When the publisher e-mailed me about The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar, the summary they provided indicated that there are several themes of interest to me. Prominent characters who are artists were an added inducement. So I accepted a free copy from the publisher via Net Galley and agreed to review it.

My research on Zeyn Joukhadar allowed me to establish that the story of the Syrian American trans male protagonist in The Thirty Names of Night is an Own Voices narrative. The previous novel that I read dealing with Syrian immigrant characters was The Beekeeper of Aleppo written by an author of Greek Cypriot origin. I discussed the appropriateness of her choice in my review here. Yet I feel more certain of the authenticity of this book.

I was very moved by the journey of the protagonist to find his identity. This seeking is echoed in the search of another trans male that he discovered in the notebook of a woman artist who was important to his mother.

At a more fundamental level, The Thirty Names of Night caused me to reflect on the nature of personal histories. It isn't just about one individual. It's the story of a family whether it be a genetic family or a chosen one, and the story of a community. All these lives overlap and gain significance from their connections. That's what I saw in this book.

I was delighted to see an acknowledgement of the Native peoples on whose land Zeyn Joukhadar wrote. I've never seen any other U.S. author do that.

In the end, The Thirty Names of Night is a unique paean to diversity--diversity of gender, diversity of culture and diversity of aspirations.

A complex story about connections and self-acceptance. The overall story is lovely and I was exposed to history of Syria and Syrian culture. The writing for much of the book was lyrical and captivating. However, there were many times that there was just too much going on, the story too broad, and I found myself skimming through sections.

This book had many difficult words that were in Arabic and no way to understand the meanings. So if reading a physical copy of this book (and possibly the Kindle), there's no way to look up the meaning of these words. It just left me feeling like there were areas that I wasn't sure I had caught the full meaning or intent of the story because I would get hung up on the words.

It may be worthwhile for me to listen to it when it is released so that I can try and immerse myself into the storyline from a different perspective.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for an advanced digital copy of this book for my honest review

3.5 avian stars

I picked this one up because I really enjoyed the author’s first book “The Map of Salt and Tears.” This book has the same lyrical quality but otherwise is difficult to describe. I did enjoy learning more about Syrian Americans.

This book is set in New York and features a trans boy who is uncomfortable in his body and identity. His mother died five years before and he still sees her ghost everywhere. There are so many birds in this book! I’m not sure if they were all real birds or if some were mythical. There are a multitude of characters as well and several subplots that got to be a bit complicated to follow. There are themes of hate crimes, gentrification, and identity in this one.

There’s a side story of the journal of Laila, a Syrian American artist who has disappeared. We read along with Laila’s journal and wonder what might have happened to her and all her art. There’s a connection to the other storyline in the book and I thought it wrapped up well at the end. This was definitely a different read.

Okay. I'm going to hop up on a soapbox for this review, but I would first just like to say my thanks to the publisher (Atria Books) for an early copy of this book.

Soapbox time: If this were by & about straight White women, this book would be an instant bestseller, and the paperback would likely end up on your curated grocery store bookshelf list. Joukhadar has written something I know will hit home for fans of Mary Oliver, Barbara Kingsolver, & Kristin Hannah, and it really pisses me off to feel confident in saying that because it is an immigrant story about peoples from the Middle East and is so unapologetically Queer it will likely get very little coverage.

Now is this book going to hit my favorites of the year? Likely not. I find the authors listed above to be a little schmaltzy, and I felt the same way for me which led to a lack of full resonation in my reading experience. I also thought the ending didn't quite come full circle. But I DO know a lot of people would love this book if given a chance to find it and a willingness to pick it up.

There WERE a lot of things I loved about this book, chief among them the overwhelming Queer representation of the novel. I also found Zeyn to just be an incredibly kind, gentle, conscientious writer who makes sure to show a love and gentleness to all historically marginalized groups. Zeyn also taught me a lot about the migration from the Middle East, namely Syrian migration to America, that I did not know, and I am very grateful.

Everyone should buy this book. Most of all because it comes out on election day, and I want Trump to be sent out of the White House at the same time that a Queer immigrant story rooted in Middle Eastern heritage hits the bestseller chart.

