4.5/5 stars

First, I want to thank the author for her work with the girls in a refugee camp. Thank you for making a difference. I don't know exactly what the author had to say in this book because it's not obvious, but this review is how I understood the novel.

It's hard to explain my thoughts about the story because I am emotional. It's painful to read about the fate of these women and girls. Some say it's their culture, but these rules to marry young and have a lot of children were made by men and maybe that's the first time someone asks these girls what they want (they want education). Of course, the novel is fictionalised, but we can all agree that the author knows what is happening in these camps pretty well.

This short novella exceeded my expectations. The writing is very smooth, and every sentence is in the right place. It's not historical or the complete story of someone's fate; it's pure literary fiction, with the young Syrian refugee as the main character. However, it is also very accessible.

I appreciate that the author shows us the unspoken rules in these families and communities, but doesn't exaggerate. To write that these families hate their daughters is also wrong because that's just not true. (The author doesn't do that, she writes with love). It's how they understand happiness for a woman. The book was certainly not written to judge, but with a scream that something needs to change for the sake of the women.

My only complain is the narration. I didn't always get from whose point of view I explored the story. The novella is a little bit fragmented, but maybe it's just the author's writing style. Also, I didn't get why everyone blamed that one heroine for what had happened to her cousin. And who was really to blame? Maybe I need to re-read it.

Many thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for a free arc in exchange for an honest review.

There is a lyrical quality to Ziervogel's prose. Of course, protagonist, Sham, is dreaming of a happier and better life away from Shatila, despite what her family thinks, so that narrative voice works particularly well. This style is made even more effective when juxtaposed against the feeling that the 'camp' is a character as well as a place, and one that creates a growing sense of foreboding. That claustrophobic place-sensitivity is so well written. This is literary fiction with a subtle and sensitive storyline. Highly recommended.

I'm afraid I can't open lcpl or whatever the extension is called so I can neither read the book nor review it. I'm giving it five stars though because the publisher had a good will to share the book with me.