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anieluovi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kalimccullough's review against another edition
3.0
Beautiful language and a very entertaining audiobook narration by Sneha Mathan, but overall I felt this book was missing something crucial. Some of the stories were very entertaining and others were so long-winded that I forgot (or never discovered) their purpose as narrative vehicles. Perhaps this is my American-ness showing, as the book refers often to the Persian way of "preferring beautiful lies to ugly truths" but this book felt like a lot of words not really saying much of anything. I did enjoy the description of the relationship between twins since I'm a twin myself, and honestly that probably comprises an entire star in my review on its own.
littlegoliath's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
captsquiggs's review against another edition
2.0
This book was well written, but I struggled to stay interested. I won this book from Goodreads giveaways. It wasn't a book I would have normally picked up to read, but I figured if I won something, I was definitely going to read it. If you like realistic fictions based in modern times, then you will probably enjoy this book. The Iranian culture was interesting to learn about.
erin_andi's review against another edition
4.0
Sad and hopeful at the same time; epic story of friendship and family and culture.
yinyang9902's review against another edition
2.0
This book surprised me in that I expected to like it, really wanted to like it, but I just didn't. I did not find any of the characters likable, and that's a must in order for me to enjoy a story. The telling was very disjointed and too drawn out for me. The author reveals something at the beginning that, in my opinion, ruins the rest of the story, but I know what she was trying to do. I did enjoy learning about the Iranian culture pre- and post-revolution.
readtome_sheri's review against another edition
3.0
I'm thinking that I would have enjoyed this book a bit more if I had read it rather than listened to the audio version, as I didn't love the narration. Regardless, it's a beautiful, heart-breaking story.
joycenyy's review against another edition
2.0
I picked up this book based on the title (so beautiful!) and its summary in the dust jacket. It started slow and I probably started completely losing interest about halfway through but I'd already committed to it. The character development is so slooooow and drawn out, and not very interesting. Saba's longing for Mahtab, while sweet and heartbreaking initially, just becomes annoying eventually and her longing doesn't really develop or morph through time. It feels like the same tone throughout the whole novel. The premise had so much promise, but it was ultimately disappointing.