Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi
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Such. A. Good. Book. First, thanks to @netgalley and @harperaudio for an audiobook copy of this book.
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**There are probably going to be a few spoilers in here so skip to the next paragraph if you want to avoid those.** The story begins in 1978 and is about a 10-year-old girl named Sitara. She lives with her parents and toddler brother in Kabul, Afghanistan. Sitara’s father is a close adviser to the Afghan president. When the president is ousted in a coup Sitara’s family is assassinated along with the president. She is smuggled out of the presidential palace and is foisted upon an American diplomat. She escapes to the US. She has a fairly good life growing up in her new home. In her present day life she has become a surgeon and while successful the 30 years that have passed have brought Sitara little peace. She must now fight to make peace with the past if she’s ever going to be able to move forward.
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The first half of the book was hard. It was just trauma after trauma to this little girl. However, there is a turning point, and while she still struggles, she is safe. Once I got to that point I couldn’t get through the book fast enough. I had to know how it was all going to turn out.
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A few observations that I made while reading the book. First, this is the second book that I’ve read recently that has drawn a concise, convincing line from the Cold War to the Twin Towers being attacked. It’s certainly something I need to look into more. Second, the Afghanistan that has been conveyed to me over the last 20 years is by far not the whole picture. There is a depth of culture and history that this book pulls back the curtain on and gives a glimpse. Again, it is something that will warrant more study.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Storygraph!

This is now my new favorite audiobook.

Fantastic story, narration, characters, writing, and more. I can’t recommend this enough!

Beautifully written and moving, Sparks Like Stars is a gorgeous and evocative tour of one woman’s grief and hope, but also the type of history lesson that most Americans need regarding Afghanistan.

As Americans we often have a very limited perspective on the protagonist’s native country that is informed only by Afghan politics and taliban activity in the last 25 years. What has become—literally and figuratively—lost in translation is pretty much everything about the country *except* ties to terrorism. Hashimi’s gorgeous and compelling novel is one woman’s story, but allows us an appreciation of an education on an entire culture.

If you’re familiar with pre-9/11 Afghanistan and the way it was caught in the middle of a Cold War tug-of-war between the US and Russia, then you’ll recognize the real world equivalent of the event that shatters and forever alters young Sitara’s life. The rest is largely Hashimi’s imagined trajectory for how the life of one such victim might play out, and it’s exceptional.

Though the premise of the story is of course inherently tragic, Hashimi’s tone is overall one of hope, and the book never feels like a “downer,” even if there are parts that are difficult to read because you feel so deeply for the protagonist.

Audiobook note: Flawlessly read. I loved the narrator’s tone, even but evocative delivery, and ability to convey emotion with subtlety and grace.

This is a wonderful novel about a young girl who loses her whole family in a coup in Kabul, 1978. We see her growing up, struggling with her past, and the secrets she is keeping. I highly recommend this novel. The audio narration was excellent.

Please see my review for NPR books published March 6 at this link.

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/06/974051047/reclaiming-family-and-memory-in-sparks-like-stars

Wow, this was easily one of the best books I have read! Sparks Like Stars is both heart wrenching and beautiful. It shows some of the worst evils, but also the heart-warming kindness in so many others. The book is set between two time periods, Sitara as a child in Afghanistan where she experiences some of the worst atrocities, and Sitara in the US as an adult reconciling her past. The author is lyrical in her writing, and I found myself soaking up every word. I also found the narrator of this book to be a perfect choice for this story. I thought about this book for days after reading it and still think about it today. I am so thrilled to have found another favorite author and can't wait to dig into some of her past works.

Thanks for the ARC. I tried at least 40% of the book before giving up. It's an ok story if a story is all you want. I like a plot that pulls me in from the very beginning and hooks me. This one just didn't do that for me. However, I have a few patrons that I know will love it. I will purchase it, in book form, for the library.

Sparks like Stars is a heroine story about an unusually blended family of women who helped save each other after their abrupt encounter in Kabul, Afghanistan in 1978. The rich characters and descriptive writing blend together to develop a tragic yet inspirational story about survival and what people are willing to do for strangers in desperate need of assistance.

Sitara Zamani grew up in a privileged life as the daughter of a high ranking official to Afghanistan's president. A sudden take over of the capital by the communists results in Sitara's entire family being assassinated except for her. One of the capital's guards, Shair, was able to smuggle Sitara out and was eventually dropped at an American Diplomat's doorsteps. Sitara was adopted by the American and brought to the United States after taking on her new name Aryana Shephard.

Aryana exceled in everything she set her mind to including being a successful surgeon, She continuously worked to block out her past until her two worlds collided and her life's trajectory shift once again 40 years later.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Audio for allowing me to listen to this novel for an honest review.

