Scan barcode
A review by titalindaslibrary
The Skin and Its Girl by Sarah Cypher
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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? No
5.0
Vibes: a Palestinian family's saga of exile, lineage, and secrets. This book is riddled with folklore, beautiful prose, and the stories we stitch together to keep ourselves from falling apart.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I'm truly struggling to write an adequate review for this outside of just "This is such a beautiful book, how the hell is it not more popular???" I'm at a loss for words when this is filled with stunning writing, detailing the deep love and loss of one family. But I'll try my best. Anything to get more people to read this book!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Our protagonist, Betty, enters this world as a stillborn baby. By some miracle, she comes back to life but with blue skin, and it's thanks to her great aunt Nuha that she isn't given up for adoption. Thus begins The Skin and Its Girl. This book is incredibly character-driven, with the central plot based around the recounting of past events that slowly coalesce to reveal just how parallel Betty and Nuha's lives unfold. If you're in the mood for a slowburn family saga that weaves together the distant and near past to reveal secrets and complex character backstories, I cannot recommend this enough.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The Skin and Its Girl touches on so many themes running through the life of one messy immigrant family, it's hard to pin down just one thing that made this stand out. It deals with mental health, motherhood, queerness, family secrets, love, grief, political unrest…so many aspects! But it all comes together to paint such a rich, realistic portrayal of this family's life and their relentless push towards a better future
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This was a hybrid read for me. I listened to this partially through audio and highly recommend that format! It was nice to have a physical copy to reference along the way too.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
I'm truly struggling to write an adequate review for this outside of just "This is such a beautiful book, how the hell is it not more popular???" I'm at a loss for words when this is filled with stunning writing, detailing the deep love and loss of one family. But I'll try my best. Anything to get more people to read this book!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Our protagonist, Betty, enters this world as a stillborn baby. By some miracle, she comes back to life but with blue skin, and it's thanks to her great aunt Nuha that she isn't given up for adoption. Thus begins The Skin and Its Girl. This book is incredibly character-driven, with the central plot based around the recounting of past events that slowly coalesce to reveal just how parallel Betty and Nuha's lives unfold. If you're in the mood for a slowburn family saga that weaves together the distant and near past to reveal secrets and complex character backstories, I cannot recommend this enough.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
The Skin and Its Girl touches on so many themes running through the life of one messy immigrant family, it's hard to pin down just one thing that made this stand out. It deals with mental health, motherhood, queerness, family secrets, love, grief, political unrest…so many aspects! But it all comes together to paint such a rich, realistic portrayal of this family's life and their relentless push towards a better future
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
This was a hybrid read for me. I listened to this partially through audio and highly recommend that format! It was nice to have a physical copy to reference along the way too.