Rating: 4/5

3.5 stars, rounded up
It’s hard to describe this book. As others have said, there’s a lot going on here. A closeted trans Syrian American boy in America discovers the journal of a Syrian American artist and discovers a link with his dead mother.
This is a lush, beautifully written book. We hear from two different narrators. The trans young man, whose chapters initially have the name crossed out, is haunted by his dead mother. His mother, who was an ornithologist, was trying to find a bird others swore didn’t exist. Laila Z, the artist whose journal he finds, is the second narrator. A painter of birds, a female Syrian Audubon. She’s been missing for 60 years. We learn of her time during the depression and into the 50s. We also learn of the histories of trans and queer people in the Syrian community through the years. And binding it all together are the birds. The birds - observed, raised, dreamed of and painted. Birds that are now showing up in droves in NYC. There’s an element of surrealism here and at times I wasn’t sure what was real or imagined or dreamed.
Among other mysteries in the book, the unnamed young man is searching for a missing aquatint made by Laila of the same birds his mother sought.
I appreciated the way Joukhardar captures how he views his female body and wants to be seen as a body of light. Given that Joukhardar has also recently identified as male rather than female, it seems especially honest and almost autobiographical.
This is a book to be savored not rushed through. More than once, I had to re-read sections. I will admit to being confused more than once as I read.
My thanks to netgalley and Atria Books for an advance copy of this book.

This book is more beautiful and more fanciful and more complex than I could have imagined. It tackles hard and deep circumstances in ways that, without really realizing it immediately, show you different reactions to change. It did take me a bit to adjust to the main character speaking to her mother but it became easier as it went.

“You are altogether beautiful, my darling, there is no flaw in you”.

There were many amazing quotes and ideas in this book.

This beautifully written book is so hard to sum up in a few lines. At heart it is the story and history of the Syrian-American experience but so much more. It is two intertwined stories about life for the marginalized, the beauty of the world and the importance of finding love and self-acceptance. I’m going to have to re-read this a few more times just to take it all in.

There was just too much talking about birds for me to enjoy. I wanted to learn about these Syrian characters and I was just not into it unfortunately. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

A haunting and richly ambitious novel peopled with intelligently drawn characters. Threaded with important themes, this is a read that lingers even after the final page.

I was really curious and interested about this book given the synopsis and the gorgeous cover. I was curious to find out if the mother’s sighting of this rare bird could be true. I was also curious about Teta’s fantastical story about the woman who created wings, attached it to a bicycle, and was able to fly. I liked the writing but there were so many characters each with their own stories and such an abundance of information about birds that it often distracted me from the story and did not hold my attention.

There is so much going on in this beautifully written novel. You will meet artists and three generations of Syrian American women. You will learn about French-occupied Syria during the early twentieth century, as well as a long-forgotten NYC neighborhood called Little Syria. You will also read about birds and ghosts.

I hadn't heard of this novel until I received an email asking if I'd be interested in reviewing a digital copy. I've taken a step back from reviewing this year, but when I read the description I immediately said yes. Family sagas are my thing, ditto queer writers and stories, ditto anything by a BIPOC writer.

I wouldn't call it a family saga, though. The story does offer intergenerational accounts, but at its core it's strongly rooted in the main character's becoming. (A tale that does connect with and is complemented by another character's story, but I'd argue it's firmly rooted in the main character's transformation, a narrative strength for sure.)

I think this novel is best enjoyed without knowing much going in, so I'll just say it's moving and beautiful. And important and necessary.

The setting: "...three generations of Syrian Americans who are linked by a mysterious species of bird and the truths they carry close to their hearts." A closeted Syrian-American trans boy, who renames himself Nadir; the sole caretaker of his grandmother. His best friend/longtime crush. His sister. A baby. More of the Syrian-American community. Immigrants. Birds and ghosts. Little Syria--a former NYC neighborhood [demolished to construct a tunnel]. And especially Laila Z, a Syrian-American artist who painted the birds of North America and figures prominently in this story--her journal shows that both she and Nadir's mother spotted the same rare bird.

