Whew. Profoundly heartbreaking and horribly beautiful. The craft is exquisite, the tenderness is palpable and the hope is aching. And the trauma is bone deep. From Aleppo to England, this tale of seeking refuge and asylum from a beautiful home torn into pieces and battered beyond recognition broke my heart and won’t leave me anytime soon. Oh, and there are some bees in there too.

Syrian refugees, Afra and her husband Nuri must flee to save their lives. They have lost their young son to a bomb and they are adrift. Nuri's livelihood is as a beekeeper, in business with his cousin. Afra is an artist who has been blinded by the bomb. The book follows them as they flee from one terrible place to the next, at long-last ending up in the UK through significant, available cash and the encouragement of the business partner cousin.

The book takes you on a frightening journey with them on their trip and ALL THE WAITING to get to a place of safety. There is corruption and violence, assault and insecurity. This is a modern day story and it is from the

What a touching story. Although it’s another 3-star read in the lineup of “average” books I’ve seemed to stumble upon, it’s certainly one that I enjoyed more than the others and will recommend to people who enjoy historical fiction (about more recent “history” to be accurate).

The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a novel that deals with the movement of refugees from Aleppo in Syria to Europe during the Syrian Civil War. And like I said, this is certainly a fiction novel, but it’s based on the author’s experience while volunteering in Athens at a refugee center. I wish I’d known that before reading the book, but it wasn’t until the Author Notes page that I found out. I think I would’ve felt more connected to the character with that knowledge.

The writing is lovely, and that’s a big reason behind why I gave this 3-stars (because to me, 3-stars is a good rating). The connection to the characters and story, while I did occasionally feel, was rather flighty and didn’t maintain its grip for long. That, and I did, sadly, find myself a little bored at times.

Other than those things, you’re just going to have to take my word that this is a book I think people should give a chance. It surrounds important topics (immigration, family, war, etc.), the writing is good, and what more do you need to give a book a chance?

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

This book relates the experience of Syrian refugees attempting to flee their home from the scourges of war. While this is a novel, the unimaginable horrors obviously ring true. It is quite a difficult book to read but everyone should read it, specifically because of the difficulty and timeliness.
The ever pervasive theme of "what does one see" is so well-explored and in such different contexts. This is a must-read.

This book is definitely worth a read! It's important for authors to continue to write from multicultural perspectives - even if the reader doesn't have a passport, it feels as though they've traveled a thousand miles through the words on the page. Without giving too much away, I would definitely recommend this beautifully written, heart-wrenching book.

I really want to like this novel and because of that, I'm going to put it down, walk away, and try it again when I've taken a break. There are so many aspects that I find appealing to the idea of this novel that I don't want to pan it until I've really given it a try. For now I'm rating it as "good" and will come back when I've given it another shot with a final update.

This is a very good book that is very hard to read. Probably one of the hardest books to ingest that I have read in quite some time. The story is so raw and real that you feel the pain and sorrow and grief of the characters. But it is also beautifully written and sincere. I had to take this one in very slowly, but it was worth it in the end.

This was one of the better books I read in 2019, and I have already adopted it for my Modern British Literature course. It's poignant and engaging, with rich characters that propel the narrative without the need for action-packed scenes or hugely traumatic storylines.

This is the heartbreaking story of Syrian refugees Nuri, Afra and their son Sami. This well written, gripping novel follows this family as they weather the horrors of war in their country and ultimately decide to leave. Nuri is a successful beekeeper with his cousin Mustafa. Afra is an artist and when she witnesses her son Sami's death, she is blinded by the trauma. Nuri and Mustafa's beehives are deliberately burned and destroyed, resulting in Mustafa's decision to leave for Europe with his family. Nuri and Afra stay behind for awhile and then they too join the difficult and dangerous exodus out of Syria, winding up in Greece before they arrive in England where Nuri hopes to join Mustafa in a new beekeeping business.

Ms. Lefteri has produced a book which will make you very grateful for the food in your home, the roof over your head and the safety of your neighborhood. Nuri and Afra's story will stay with you long after you have finished this book. It is truly unforgettable and I am very glad I was able to read it.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author Christy Lefteri, and the publisher Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the wonderful experience of reading this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Nuri is a beekeeper in Aleppo, Syria, living a quiet life with his wife Afra, an artist, and their son, Sami. They are forced to flee Aleppo for Britain when the war destroys everything around them, including taking the life of their dear son.

