Thank you to Netgalley and National Geographic for the digital arc. I don't remember a time when the nations of Middle East was not in turmoil. When the Arab Spring came prodemocracy movements developed through out the region, and in 2011 Syrians joined the cause with anti government protests. It was met with genocide practiced by the Assad government against the Syrians, and the consequences are documented by Dr. Amani Ballour. During this time she graduated from medical school in Damascus and returned to her hometown Eastern Ghouta to be with her parents. She then practiced medicine in various clinics and hospitals which gave her the leadership skills to become the director of the hospital in the bowels of a bombed out building. She worked with world agencies to get supplies and appeared at the UN. She witnessed first hand the medical and human crisis unfold as Assad bombed and starved those opposed him. She bore witness to the bravery of those who did not want to be pushed from their home and country. She is now involved with the Syrian American Medical Society. This is an excellent book which contributes to the understanding of the 21th century situation in Syria.

This memoir is a remarkable tribute to resilience and courage. Dr. Amani Ballour’s story is both inspiring and deeply moving, shedding light on the human experience in the midst of crisis. Her journey from a young woman in Syria to the director of an underground hospital illustrates the incredible strength that can arise from adversity.

The way Dr. Ballour balances her professional responsibilities with her personal challenges is awe-inspiring. Her reflections not only highlight the struggles faced by many in conflict zones but also emphasize the profound impact of compassion and dedication. The heart-wrenching yet hopeful stories she shares resonate long after reading, inviting readers to reflect on the importance of humanitarian efforts.

This book is not just a memoir; it’s a call to action and a celebration of the indomitable spirit of those who strive to make a difference against all odds. It’s a powerful read that will leave you motivated and moved.

Incredible story about Dr. Amani Ballour and all that she went through a she provided the best medical care she could through out Syria's civil war.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to rad and review. All opinions are my own.

Publication date: 5 March 2024

"The Cave" by Amani Ballour, with Rania Abouzeid, is a poignant and powerful memoir that offers a deeply personal and eye-opening look into the life of a courageous Syrian doctor. Set in a war-torn region, the book vividly recounts Dr. Ballour’s experiences running an underground hospital in Eastern Ghouta, providing medical care amid relentless conflict. Abouzeid’s compelling narrative and Ballour’s harrowing firsthand account create a gripping and emotional story of resilience and hope. "The Cave" not only sheds light on the human cost of war but also celebrates the extraordinary bravery of those working to save lives under unimaginable circumstances.

This book tells the powerful story of Dr Ballour. No only was she working as a doctor in Syria but she is working during the war. She is not only a feminist icon but an inspiration to all. We need to hear more stories from women in Syria and other war torn parts of the world. Thanks to Netgalley for giving me an ARC of this book. 5 stars out of 5!

The Cave is the factual story of the war in Syria, and it's focus is on Dr. Amani Ballour and her staff who worked tirelessly to save many victims of the atrocities of the war. Dr. Amani started her medical career when the war began and she decided to fearlessly remain at the underground hospital, known as the Cave, to help as many citizens as she could. Bombs went off all around them day in and day out, and in the end, they were even attacked by chemical warfare. Dr. Amani wanted to be a pediatrician but at the Cave, she was also voted to be the managing director of the facility, due to her excellence in not only medical skills but also administration and attention to detail and delegation of staff.
This heartbreaking yet beautiful story is written from the perspective of Dr. Amani, as she wants to share more about the injustices and devastation that so many Syrians endured while the country was at war. The country was devastated. Many lives were lost and the rest of the world kept their distance. This is a shockingly difficult story to read, and for me reading it now while also seeing the similar devastations going on in the Ukraine, Gaza, and Israel, my heart breaks for those suffering worldwide. I applaud Dr. Amani for her strength and resilience in serving her community and the many people affected by this unjust war.
Thank you for NetGalley and National Geographic for the advanced review copy. All opinions are my own.

Ballour's account of serving as a doctor for several years during the Syrian war is astounding. At times, it is a difficult read; Syrian's government perpetrated many war crimes against its citizens and Ballour witnessed some of the fallout - children suffocating from chemical warfare and young people with head wounds leaving exposed brain matter are two that come to mind, but there are many such examples throughout the book. Her loss wasn't only experienced through her work, she also details the impacts of the war on her friends, family, and neighbors.