To begin. This book was just not for me. Credit for the often beautiful descriptions:

"...the look on your face my mother once described to me of new parents--a wondrous silence,"
"Thick branches of her arms" and "canopy of his arms" and "bowl of her arms" [LOTS of arm descriptions!]
"tall and broad-shouldered, a hewn marble slab of a person..."
"...how a life is made: with the support of many hands,"

and so on

BUT. I was not engaged and often bored and DEPRESSED. Couldn't wait for it to end and had to concentrate--not page through,

Big criticism: this book is in sore need of a glossary. Though the advantage of a kindle read is being able to look up words, the majority of the MANY Arabic terms did not provide a definition.

The slow-moving story did have a nice resolution. Not too neat and tidy and not necessarily obvious.

2.5, but rounding up because of language and originality. Still, not recommending per se.

There is so much to love about this book. It's actually taken a couple of weeks to write a review because I wasn't sure how to put my emotions into words. It's the story of an unnamed young woman who identifies as a boy. She's struggled all her life with a body she despises and is too strangled by her culture to face who she is, especially to the people in her life. She's also struggling with the death of her mother, a death she feels partly responsible for. Her mother was an ornithologist and her love of birds sustains the young woman, an artist confined to expressing herself through street art. The young woman, who eventually takes the name of Nadir when he eventually accepts himself, finds a diary, one that describes a rare Ibis. Nadir recognizes the bird as an Ibis his mother claims to have seen and he sets out to find the author of the diary and the rare birds. Along the way he discovers that birds of various kinds are swarming the city and that the love of birds that he shared with his mother is leading him on his quest to find the truth. He also discovers the warmth, kindness and acceptance of the transgender and homosexual community. While Nadir discovers the truth of the diary, its part in his and his family's life and ultimately love it's an end that tugs at the heart. I loved this book

I am so sad to say that this book just didn't do it for me. I have to give the caveat that I am having a TON of trouble reading right now. I think I need to give this one another chance when I am not dealing with such a political war zone.

I had so many emotions going through this book in al the good ways and some bad ways. Firstly it grabbed my attention and made me feel for the characters (really pulled at my heart strings) but I believe the writing can be brushed up a little bit with some further explain traditions and customs better to answer the questions “why??” Because of the lack of explaining I had to accept the description as is (telling vs understanding) and it made me a little frustrated sometimes.

Zeyn Joukhadar has written a beautiful novel that is perfect for the times we are living in. The Thirty Names of Night blends two stories into one and begins five years after the death of our narrators ornithologist mother in a suspicious fire. On this New York City evening forty-eight sparrows will fall from the sky as our narrator a young Syrian American transgender boy rests on the roof of his grandmothers building. The ghost of his mother visits him every night and he has been unable to paint since these visits began but sometimes at night he creeps out of the apartment and paints murals on the buildings in Manhattan’s Little Syria. One evening, he finds the journal of Laila Z., a Syrian American painter of North American birds who mysteriously disappeared many years ago. Our narrator finds similarities in the death of his mother and Laila Z., who both encountered the same species of rare bird prior to their death.
This novel is a journey. One of queerness, immigrants, transsexuals, love, struggles, loss, culture and family. The sentences are crafted with great care and the atmosphere they create is magical.
Highly recommended.

Thanks to netgalley.com for the ARC of this book.

This was a very moving and lyrically written book. It is a dual time line story of 2 people who are immigrants to NY from Syria in the 1920's interspered with Syrian-American first and second generation adults in current times.

There are many issues addressed including sexual orientation, immigrant experiences, womens rights, gender orientation, lost loves, forbidden loves. All are done in a thoughtful and respectful way. The stories are heartbreaking at times and you can feel the pain that the characters are going through as you read.

I enjoyed this book and it will stay with me for a while.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this book for an honest review This book is beautifully written and seemed different than most books (in a good way). I loved how the author wove the ghost into the story in a sweet, sad way instead of a scary way and was one of my favorite parts of this story. I would love to listen to an audio book version, It is not an easy read, but sometimes that's not what you are looking for. Also, I think bird lovers will definitely enjoy this story.

The Thirty Names of Night
I received a free e-edition through Bookbrowse and NetGalley. I very much enjoyed this book. It was not a quick or easy read, but very good. Going back and forth between time frames meant having to pay close attention to each segment. The writing itself was wonderful, thought provoking. Very poetic and imaginative, revolving around ornithology across the generations and how it tied them together. Intermingled within the story was fantasy and magic. The main characters were Syrian immigrants trying to find their place in the world. For the main character and several others also being in the LGBT community.