Book TW: Passive suicidal ideation, childhood abuse and neglect, military violence, childhood trauma, racism

This is a beautiful story through and through. I’ll admit, before this book, I knew very, very little about Afghanistan or it’s history and I had never even heard of the military coup in 1978. This story takes place in two parts, the first in ‘78 where 10 year old Zitara lives through the coup and her struggle to survive the aftermath and the second in 2008 where she is now an oncology surgeon (going by Ariana) in NYC and still trying to grapple with the past she keeps secret.
The weaving of ancient history, recent history, and modern history is excellently done. The prose is gorgeous and the emotional connection to Zitara’s journey is palpable.
There are very hard moments to go through in this book and the audiobook elevates the emotions in every way with a brilliant narrator who you can tell put her soul into the story. The side characters are also dimensional and read like whole people even if their actual space in the story is small. Zitara is a complex character that is easy to feel compassion and root for from start to end. She is brave, intelligent, and stubborn. Nia is also a lovely character and I adored her arc and relationship to Zitara. I loved that the story didn’t minimize the effects of trauma on a person’s life even decades later. The book doesn’t end with everything neatly wrapped up in a tidy bow, but the book shows a journey towards hope and survival. This is poignant and beautiful in every way. I would definitely recommend that you read it when it releases. I definitely want to read more of Hashimi’s work in the future if Sparks like Stars is anything to judge by!

Every once in awhile, a gem of a read comes along. Sparks Like Stars was an eye opening and tragic account of the 1978 revolution in Afghanistan in which an Afghani communist coup overtook the president and resulted in many cruel and unnecessary deaths. Women and children were among some of the victims killed in cold blood.

This story follows a young Afghani girl who narrowly escapes her fate and ends up, through sheer luck, in America. Details of the massacre are brought to life as well as the impact of being a survivor. The story details her journey of escape, her experience in foster care and later her as a young doctor who can’t forget the worst night of her life.

The writing was beautiful, inviting and candid, with an emotionally raw edge that brought this historical atrocity to life. Historical fictions like this book are the reason I’m drawn to this genre. Having not read too much about this historical event, it was fascinating to learn more about it. The characters were vivid three dimensional beings that pierced my heart. I loved this audiobook and I’m sure it will resonate with me for a long while.

A gracious thank you to Harper Audio and Netgalley for an advanced audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Epic and captivating. Dramatic and heartbreaking, the narration was well done and really added dimension to the story. This highly anticipated novel is worth picking up.

We have all heard about the murder of the family of the Czar of Russia many years ago during a coup, and it seems history repeats itself. In this story the family of Sitara Zalmani, are close to the family of Sardar Daoud, Afghanistan’s progressive president. Her father is his closest advisor and she plays with his children. When there is a communist coup, both families are taken away and most of them are executed. Ten year old, Sitara is smuggled out of the palace by a guard and turned over to a female, American Diplomat. She is then smuggled out of the country and eventually ends up in the US living with one of the women. This is her story.

This is historical fiction. The coup and the things that happened at that time are real, Sitara is fictional. I enjoyed this story. It was interesting to see the types of things that happened after the coup, the difficulty getting Sitara out of Afghanistan, then Pakistan and finally into the US. She was a precocious child, so did well in school, especially as she already knew English. She becomes an oncologist and when she meets up with Shahir, the palace guard who originally smuggled her out of the palace, she finally decides that she needs to go back and find out what happened to her family. This was a heartbreaking story. It is hard to think about the children and what they suffer during wars, unrest and uprising. Even though it seems like Sitara/Aryana has adjusted to her new life, you know she will never forget. Her first few weeks and months in the US are not easy or pleasant either, so leaving one horror for another terrible situation can really get you down. Although this story is emotional and sad, it is also uplifting and hopeful. The main character is a strong, independent woman that never gives up. She fights for answers and tries to help others. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Mozhan Marno and thought she did an excellent job. Marno was the perfect voice for Sitara. She used expression and tone to show emotion and action in the story. I definitely recommend this story to those who like to read about historical events and how they have affected others and played out

Where do I begin talking about this book. The first thought I had while reading it was this is the perfect book for book clubs because there's so much to discuss. The first part of Sparks Like Stars took place in Kabul in 1978. Sitara Zalmani was a ten-year-old smart and curious young girl who was living a privileged life. Her father was one of the prominent advisors to Sardar Daoud, Afghanistan’s progressive president. Sitara lived with her mother, father and little brother. Her family spent a lot of time at the castle because of Sitara’s father’s position. Life for Sitara and her family was good. All that changed in the course of one night. The communists staged a coup and multiple assignations occurred. The President was killed as were the members of Sitara’s family. Sitara was the only survivor from the brutal massacre. Shair, one of the castle guards, smuggled Sitara out of the castle. He was able to find refuge for Sitara with an American diplomat. Sitara witnessed the assignation of her family. She believed that Shair helped to kill her family. Her family was always kind to him. How could he have done this? Sitara becomes Aryana Shepherd....