Ballour is clearly traumatized, not only by the countless injuries she encountered, but because she and her colleagues were forced to practice without adequate food, medicine, materials, or space, and they often did so without pay. It is heart-wrenching to encounter Ballour's guilt for the children she couldn't save or the parents she couldn't comfort, yet she never dwells in a place of bitterness. Despite the inherent chaos, her story is clear and easy to follow. This is a must-read for anyone with an interest in the effects of a widespread war on one heroic individual.

The story of a woman and her colleagues and friends holding out for as kong as possible with all the challenges around them, while being targeted and bombed by the Assad regime and its "allies" - the Russians - is harrowing and yet inspiring. As story that isn't told enough.

This is a very interesting well written book. It gave insight to the suffering of civilians and the medical staff trying to do their best for them with very limited staff and resources. It was an eyeopener for me, about what actually happens that you don't realise unless you are on the ground.

This is an astonishing book, the no-holds barred and unflinching memoir of Dr Amani Ballour who ran an underground hospital in Damascus. She describes the horrors with which she was confronted daily, the horrors that the regime was inflicting on its citizens. Never have I read anything which has brought those horrors to light so vividly. The book is incredibly timely, as not only is the war in Syria still raging, but we have a similar ruthless war raging in Palestine. Reading this gives us a further insight into what it must be like in the hospitals there. I can’t express just how powerful this book is. Everyone should read it, not least the politicians and war-mongers who inflict such trauma, but everyone, above all those who reject refugees and migrants who attempt to flee from such horrors. Amani Ballour is a truly remarkable woman. We should honour her.
I recommend watching the National Geographic documentary, similarly called The Cave, which is equally devastating. We should not turn away from what is happening.

This truly remarkable and heartbreaking story of survival of the besieged people in Syria from 2011 to 2018 is voiced by Dr.Amani Ballour. The detail of what her fellow Syrians endured as pockets of rebels fought against the repression of the Assad dictatorship as they tried to have a voice in their own country was staggering. To read about the emotional toll, the level of starvation, death, destruction, displacement and family ruin, is unimaginable. Assad wanted only to keep his power and his reign over the citizens of this country in an oppressed way. All the while, the death toll mounted as the bombing and fires spread like a disease throughout the cities and towns. It was in those small rural ill-equipped hospitals that the doctors and staff tried to treat and care for the wounded and common sickness that people come to hospitals for. Newly graduated Amani joined an underground makeshift hospital referred to as The Cave and was thrown into caring for people with very little hands-on experience. As the war raged on, NGOs from around the world provided money and supplies to outfit The Cave and those doctors did what they could to treat the wounded and dying all as bombs, fires, gunfire and raids were happening all around them. The hospital staff became a close knit support system to each other as many spent long days and nights away from family treating everyone. The people of Ghouta were without power, water and food was scarce but the urge to survive is a strong one and they found creative ways to make do. Amani's journey to becoming a doctor went against the conventional role for an Islamic woman who is normally married with children at a very young age. She entered The Cave at 26 as an unmarried woman yet totally accepted for her skills in medicine. She was respected for her skills and intelligence regardless of her sex and over time even became the director of the hospital for over a year, voted into this job by males and females alike. She began to speak out about the horrors she was seeing following Assad's heartless use of sarin gas to kill innocent people. It poisoned the air and killed thousands of men, women and children who had done nothing wrong. And despite this chemical warfare, the world was not forthcoming with help for the victims or sanctions against him. Later, with help from Russia and Iran, his forces got even more brutal in their killings, retentions, torture and punishments. Despite the fact that hospitals were supposed to be safe from attacks, this didn't stop Assad's regime as the conflict raged on and hospitals were bombed and ruined, leaving few places for help for the injured. Amani and many of her hospital staff were forced to leave her hometown and find asylum in other countries once Assad's forces finally stopped the rebels and she eventually got to France, later Germany and finally after many years, to the United States. During the middle of the conflict following many interviews given to various news outlets, a team of documentarians came to film the conflict. This film, called The Cave, later become a finalist for an Oscar. While it didn't win, it brought to light the horrors the innocent people of Ghouta during this horrifying and brutal 7 year siege. All the people wanted was a voice in their own country. They wanted freedoms. They wanted a more democratic way of governance. They got none of that nor did the world come to their aid. Amani continues to speak out about this repression in her country and how it relates to other dictatorial governments around the world. That one person should be able to tell others how to live, to work, to exist is wrong. For her work and her voice, she was awarded the Council of Europe's Raoul Wallenberg Prize for her personal courage, bravery and commitment in saving hundreds of lives during the Syrian war.
Dr. Ballour is a force! With this book, she wanted to tell the world what happened to her family, to her people and about the innocent lives lost. As a pediatrician, she was especially affected by all the sweet children whose lives will never be the same, who lost limbs, sight, parents, siblings, and have grown up not understanding why. She suffers from PTSD herself. Once she left Syria, she could never again hug her parents who remained behind. She lost so many friends, neighbors and for what?? As I read this book, all I could think about was, replace the word Syria with Ukraine or Gaza or Haiti or a host of African nations as wars that are going on right now. All the innocent people who never asked to live like this but are subject to the whims of rebels they don't know.
I received this amazing story from Netgalley and National Geographic for my honest and voluntary review.

