Exit West has been on my highly anticipated reading list for a while. Not only has it been nominated for a whole host of literary awards, many of the readers I follow online have loved it. I am happy to report that I am officially one of that number who adored this tale of migration and change. On the surface, this novel follows the lives of a young couple who meet in the midst of burgeoning civil unrest as their city becomes the battleground of a modern day civil war. Their relationship is challenged after they escape their war-torn city through a magic door which cuts across seas and borders. While before, the two young lovers chose each other, they soon become dependent on each other in this strange new world, and this changes the nature of their relationship forever.

However, it was very different to what I expected. Much of the marketing surrounding this novel focuses on the magical realism elements of the narrative through the device of the magic doors which transport migrants to different countries all over the globe. I would agree with many reviewers that this marketing effort is perhaps a little overdone as it has created a false popular depiction of what the novel is about. While most of the synopsis and reviews of this novel feature the magic doors so prominently, they are just a convenient plot point in the narrative so that our characters can move about more freely, in a way that is not possible in reality. In the end, the doors do not add much to the story at all; instead, the novel's heart is the central relationship between Nadia and Saeed and how it changes under the pressure of being stateless and homeless.

I really loved this story. It’s a lot quieter than I expected, with gorgeous writing and a dreamy feel to the narrative. The social commentary on the modern refugee is subtle but powerful. I read this on my kindle and I ended up highlighting so many different quotes. I truly fell in love with the author’s words. Adding my voice to the countless other book-lovers, this story is incredible.

Whilst the focus of Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West is so relevant and timely to the fractured planet of our current times, the writing style left the so-needed critical argument of the novel just outside of the reader’s grasping hands. Imagine a world just like ours, but with the occurrence of magical doors that allow people to flee from their own country to some unknown, distant land - Greece to England, the Himalayas to Mexico.
They don’t know where they’ll end up, just that it won’t be where they once were.
It should have been amazing, the critical piece of literature that would bring nuanced discussion, and a hint of magical realism, to the international debate about immigration and the refugee crisis. But instead, the maddening, simplistic, bloody awful writing left the story, which had every possibility of being a heart-wrenching, honest peek (something that is hard to do with the inclusion of the magical elements) into so many people’s realities, nothing more than a flat and hollow fossil of something that was once wondrous.
Which is odd. Because, after having been completely bowled away by the National Youth Theatre’s adaptation of The Reluctant Fundamentalist, an earlier novel of Mohsin Hamid’s that examines islamophobia in the aftermath of 9/11, about six months ago, I immediately went out and bought a copy of the book.
I devoured it over the course of a single afternoon. That book was wondrous, there’s no doubt about it. And, sitting here, looking at two, I can not even wrap my head around the fact that they were written by the same author. A decade difference should have meant ten years worth of improvement, not a sharp, steep decline backwards.
Of course, the main difference between the two are their narrative-voices; the protagonist in The Reluctant Fundamentalist talks directly to its reader, trying to explain his choices and the steps that led him eventually to terrorism; whereas Exit West switches between Nadia and Saeed (as well as, for no reason whatsoever, through fragments of about a dozen unnamed others), telling their story in a very abstract, introspective and vague way.
You don’t know what country they come from, the names of some of the people that mean so much to them, or even some of the words in the conversations that they have. Everything is told at a distance, but not like in The Reluctant Fundamentalist where it feels like you’re taken along on the ride. It is instead as though you are watching from a distance, popping in every so often to get a vague summary of the events that you have missed whilst you are away.
This caused a majority of the emotional impact of the novel to simply dissipate. And, honestly, that’s the main thing that a book like this relies on.

*Disclaimer: Although I actually read a physical copy of this book that I purchased myself, I have also received the ebook version of the paperback for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have tried to read this several times over the past two years and never got more than 50 pages in. However, with my reading tastes having changed so much over the last six months or so, I thought I'd give it another chance.

From the beginning, my main issue with this book is the writing style. There would be run on sentences that lasted a page and a half at times and it meant that I have to reread paragraphs to fully understand where the thread of the story was going.