I enjoyed this story of their journey to find safety and each other again after their horrible losses. The romance that still exists between Nuri and Afra after such tragedies is both painfully and beautifully written, inspiring hope in the most awful situations.

This book was incredible, but not an easy one to read. It was filled with heart ache and devastation. Without giving too much away, it was a book giving a voice to the refugee experience. It was horrifying, especially know that these atrocities were occuring in my life time. I would highly recommend this book to everyone looking to diversify their reading and learn more about the world, but be prepared for heartache.

I received an ARC courteous of NetGalley, the author and publisher.

An unforgettable story of love and a mother who was blinded by loss and survival. This was a geographical, mesmerizing, tale that was raw. Immigration is a hard subject to tackle in any form and this book did an amazing job of looking in-depth at just that and what it takes, what one goes through, and how at the core of it is survival. This story was haunting, sad, and yet beautiful.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri affected me much more than I expected. While this book is a work of fiction, it still made me feel all kinds of emotions that I was not expecting. It shows that Lefteri did a lot of research and has personal experience with helping refugees because I cannot see someone coming up with all of these details unless they have experiences this themselves or have talked to those that have. She tells us about the highs and lows, how you can love yet fear your home, how even small things can have big consequences, and how love can push you to your limits but also help pull you through the hardest times of your life. I really enjoy books with historical relevance and this one really hit the mark.

A gorgeous story! Unputdownable! I loved it. Highly recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo is a beautiful story of tragedy and hope. The story of Nuri and his wife, Afra, takes place England while seeking asylum and their escape from Syria. This book is less about the physical trauma that these refugees have gone through and more of the psychological. By the end of the story Nuri and Afra are beginning to acknowledge what has happened and heal. While this isn't a fun, easy going read I could not put it down.

What a stunning depiction of the refugee crisis. This timely book held my attention from start to finish and I felt so drawn to every character. I wanted to see them all find what they needed. The depictions of refugee camps were difficult to read but so necessary.

I loved this book ... the people, the places, the story. It touched my heart in so many ways, and I learned so much about the refugee life. This was a book that took the reader through a range of emotions, but ended with hope.
On a more practical note, there were a few issues I found. The characters were not described well at the beginning, and I gradually realized that I was picturing them incorrectly. Also, the author really needed to include a map in the book. I spent a lot of time studying maps to be able to picture their journey better.
Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing this ARC! I highly recommend this one!

Thank you, Net Galley and Ballantine Books for a chance to read the ARC.

Not far into this book, I felt like I'd been punched in the throat. What does it mean to be a refugee? Who are these people and what have they been through to reach relative safety in countries where many of the citizens don't want them? What horrors made them flee their homes, livelihoods, families, culture, and a way of life? This is a compelling read and I could not stop reading about Nuri, the beekeeper from Aleppo and his blind wife, Afra.

Lefteri worked in refugee camps in Greece and was compelled to tell the stories she heard, the suffering she witnessed, and the enduring hope she found. Her wonderful novel will stay in my mind for a long time to come. In fact, I now have a book hangover, you know that feeling where you can't settle into another read right away; I miss hearing about Afra and Nuri.

As an aside, I loved the literary device of ending each chapter without finishing the sentence. The title of the next chapter completes the sentence of the previous chapter as well as begins the first sentence of the next. Lovely. Five Big Stars.

I’ve spent my morning reading The Beekeeper of Aleppo, which was written by a woman who volunteered at a refugee camp in Greece. I highly recommend it.

What a wonderful book, I just loved it. My book club read it and I'm so thankful that I had an opportunity to read it. It's a tough read, so sad and heartbreaking at times, but it leaves you with hope. I believe it portrays refugee camps accurately, tying to escape whatever heart break is going on in your home land and the struggles of getting out of that situation and assimilating into a new life.

I liked the back and forth between the past and the present and although it is incredibly sad and wrenching, I think the author did a fabulous job writing everything.