This is a compelling book about identity and trying to find your place in the world that won’t change to fit you. The sections involving the past were a painful echo of the present. I would also now like to visit a Syrian bakery for bitlawah and coffee.

What a gorgeous reflection on transness, family, and belonging! I loved Nadir's journey of self-discovery paralleled with the discovery of his family's history. These haunting storylines were told with such beauty and metaphorical, lyrical writing, I was hooked. Joukhadar seems to have a special sense of empathy that is transferred to the reader through his writing.

My only minor complaint is that the set up of the premise - our main character just happens to find a long-lost journal that sets everything in motion, what a coincidence! - is a little clunky. But I'm overlooking that because the rest of the book was so good.

I liked Zeyn Joukhadar's other book, The Map of Salt and Stars, but I LOVED this one. His writing has really developed to be even more beautifully lyrical and I can't wait to see what he does next.

What a beautiful book. I’ve been reading a lot of horror - one of my favorite genres- lately and this was just a breath of fresh air that kept my attention as much as any horror book could. The Thirty Names of Night has touches of magical realism, historical fiction, romance, drama, and mystery.
While the book is packed full and has a lot going on, it works. It really works! The pacing is perfect, alternating between two narrators and time periods in a very effective way. I loved both narrators and both time periods and felt completely absorbed in each one as I was reading.
I appreciated all of the information about Syria and loved the birds in the book. Learning about the transgender experience in different times was touching and fit so well in this book. I felt like every emotion and experience was handled and introduced in way that made it incredibly easy to relate to and connect with.
Looking forward to reading more from Zeyn Joukhadar! Thank you to Zeyn Joukhadar, Atria Books, and #NetGallery for an ecopy I’m exchange for an honest review. Review will be posted on NetGallery, Goodreads, Instagram, Facebook, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

My starred review of the audiobook for Booklist is here: https://www.booklistonline.com/The-Thirty-Names-of-Night-/pid=9742427

The review was also cross-posted to Smithsonian BookDragon: http://smithsonianapa.org/bookdragon/the-thirty-names-of-night-by-zeyn-joukhadar-in-booklist/

There is a lot going on here. This is the type of book that takes some thought and attention (or maybe I'm easily confused.) Located in Syria and the United States--mostly Little Syria in New York, alternating narrators from two timelines--the current, mostly nameless narrator and an earlier narrator in letter form, address learning who we are by immigration, race, sexual orientation, family, and friends.

Throughout the story, there are birds, through weird events, art, and even a bird sanctuary. The underlying thread is migration, of birds, of immigrants, of humans through their experience. The author writes beautifully; it is such an experience to read the remarkable descriptions throughout. I can't even pick quotes for the review, there were so many gorgeous passages. :) I noted in my review of The Map of Salt and Stars that the writing is lyrical and the author's synesthesia was a factor in that book; it probably contributes to his descriptive writing style here as well.

The Thirty Names of Night starts really strong. I was enthralled into the narrator's story and development. To learn about what it means to be an immigrant who is also finding their own identify and grieving the loss of family, the novel encompasses a lot. As the story moves along, I found myself struggling to get through it due to the sheer nature of all that was going on. While the themes are strong, and important to explore, I found myself submersed in too much, and I struggled to finish.

The prose in this book is so beautiful, but I had a hard time engaging with it. I love the trans rep, but I couldn't really get into the story and DNF'd after a few chapters.

Absolutely riveting. Full of lush prose, unforgettable characters, and bursting at the seams with queer joy, this is a book I will reread many times. Joukhadar beautifully blends two timelines of queer and trans people of color striving and thriving, sometimes hidden, and sometimes in plain sight. I loved everything about this novel.