The ideas and concepts were hypothetically fascinating but I felt that the author tried to lengthen this into a novel when really it could have been written as a well-crafted short story and been more effective. 

Overall this was extremely disappointing for me. The concepts and ideas had so much potential but I found the execution to be poor.

I have only read two of Mohsin Hamid's books but I really liked both of them. I really admire how sensitive his writing is and how he can evoke emotion in the reader. I read Exit West in a public place and still could not hold back tears.

It is a tender love story (mind you, not all love stories have a happily ever after) with insightful commentary on Western countries' policies. Also, the experience of being a refugee is very well drawn, delicately pointing out that regardless of where we were born, we are all the same. .

Highly recommended.

Exit West is a small but powerful novel, that has at its centre two young people, Saeed and Nadia. They live in an unnamed Middle Eastern country. I confess I've always thought of it as Syria. The two young people meet at a university course. Saeed is traditional and religious. Nadia is a free spirit, who wouldn't toe the line, she doesn't even pray. Circumstances and Saeed's perseverance brings the two together. But life in their city takes a turn for worse when the government and the militants fight more and more. They need to escape that hellish place, with no electricity, running water, food and where people get killed for all sort of random reasons. Leaving Saeed's kind father behind, they use doors that will transport them to somewhere better.

First stop-over is on the island of Mykonos. It's scary and humiliating and they sleep in a tiny tent on the margins of the refugee community. Eventually, they make it to London, they take residence in a big mansion. They're not the only inhabitants there, there are many other people from different parts of the world. The things we take for granted become luxuries - having a hot bath; using a fluffy towel and washing one's clothes.; sleeping indoors, on a bed.

Hamid did a great job showing us the refugees' struggles, the many hurdles they have to jump over, the humiliations and the shame. I also liked how well he was able to show the disintegration of a love relation, I thought that was exquisite.

I'm glad I finally read this novel. I thought it was well done, relevant and original. I'll have to look up more of Hamid's works.

The magical realism piece around doors just didn't work for me. I recognise what the author was aiming for (I assume cutting out the travel) and getting to the meat of the work. But for me it was a distraction from what could have been an interesting novel of the impact of war on ordinary people.

Mohsin Hamid has written a poignant thought-provoking love story amidst the worldwide turmoil of conflict, disharmony and its horrendous consequences. These two themes are dealt with in a wonderfully balanced and fluid way, which illustrates Hamid’s clever writing skills.

The story initially starts in an unknown Middle-East country (unfortunately there are several real countries/cities that could fit the description). Saeed and Nadia meet as students, and their relationship develops slowly with the brakes of religion and independence holding it back. Saeed wanting to wait until they are married before consummating their relationship, while Nadia is a very independent woman who isn’t indoctrinated into religion and doesn’t follow traditions unless it is to ward-off male advances. The city they live in gradually escalates into conflict forcing Nadia to move in with Saeed and his father for safety.

After living for a period scrambling an existence, the only option is to leave their home through mystical doors that lead to other regions. The narration creates a great insight into how a civil war creeps up on the residents and how difficult it is to run from the home you have always known to a place that is alien and unwelcoming. Saeed’s father decides to remain, knowing it most likely means death, but at least he will be home, and near his beloved deceased wife. As refugees, Saeed and Nadia arrive in places where they are unwanted and treated with disdain, loathing and persecution. The couple hold onto their love throughout, moving to Mykonos, then onto London and finally to California, always hoping for salvation, always exiting West. There is a thunderbolt of irony in the locations of UK and USA, as both have recently experienced a majority electorate that wishes to take drastic steps to prevent immigration and refugee support. A hugely topical issue that sets in motion policies of division and isolation in a world consumed with war, genocide, migration, bigotry and racism.

Throughout this journey, the relationship between Saeed and Nadia starts to change and while they have a deep affection for each other, their feelings become more platonic and they behave more as siblings. In the end, "they looked at each other, for a long, long time, any gesture seeming inadequate, and in silence, Nadia turned and walked away into a misty drizzle, and her raw face was wet and alive.”