Then book skips ahead 40 years later where Aryana, now an accomplished surgeon, lived in Queens and worked in a hospital in New York City. Her patients had cancer. One day a much older version of the guard that saved her all those years ago, showed up in her clinic. Aryana still believed that Shair could have played a part in killing her family. When Aryana recognized Shair all the old bottled-up feelings from long ago surfaced. Aryana was determined to get Shair to admit to his part in killing her family. She needed Shair to tell her where her family was buried so she could finally give them the burial they deserved. Aryana’s desire for answers was awakened. She decided to finally go back to Kabul to get her answers. Aryana was accompanied by Antonia and a photojournalist she had met at a book signing, and the question that looms is will she get the closure she wants and needs?

So I loved this book so much and although it reads like a sort of memoir it is in fact a beautiful piece of historical fiction. The imagery captures the essence of Afghanistan before the Communist coup and after. I think that the book was so well researched and felt extremely authentic.

This was an excellent story; this author knows how to set you into a time and place where you feel immersed in the story. This is definitely a good book for book clubs there is a lot to unpack and I don’t want to give anything away there are sad sections and sections of hope. Sitara’s father worked for the president and when the Taliban took over in 1978 which is where this book starts out in Kabul and a life time later we return to get closure.

Mozhan Marnò ‘s narration was very well done I just love her voice!

Nadia Hashimi does so much research you can tell these books are well researched. I will read anything this author writes!
4 stars

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with an audiobook version of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I was not familiar with this title nor this author before finding it on netgalley. I am so pleased I had the opportunity to listen to this book. The narrator was excellent and did a fantastic job bringing the characters to life for my as I listened to her read. I recognized her voice from The Blacklist and thought she was the perfect choice for this story.
Spark Like Stars was so well written and hit all of my emotions. The story was touching, heartbreaking, hopeful, frightening, and joyful. I was totally immersed from the start to the finish and enjoyed the journey throughout her life. I liked that the story did not solely focus on one particular event or timeframe in her life, but allowed us several views into her past and her history. I have already recommended this title to friends and look forward to reading more by this author. I'd also love to find more audiobooks by this narrator.

When I think of really good historical fiction, I will now think of Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi.

Hasimi's book looks to both Kabul, Afghanistan in 1978 with the pro-communist coup and New York in 2008. It’s a moving tale of a woman between two worlds: past and future, Kabul and New York, revenge and forgiveness.

It's an epic tale that follows the life of Sitara/Aryana Shepherd from her girlhood to her adulthood as a surgeon and to her return to Kabul to uncover the secrets of her family's past.

Also, the narration of this book is gorgeous.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, narrator, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

I loved this book so much that I was excited to listen to the audiobook! I found the narrator's voice very pleasant to listen to, but it was a little monotone for me. She didn't really change her voice too much for the dialogue parts. I would still highly recommend listening to the audiobook because the story is so amazing!
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Audio for the advanced copy of the audiobook in exchange for my honest review!

It is pretty early in 2021 for me to say this but Sparks Like Stars by Nadia Hashimi is very likely to be one of my top reads for this year and I only wish my review could convey how much I enjoyed this book. Thanks to #NetGalley, I received an #ARC of the audio-book version and both the narrator and the story itself were amazing. I will say it didn't start quite that way for me as I was confused initially with following the story not knowing the historical setting in Afghanistan. I paused reading and researched the historical background for about 15 minutes and after that, I was fully immersed in the story. I highly recommend that you google "Afghanistan 1978" or "Saur Revolution" before you start this. Also, Nadia Hashimi includes resources in her "behind the book" at https://nadiahashimibooks.com/books/sparks-like-stars/behind-the-book/.

This would be a fantastic book club read as there are relationships, history, loss, and for me, an experience with a different culture. The audiobook is especially recommended as Mozhan Marno will now forever be the voice of Sitara (Aryana) in any future books I may hear her narrating. She captured this story and Sitara's story perfectly.

#SparksLikeStars #NetGalley #ThankYouNetGalley

Hi, I am obsessed with this book. She’s a chunky one, but I managed to get through it in two days because I was *physically incapable* of putting it down. I loved it so, so much.⁣⁣
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We meet our main character, Sitara, in 1978 Kabul. She is ten years old and living a privileged life in Afghanistan’s capital, which is thriving under the leadership of progressive president Sardar Daoud. Her father is a member of Daoud’s cabinet and his right hand man, so Sitara spends much of her life in the palace learning its secrets and playing with her siblings and the president’s granddaughter. Then one horrible night in April 1978, the communists stage a coup and descend upon the palace assassinating the president and Sitara’s entire family. She is the only survivor. The story follows Sitara’s escape and life after this unbelievable tragedy.⁣
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I don’t want to give anything else away because this story shines even more brightly when you go into it with as little information as possible. I would avoid reading the full synopsis if you can and instead allow yourself to get swept up in Sitara’s journey along with her. It’s a bit like the story of Anastasia - a search for home, family, and closure after being the only survivor of a palace siege.⁣⁣
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It is such a beautiful, heartbreaking story of culture and remembrance, grief and survival, home and belonging. I absolutely devoured it. These characters are so special and vibrant, and I can’t wait for you all to read it! You do NOT want to miss this one. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⁣⁣