This book absolutely blew me away. I’ll admit I was not always motivated to pick it up because at times it felt dense, but Elif Shafak does such a brilliant job of weaving together an intricate story. She gave us three characters and intertwined their stories so thoroughly that I did not want to think of them as separately by the end of this book. 

Learning about the plight and persecution of the Yazidi people was eye-opening. Particularly, at a time where I am aware of and sensitive to multiple genocides occurring in the world as I was reading. 

Learning about Mesopotamia and hydrology…I feel smarter from having read this book. I did not expect this one book to cover themes of imperialism, genocide, terrorism, religious persecution, racism, trafficking, etc. but by the end of this book, it made all the sense in the world. 

Also, this book managed to evoke emotions from me, which is rare. I’m very happy I took the time read this book and I’m excited to post a more thorough review on my book account. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.