The story had a strange end, as both the relationship between Saeed and Nadia, and the refugee crisis both seem to run out of pace. It does, however, leave us with a renewed sense of hope for humanity to build a better world. With regards the relationship between the couple??

Many thanks to Penguin Books (UK) Publishing and NetGalley, for an ARC version of the book in return for an honest review.

It's a weird thing to recommend a book you didn't like but that's exactly what I'm going to do with Exit West.

So Nadia and Saeed, two young people for an unnamed city in Middle-East, fall in love and end up having to flee their country to escape civil war. They go through a magic door who takes them to Mykonos, where they live as refugees, and so on.

First thing you have to know is that there is little magic in there. Aside from the doors, there is no magic at all. In my opinion, the book is about how circumstances affect people, then their relationships. It's a very interesting take and I thought Nadia and Saeed were very interesting characters, but I also grew fond of the little snippets from random people's lives that changed thanks to the doors. It was a nice touch. The character study is definitely well done and it must have demanded a lot of work. I also really liked the ending.

Hamid is an insanely good writer. He really is. His words, his sentences reminded me of poetry and I noticed from the very first chapter that he really has a way with words. He doesn't just write well, he has real talent. Exit West is full of thought-provoking litlle truths and it's a huge point in its favour.

BUT what killed the book for me was the lack of dialogue. I understand why this book is praised, I really do. And if I had listened to the audiobook, maybe I would have loved it too, because the writing style feels like someone is telling you the story. But in a book, I need dialogue to feel invested. If I don't get any, I feel like I'm watching events unfold from a distance, like I'm stuck watching from behind a window instead of living it. I don't like it. It tends to bore me and I'm sorry to say that not only did it take me a ridiculous amount of time to read Exit West given my excitement about it and its short length, I also probably missed a lot of important stuff because of that.

So I'm a bit stuck here. It's a great book so of course you should give it a try. If the writing works for you, chances are you'll love it. It just didn't work for me.

Well, this is a tough one. I definitely liked this book, but am struggling to find words to explain why... Exit West is an emotionally powerful book, yet it is always soft: it moves slowly and delicately through Saeed and Nadia's story, never quite developing into a full-blown drama (despite the war setting), but despite that I felt a certain heaviness of heart throughout.

Hamid's prose is gentle and poetic, and manages to conjure all sorts of feelings, from the most noble to their complete opposite. I had read only one of his books previously, The Reluctant Fundamentalist, and felt the same sort of vibe here. I personally love his writing style, but am fully aware that it is fairly unique and as such may not appeal to everyone. Beware if you like reasonable, logic books, as this is definitely not one of them: while I wouldn't go as far as calling Exit West magical realism, it does ask the reader to suspend their disbelief as our protagonists cross magical doors that link their war-stricken country to move to Europe.

Exit West is a highly metaphorical read which, through its quiet and lyrical prose, provides one of the best accounts of the so-called "refugee crisis" I have read so far. Following two young people in love as they do their best to continue living normally while their country crumbles around them under the weight of war, it is a heartbreaking account of the difficult choices and sacrifices that so many are forced to make - and reminds us that deciding to leave is only the beginning of the struggle. Going further than this, Hamid shows us the long-term effects of forced displacement and how it forces change both in Saeed, Nadia and the other migrants around them, and in the societies that receive them.

Incredibly relevant to today's debates, Exit West is a touching tale of love, war and disillusionment; a harrowing account of displacement, survival and growing up. This book reaches across the whole spectrum of human emotions, and that is what makes it especially hard for me to review. In short, highly recommended.

The writing in Exit West is superb, at times sublime, and there is no doubt that here is a writer with huge talent. Certain passages are simultaneously heart-wrenching and thought provoking. The author creates emotion and connections in a manner both powerful and poetic. The words on the page are worthy of the full 5 stars.
However, for me, the story on the page is only worth 3 (thus the 4 star rating). I did really enjoy it, the characters are exquisitely drawn and the magical realism aspect enhances the themes addressed. But there just wasn't enough story for me to really love it. A lot of things were left unexplained or deliberately vague and this is something that I find distances me from the narrative. The ending is more of a petering out and left me frustrated at the lack of resolution. It just wasn't the book for me unfortunately, but I do appreciate its quality and would recommend it.