The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar is a fascinating dual timeline epistolary novel in the form of journal entries written to loved ones both characters have lost. The novel focuses on Laila, a Syrian woman who immigrated to New York City in her youth and documents her life in the mid twentieth century. Laila Z. ultimately becomes an artist known for painting birds who mysteriously disappears. The other protagonist is a 2nd generation Syrian-American trans man in his twenties in present day New York. He is still struggling with his ornithologist mother’s tragic death five years before and with expressing his identity, especially in his community. Both his mother and Laila noted discovering the same bird in New York, but it has never been documented. He miraculously finds Laila Z.’s old journal and begins to search for her painting of the impossible bird. Throughout the novel, there is a focus on birds, which in the present-day arrive in unlikely swarms. I really enjoyed the beautiful, lyrical writing and the main characters. Joukhadar does a wonderful job illustrating places and experiences. It was fascinating to see how the older and newer stories were ultimately connected and how our loved ones make and connect us. I listened to the audiobook, which was deftly narrated by Samy Figaredo and Lameece Issaq. Their voices seemed perfect for their characters and they really brought them to life.

Thank you Atria Books and NetGalley for providing this ARC.

Beautifully written story that weaves together alternating timelines and encompasses three generations. The lush descriptions of characters, scenes, and imagery evoke a sense of surrealism that had me questioning what was real and what was imagined. Although probably not for everyone, I’m glad to have read this impactful novel.

CWs: Graphic descriptions of medical complications due to menstruation, allusions to homophobia and racism, mentions of Islamophobic violence/hate crimes, brief descriptions of sexual assault, trauma relating to fires, exploration of grief and loss of a parent

"I think of the last time I used my hands to make something beautiful. As long as my body was not for myself, I stopped allowing myself the luxury of wanting...I bend and untangle and step out of my body. I lightning myself into this swollen room where boys like me are arcing and vaulting our unruly bodies, shaking the wet newness from our wings."

The Thirty Names of Night is a tremendous feat of literature. Ambitious in scope, unflinching in its prose, and characterized by deeply-felt emotion, this story weaves a narrative that is both haunting and hopeful in equal measures. It's about the echoes of love and grief that sound from the unlikeliest of places, searching for meaning in a world that all too often seeks to isolate and destroy that which is separate, and the ways we are wholly and irrevocably connected to the people who've come before us.

This is a story about a young Syrian-American trans man trying to find a place within his communities and a name for himself. He is haunted by the death of his mother, who was killed in an Islamophobic hate crime, and in many ways desperately trying to preserve her legacy by completing her ornithological research. The convention of naming is so powerful throughout this story. To give something a name is to give it power, to assign meaning, to recognize and understand where it belongs. So to have Nadir discovering and naming his own transness is powerful—to have him naming his grief, naming his own sense of loss and isolation, gives him a means to being addressing those things. It's very much a story about him coming into his own, and what that means and looks like in a world where "different" is telegraphed "dangerous."

The way the two POVs interact with each other and support each other is especially profound. As Nadir goes through Laila's journals, you get the sense that history is always happening to us, the past is always with us, and those who came before us often fought for the same things we continue to fight for ourselves. There's an acknowledgement of the stories that the world has tried to erase, the stories that don't get a chance to be told because they're buried. But sometimes that burying is for safe-keeping, to ensure a means of these stories surviving so that they might live on in someone else and empower the generations we are not even capable of imagining yet. Some stories don't get a chance to be told, but that doesn't mean they're aren't valuable or important.

This book is a ballad, a poem, a love letter, and an entire world unto itself. It is a love letter to queer communities of color, immigrants, trans people, and those who are invested in expanding the world instead of shrinking it. It contains some of the most gut-wrenchingly honest descriptions of transness and transmasculinity that I've ever read, and really makes space for the sense of loneliness and placelessness that comes with that experience while also exploring and celebrating the beauty of transition.

I do not have the words to express how profoundly truthful and thoughtful this story is. An intricate blend of historical and contemporary fiction, The Thirty Names of Night is an incredible addition to the literary canon. I cannot wait to read so much more from Zeyn Joukhadar, whose vision and creativity I deeply admire after experiencing this truly phenomenal story. I cannot recommend it enough!

*ARC was provided by Atria Books through Netgalley.

