The Refugee Ocean intertwines the stories of two refugees, Marguerite Toutoungi and Naïm Rahil, across time and continents through history, loss, and music. Marguerite (who is based on the author’s cousin) is born in 1922 Beirut, and dreams of becoming a composer, but societal and familial expectations keep her tethered. A romance with a Cuban tobacco farmer leads her to a turbulent life in Havana during the Cuban Revolution.

Decades later, Naïm Rahil, a teenage piano prodigy from Aleppo, flees war-torn Syria with his mother, seeking solace in suburban America after losing his family and part of his hand in a bombing. Their stories are linked by Annabel Crandell, a social justice advocate whose transformation forms an interesting subplot.

Toutonghi captures the emotional scars of displacement and the healing power of music. However, the novel stumbles with awkward dialogue, uneven pacing, and anachronisms that break the immersion. The first half is well-paced, but the latter sections feel rushed, and the dual timelines struggle to meld seamlessly.

While there are poignant moments—Naïm’s longing for his family and Marguerite’s sacrifices resonate deeply—the characters sometimes feel two-dimensional, and the storytelling lacks cohesion. The book is a moving, if flawed, portrayal of resilience and the quest for belonging. The Refugee Ocean is worth a read but doesn’t quite live up to its promise.

** Thanks to the publisher for a review copy. The opinions are my own.

This book does an amazing job at helping people understand displacement and the effects of becoming a refugee. A captivating novel and its even more relevant today

This book is beautiful. It’s a super interesting story outside of what I would normally read, but I finished it a few months ago and was captivated by the story. The book is very moving and I absolutely loved the two stories of the two characters it followed.

The opening scene had me on edge.

From there, things fell apart for me.

We have two different timelines, but they don’t flow well. Changes felt jarring and the story felt disconnected. For me, the two timelines don’t have enough in common to belong in the same book.

I couldn’t settle into this book at all.

DNF

The Refugee Ocean was a very timely book that was very well written and included a lot of history. The book evoked so many emotions. I truly enjoyed reading this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Publishing, and Pauls Toutonghi for the E-ARC. This review is my opinion.

Listen…I did enjoy this buuut it felt like something was missing? I was completely engrossed in the story and then I realized I had like 5% left and was like wtf. I felt like the Marguerite part was drawn out & then cut short. So I was invested and felt like I was ripped off. Idk, how to describe it. I understood the full connection in the end but it felt like some of it was a little loosely done.

Two individual and moving stories that mesh towards the end. Beautifully written.
Many thanks to Simon & Schuster and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion

This book has some of the most beautiful writing I have ever read. It evoked so much emotion throughout the story.

Parts of this book were incredibly hard to read given the current events in the world. It is an important read though.

The alternating timelines shed light on so much world history that I admit I don’t know enough about. I found myself captivated and heartbroken all at the same time.

The part that ties together the two time periods wasn’t what I expected and that made the reveal that much more special.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for the copy of this book. All views are my honest opinion.

I found this book to be a disappointingly slow-burn story. Based on the premise I expected more excitement in the writing. I may go back and finish it one day, but my brain was getting tired while reading it and I needed to move on.

Very interesting book about how people have to make choices in life. And sometimes are very difficult, but sometimes everything comes out of the end. You can take a negative situation and turn into a positive one. If you just look ahead and think o k, we're able to do this.. The story begins in Aleppo with the Civil War. I'm syria. This boy n a I m r... I was caught in the cross fires of this, and he lost all of his family exce His mother It was a really rough time because they all had to go to a refugee camp. He loved to play the piano, but he had to stop because he lost part of his hand in the Bomb. They made it to America to Falls Church, Virginia. And it was a real learning curve for him. Because they really had no money, and it was really hard for him. His mother was struggling to revive food and shelter for the little boy. He went back to the original house when he came to Virginia and this lady Annabella. And broke into the house looking for food. The lady was there and he she was very kind to him. The other story was interwoven with Story of a woman named M ANG UER. Who wanted to become a pianist? But her family had other plans. The family was struggling in Lebanon. Because their business was not doing very well. And they needed the daughter to marry this very wealthy man to help them run the business. Because the brother did not nothing to do with it. Things do not turn out well for this woman. But she met this man and decided to leave other own terms and meet this man in Cuba. This is what Annabelle becomes part of the story because she was out of the Plantation visiting because of the American tobacco company was running some special. This was the time when Cuba was going over to be a Communist country, and a lot of things happened that night. These 2 women had to survive a lot of things as they escaped. M a n g u e r was killed but she gave music to annabella. Anabella had a really interesting life as well. And she made it through all these difficult times I like how the author tied these 2 stories together. Sometimes when you become a refugee, you learn things about yourself. And how other people seem to cope in the same situation.

(𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 @𝘚𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 #𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬.) 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗨𝗚𝗘𝗘 𝗢𝗖𝗘𝗔𝗡 by Pauls Toutonghi is not a book I’ve seen a lot of buzz about...yet. It’s not one everyone has been telling me I need to read...yet. In fact, it’s one I was made aware of by the publisher. I’m so thankful for that because I found it to be a beautiful story about the experiences of two very different refugees linked across the decades. Dual timelines followed the stories of its primary characters, Marguerite and Naïm. Marguerite was living in Beirut in the 1940’s when social pressures forced her to flee Lebanon and immigrate to Cuba. Many years later, in Aleppo, tragedy forced Naïm and his mother to also become refugees. For them, it was America.⁣
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Both backstories were touching and richly developed, but I was especially drawn to Naïm’s. His relocation was beyond his control, brought on by war and destruction in his native Syria. Other elements I loved about 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘨𝘦𝘦 𝘖𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘯 were how it brought history to life, had musical themes running throughout, and the resilience and resolve of its characters. I also loved its unexpectedly gentle ending. That ending might also have been a bit neat and tidy, but I didn’t care because regardless, this book was an absolute pleasure to read. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

We follow two very different characters. Marguerite was born in 1922 and has big dreams of studying music. However, she was arranged to marry a man who believed a woman's place was in the home. She escapes to Cuba with a man she loves, leaving behind the family who was holding her back. Naim, along with his mother, is a Syrian refugee in the U.S. in 2015. He lost his siblings, father, and home. Both of them have to adapt to the new countries they're in and heal from what they've lost.

I really enjoyed this book. It's heartbreaking right from the start. It was interesting reading this book because Marguerite & Naim were completely different from each other. I was curious to see how their stories crossed paths. It was a beautiful, sad, and inspiring story.

The one thing I would have like to see more of was Marguerite adjusting to life in Cuba. I feel her story was a bit rushed. I was more drawn to Naim, especially since his situation was a reality for many people so recently in our current society. I highly recommend it if you enjoy reading historical fiction.

The Refugee Ocean was a beautifully written book. I liked the dual timelines and how it took most of the book to find out how they are related. I liked the inclusion of music as a storytelling device as well.

I really enjoyed this book and the author’s writing. The story is told in alternating narratives from two timelines. I found myself equally attached to Naïm and Marguerite. The connection between the two isn’t apparent until the end of the book but their love of playing music connects them from the very beginning. This was an emotional story about war, family and loss. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys books that evoke feelings and for fans of historical fiction.

This was one of my favorites of the year so far! It was so beautifully written and easy to lose myself in. I would definitely recommend it!

It won't be clear until the end how Annabel connects Naim in 2014 and Marguerite in 1948 in this dual time line novel about refugees. These two come from different places economically and socially, as well as emotionally but they are more alike than will be immediately obvious. You, like me might find yourself thinking that each character deserved their own novel, that each has an important story that is somewhat diminished for the reader straining to see how they will fit together. That said, Toutonghi has important things to say about refugees and life. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. For fans of literary fiction.

The opening chapter had me on the edge of my seat. Fatima and Niam's tragedy was horrific and well conveyed on the pages. But quickly after that, the emotional aspect of this book was lost and I became more and more uninterested. There are two timelines, and they eventually come together, but I didn't like the drastic shift in the characters and stories took towards the middle of the book. I also found the ending nice, but maybe just a touch to tidy.

This novel explores the lives of refugees across time and space whose stories eventually collide over a music composition. Marguerite flees Beirut in the 1940s when she is unable to pursue her musical career and is about to be married off to a man who turns her stomach. She latches on to a man passing through and follows him to Cuba. It is there that she will have a very different life, continue writing her music, and get enmeshed in the local politics that created their own refugee population. Fifty years later in Aleppo, Syria, Naim loses his hand and several family members in a bombing. As a piano player, the loss of his hand tears at him deeply. After a rough time in a tent city with other refugees, he and his mother find themselves in the metro DC area, where they are to be settled. It is here that he is welcomed by and becomes friends with a woman who has ties to the Marguerite. While I enjoyed the themes and underlying story, the novel felt too self-aware and contrived to be convincing.

Heartbreaking parallel narratives of a young victim of the war in Syria in the 2010S and a young woman in 1940s Beirut who dreams of being a composer but is stifled by her family.

Two different Refugees, and two different time lines, have a connection to any American women named Annabel. The story alternates between these two displaced people who left their home country under duress. The reader will not see a connection until the novel nears conclusion, but the individual stories will keep you interested. I finished the story with a renewed appreciation for being born when I was, and for being born into a middle class American family with stability and love. The ending was perfect.