A lot of people will have heard about Exit West by now because Barack Obama put it on his list of favourite books read in 2017. This and having read another book by the same author, The Reluctant Fundamentalist which I loved, made me want to read Exit West too.
I can see why it was praised but I'm quite certain that at the moment any decent story dealing with the topic of refugees is praised. It's one of the most important issues of our time and reading a story told from the perspective of refugees certainly gives you something to think about - especially when - like me - living in a prosperous country. There were parts of the story I liked (the description how the war slowly evolves, the problems Nadia and Saeed face as illegal immigrants) but overall I was missing something: the struggle of their flight. The magical element of the story, even though making it unique in some way, takes out much of the tension there otherwise could have been created. I also couldn't quite associate with the love story, it always felt much too matter-of-fact.

This is a brilliant and moving read from Mohsin Hamid which provides a critically imperative and timely novel of the urgency of contemporary global issues with the rising tide of displaced refugees and migrants. In beautiful prose, Hamid weaves a personal affecting account of being a refugee with providing a social and political commentary on war, and the deplorable experiences that refugees are subject to in various countries in the west. It begins in the East, a country that to me feels like it could be Pakistan, where the independent and adventurous Nadia meets the more introvert and timid Saeed just as the country begins to slide into a horrific civil war that comes to tragically encroach on them personally. As the violence escalates, leaving their homeland appears to be their only option, the two hear of rumours of the existence of doors, portals that allow them to exit West, an inherently fantastical element that that they, amongst so many others, utilise. Narrated by a dispassionate observer, this a story of war, identity, adapting, love, loss, sacrifice, and what it is to be a traumatised refugee amidst the hostility that swamps them in the countries in which they harbour elusive hopes of safety and security.

The couple go through numerous doors which includes visits to London and San Francisco in California where a large tent city has grown. What Nadia and Saeed encounter in their travels has them questioning who they are and what they mean to each other, exacerbated by the toll that the stresses and strains of their situation place on them. This tugs at the threads of their love and their personal relationship as it begins to fray. Nadia's responses differ from Saeed, she is more adaptable than he is as he sinks into prayers in his search for answers. As the challenges and demands of being in exile, immersed in a world that looks unfavourably on them, it is barely surprising that their love for each other begins to fall apart, although their regard and affection for each other remains, built through the fires of their mutual history.

This is an immensely thought provoking novel, confronting the growing nightmare of anti-refugee sentiments that engulf the west, amidst the ever growing exodus from war torn, dangerous and unstable nations. Refugees face bigotry, racism, riots, death and more. Mohsin Hamid's novel speaks to us of the times we live in and the uncertain and unsettling future beckoning greater worries of greater turbulence. My one regret is that the emotional distance provided by the narrator deprives the story of a more emotional and visceral reality that readers may have connected with more. Otherwise, an exceptional, absorbing and compelling read that I recommend highly! Many thanks to Penguin for an ARC.

The first half of this novel is incredible. A humanising view of people who become refugees. People like you and I. People with loves, dreams, hopes, crushed by regimes and war and forced to flee everything they hold dear to survive. Forced to unimaginable existences on the fringes of society. Looked upon with suspicion and hatred. Viewed as thieves, viewed as a threat, unwelcome, marginalised and shunned.
From the simple beginnings of boy meets girl, Hamid spins a tale that takes the central couple on a journey across Europe, fleeing their past, then fleeing their present, whilst always hopeful for a better future. This to me was the most engaging part of the tale. The aftermath, where they settle and then grow apart, was seemingly inevitable after all they'd been through, but it just felt a little flat after the lush evocative prose of the first half of the book.
Nevertheless, this is well worth a read, if only for Hamid's writing. He takes a current political nightmare and gives it a personal face, and names, and makes you see what's going on on the news from the point of view of the victims. Hugely thought-provoking, I hope this book reaches the hands of those marginalising and shunning those who seek sanctuary on our shores.

Really great book. Totally different but very relevant for today! Nice quick and easy read - everyone should read it.