I think I had a bit of a fluctuating appreciation of the authorial voice. Some sections I did not like much, they left me quite bored and also a bit perplexed on why they were included. Some parts I enjoyed more, especially the ones focused on the themes of litearture and translation (though I have to say the literary references were a bit relentless sometimes), and also the descriptions of Beirut and its troubled history.

Also, I quite liked the storyline surrounding the character of Hannah, but I have to say that the way the author handled certain aspects of her story did not sit quite right with me

I'm talking about her relationship with food, or maybe I should say her eating disorder, I still do not know what to make of it.

 

The story centers around Aaliya and the readers view characters, events and the surroundings through her point of view, so it is inevitable for the narration to get a bit "stream-of-consciousness-y" but I think that at times it can become too much. Sometimes I felt like the narration was too much disjointed, without a structure to connect the narrative jumps. I'm just not the biggest fan of this kind of narrative style.

Overall, it was a bit of a up-and-down reading experiece, but I quite liked the final section so the book ended on a higher note for me.