I think I appreciated this more than I enjoyed it - I love the parallels between the two generations, especially regarding queer history in immigrant families. It was interesting to see everything come together, but I really had to push myself to finish this. The narrator's story is moving, but I wasn't really invested in the book as a whole.

There was way too much packed into this, it was hard to piece it all together. I could not get hooked at all, unfortunately. DNF’d.

This book is undeniably beautifully written, an examination of identity and place and self. Unfortunately, I found myself not gripped by this - I think because it is it's a relatively slow-paced book, and in 2020 I need to dive in and be immersed in the story. I DNF'ed this one because of that.

The Thirty Names of Night was one of my favourite books this year. I highly recommend this novel if you are looking for something to captivate you with phenomenal writing.

Lovely writing and a unique story revolving around Syrian-Americans living in NYC. I struggled to keep up with the number of stories going on, but I enjoyed the author’s style of writing.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for gifting me an ARC of Zeyn Joukhadar’s beautiful novel, The Thirty Names of Night.

There is a lot going on in this novel of love, longing, secrets and re-births. Written in lush, evocative prose we meet a cast of strong Arab women who are forced to hide their desires due to society, religion, culture and family. I enjoyed the many threads that were woven but it was at times difficult to follow all the storylines. The addition of a transgender Syrian-American was written so honestly and humbly often bringing tears to my eyes. I would caution the reader that this book has a fair amount of magical realism and you must be able to allow your imagination to be open to all possibilities.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC from Zeyn Joukhadar about Syrian Americans living in New York City. The main voice in this is a twenty-something trans boy named Nadir, who is grieving the death of his mother (who died in a fire 5 years previous). Nadir has conversations with his mother throughout the book as he tries to let his friends and family know that he is trans. The other voice in the book is Laila Z, a women whose diary Nadir finds and who Nadir’s
mother was looking for as they had both seen a mysterious bird (Geronticus simurghus).

There was a lot to this book. I did really enjoy reading it and I liked the overall story - it just seemed that there was a lot happening. I did find that the ending ties it all together and I wasn’t left feeling that anything was missing - maybe it’s just trying to explain the novel is difficult.

I really thought the parts of the story where Nadir discusses his body (especially the beginning at the gynaecologist) was so well written and gives you so much to thing about right from the opening chapter.

It was a beautifully written book and I would definitely recommend it.

"Facing myself in the mirror is like that. If I never cut my hair, if I don’t acknowledge that I’ve never allowed anyone to really know me, I can pretend that a perfect road awaits me. I can pretend there’s some medicine that will magically allow me to see myself. But going down that road might mean discovering that there is no magic strong enough to bring me into harmony. Breaking the illusion means acknowledging the parts of myself that will never be visible."

I was very much looking forward to reading this novel. I mean isn't that the most beautiful cover you've ever seen? I loved it the moment I saw it. And the writing and imagery in this book matches its beautiful cover.

Where this story was tough for me, was following each of the character's journeys. Each one felt a bit complicated and with the dense (but beautiful) writing, I found myself lost more often than I would have liked. I kept putting the book down and picking it up but also could not give up on it because I really wanted to know how all these storylines were going to intertwine.

And intertwine they did. The ending of the book was so beautiful, so touching, so visual, and so so emotional that I cried sweet, happy tears. I would easily give this a solid 3.5 stars.

with gratitude to Atria Books and netgalley for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

The Thirty Names of The Night started off so well until after a few chapters I realized I was skimming. The writing was beautiful but it was too descriptive so I quickly lost interest. There’s too much going on with going back from present day to the past. It wasn’t a bad book but just not for me, the descriptions became lost and convoluted. There is a LOT of talking about birds, almost the whole book. I don’t find anything interesting about bird watching or drawing birds or birds in general. I do think the LGBTQ+ representation was important as if it about a transgender boy who learns that he’s not alone as he feels after losing his mother and going through a transition.

Thank you very much to Atria books and Netgalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.