
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A