This is my first fiction book about life in Gaza. The Blue Between Sky and Water is a multi-generational story of a family surviving and compromising with tiny bits of happiness amid the chaos in Gaza. Warning - This book is packed with emotional punches. Some scenes are very graphic. I don't remember being this miserable while reading a book. There was so much pain and misery.

The best part were the children in the book. Mariam, Nur, Khaled, and Rhet Shel were all so enigmatic, but so were all the women. Despite living oppressed and stressful lives, they all had a bold sense of individuality and power. Nazmiyeh was my queen. I simply loved her to no extent.

I am not into magical realism, but the book had a lot of other things to offer. The writing about the cultural and social life of Gaza was very honest. There was no layer of fabrication just because the writer was American. She wrote it like it is, the good parts, and the bad parts. Her language and style is surreal too, punches you right in the heart.

A very tiny part of me was disappointed by Abulhawa's biased writing. The book was excessively pro-Palestine. There was not a single atrocity of Hamas mentioned, let alone criticized. But that was okay, because all the criticism of Israel and the war was done at humanity and not political level. She plainly wrote about how difficult it was for a common man to survive in Gaza.

This will be one of my most favorite books. I'll recommend it to everyone.