Wow this memoir took my breath away. This book is a striking account of Dr. Ballour’s experience as a young doctor working in, and later running, an underground war-time hospital in besieged Eastern Ghouta throughout the Syrian Civil War.

Dr. Ballour accounts the suffering and cruelty she and her patients, colleagues, and family faced at the hands of the Assad regime in unflinching language. Her story is one of unbounded strength as she tirelessly worked to secure medicine, organise safety tunnels and dodge shelling while still facing sexism at the hands of her community.

This is, without a doubt, a must-read account of a woman who moved heaven and earth to save lives in the midst of a brutal war. I will be thinking of Dr. Ballour and the children she cared for a long time to come.

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Heartbreaking yet inspiring read. I normally don't find myself binge reading non fiction stories, due to the fact that they are heavier then fiction, but The cave caught my attention in the first chapter and kept it until the last page.

An intense read that will make you fee.l a lot of emotions. Mostly disgust and hope.

The Cave is a memoir by a Syrian doctor, Amani Ballour.

Syria has been in the news for many years, but this is an opportunity to see the revolution from the viewpoint of someone who lived in the middle of it.

Dr. Ballour grew up in a relatively peaceful town. After graduation from medical school, though she had no hands-on experience, she began volunteering in a basement hospital, nicknamed the Cave, and learned her trade on the job. Her descriptions of trying to run a hospital and treat patients during a war were eye-opening. Her eventual escape to safety was a nail-biter.

With the wars in Gaza and Ukraine on television every day, this story can help us understand what life is like for people in a war zone. It is definitely worth reading.

The story of Amani Ballour, a doctor and young activist who ran an underground hospital in Damascus during the Syrian crisis. This book was so powerful and left me speechless. The book talks of her experiences on the front lines during the Syria attacks, it opens with a sarin chemical warfare attack when she is still early on in her medical career. It discusses the absolutely horrifying acts that her community experienced. This book should be a must read for all so that we don't allow these horrors to continue to repeat themselves. A powerful story of a woman making challenging the humanitarian crisis.

Thank you Netgalley for a digital ARC.

The Cave is a powerful true story of Dr. Amni Ballour over some very difficult years in Syria. I was not really familiar with the humanitarian crisis that has gone on in Syria for some ten plus years now. So I learned a lot reading this account.
Dr. Ballour is an amazing person, who cared for people in very difficult circumstances and with many challenges. This book is hard to read at points, because of the difficult things she had to live through. But it is also a testimony to the human spirit and how much people will give in tough times.

At the risk of her own life and those of her family members, newly graduated Dr. Amani Ballour, serves her town’s people in an underground hospital, after a devastating sarin gas attack, during the crisis in Syria.

Amani Ballour intended to specialize in pediatrics; a 5 year internship beyond her medical degree. The war in Syria changed her plans. She grew up in a conservative, Muslim, patriarchal society and was already bucking the norms for women: unmarried at 26, working, an activist. With mixed support from her family, Amani held fast and accomplished heroic deeds in horrific conditions.

THE CAVE is her story of the six years she served her community in an underground hospital known by the same name. Ballour’s ability to communicate is mesmerizing. I expected difficult prose due to her language challenge but that’s not the case. I was transported to the streets of Ghouta, the underground hospital, pain, suffering and horrors of war. Her desire to help and serve, make a better way for women in a special way, while improving life for all of her beloved Syria is palpable.

