Shouldn’t she have known by now to depend on no one? […] that no one would soothe the pain in your heart. No one will rescue you’ p.85-86 We follow Yara, the main character as she struggles to come to terms with her unsatisfactory life. Each and every day she battles a soul-crushing generational trauma that hovers over her like a storm cloud.. I read this book back in November and I knew right away it would be one of my favourites of 2023! I cannot express how much I loved this book. I had given myself a couple of days to read it but instead I read it in two days with 95% of it being read in the second day, as I just could not put it down! I remember finishing it around 1am despite having work the next day (no regrets!) and I was sobbing!

Etaf Rum is one of those author's that has me captivated immediately. I actually listened to this on audio (as I did with her other book) and found myself completely mesmerised by the beautiful story telling. This book covers so many difficult topics in such a tasteful and fleshed out way and I honestly just felt so engaged by the narration, it was as though I could see it all playing out in my head and time was just passing me by. I think the best part of this one was how dynamic the characters and their relationships were, they felt very real in their struggles but also in their strengths too. I really liked how complex their lives were and how it wasn’t tunnelled in on one aspect as though everything else just stops. There were so many relatable parts about Yara's character and her self discovery/growth journey throughout the story was so well done and there was so many thought provoking moments throughout. Overall I found this book to be really captivating with well developed characters and would definitely recommend picking up the audio