This is a story you won’t forget. Altho’ many of the stories are gruesome, they’re not graphic. It’s eye opening. I was not aware that the conflict continued so long. The Media has a way of abandoning stories that aren’t popular or titillating enough. Persecuted people, regardless of religious beliefs and abused, women are important and deserve to be recognized and reported.

Dr. Ballour has sacrificed much of her life for these. She has won awards but they don’t really matter to her. What matters is this story and the potential for impact and change for her country, where she’s no longer welcome. A well written, worthy read; highly recommended 📚

Read & Reviewed from a PW Grab a Galley via NetGalley, with thanks

The book tells the story of a young Syrian woman, Amani, who grew up in a suburban area of Ghouta near Damascus. "The Cave" has broken my heart over and over again. I had to stop reading many times and considered not continue reading, but I needed to know. The parallels with the ongoing situation in Ukraine, daily bombings and loss, are striking. The pain, fear, and outrage are all too real for me.
This memoir is an honest and powerful account of a woman who, despite the patriarchal and conservative culture of Syria, managed to follow her dream of education and carved a path for herself as a doctor in a male-dominated world. It's a testament to the cruelty life can inflict, showing how a tyrant's ambition can devastate a nation for generations.
The details about Syria presented in the book are fascinating, offering a glimpse into Amani's deep love for her country, home, and people. These feelings resonate with me profoundly as I, too, am torn from my homeland and family by war. I know Amani's pain. Even in safety, the feeling of nostalgia can overshadow all else, souring every day.
The depiction of the years-long siege is unflinchingly brutal. There is no attempt to soften the horrors of war for the reader; it presents only the stark realities of horror, bloodshed, despair, and hatred. While some may search for a glimmer of hope within these pages, I found none. Bashar al-Assad remains in power, millions of Syrians are either dead or displaced, and Russians have moved on to killing Ukrainians.
Amani also shares her journey of survival and the enduring battle with PTSD after finding safety, a reality faced by countless individuals who have endured war, violence, and other unspeakable horrors. This aspect of her story sheds light on the invisible, lifelong scars carried by survivors.
This book is not for those seeking a light, pleasant read. Yet, we, as human beings, cannot afford to ignore stories such as this. As Amani wishes to be the voice of the children who were killed, we, as readers, have the power to amplify that voice. It's the least we can do.

A dedicated physician struggles to save lives in the basement of a partially constructed building slated to be a hospital called "the cave".

Armani Ballour is awoken suddenly in the middle of the night and told to go to the "cave" as a wave of injured people arrive for medical assistance. Dr. Armani treats people attacked with a nerve agent known as sarin.
Dr. Armani grew up and lived under "Assad's Syria" which was a one-party state that didn't tolerate opposition of any kind. After decades of being ruled under one family, the Syrian people felt it was time for a change in government. Armani struggles to run the "cave" as its director as the regime cuts of supplies as a result of its hold over her community. She is faced with electrical shutoffs, shortage of medical supplies, food and many other essential items needed to run a hospital. Despite her sorrow and hardships, Armani is determined not to be silenced, but tell her story through countless interviews.

I enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down. Armani is a brave woman who pursued her dream of being in the medical field. Armani's struggles to un a hospital with a constant flow of injured people is hard to imagine for those who have never experienced a shortage of basic medical necessities. The historical background of the Assad family and Armani's personal experience of living in an oppressed government adds to the depth to her story. I highly recommend this book for readers interested in the Syrian conflict. It is also a great read of Armani's courage to tell the world of her struggles of running a hospital under the regimes dictatorship.

I was so moved by this book. It isn't an easy read, but it's such an important one. Syrian physician Amani Ballour describes her experiences growing up under the Assad regime, training as a doctor in a patriarchal society, and working tirelessly with fellow medics to care for victims of the relentless siege and attacks by the regime's forces in a poorly equipped underground hospital. Her harrowing account of the danger, violence, and oppressive conditions is heart-rending and eye-opening, and the atrocities visited on innocent men, women, and children are painful to read and deserve to be known. I'm so full of awe and admiration for the strength and dedication of the author and all the people who fought to save lives at great personal risk, and for people who stand up for human rights no matter the cost. The author writes with great love and with great pain, and it's impossible not to be touched and inspired by her words. I'm very glad that I read this book.

I'm grateful to the author, the publisher, and to Netgalley for providing me with a free advance reader copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.