If you love books about siblings navigating grief together, about siblings bonding and finding themselves in a world that's cruel and unforgiving, this book is for you. It's a story exploring themes of grief, coming-of-age life issues, political situation and atmosphere in post-revolution Egypt. What I found the most interesting is the way the author focused on what it means to be Egyptian-American, the way she portrayed the culture, the social and religious differences. It's a very authentic novel that pulls your heart and your mind in and doesn't release it for way long after finishing reading.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would at first. I liked the exploration of grief and heart ache, how emotions will fester and rot in you if you don’t deal with them.

Then add the twists and turns of life and you have a great narrative about how we get through life and continue on with loving those around even after death.

I liked the tension and interplay between switching between Zain and Hannah then even getting some Yasmeen at the end. Really nice to contrast their lives and points of view.

I think Zain’s story could have had more build up, I felt like we missed his whole “training montage” we just got him deciding to not drink anymore and within six months he has his dream job, it just seemed a little too perfect for me.

Hannah’s progress on the other hand we really saw, we saw her struggle and find her footing and then she naturally progressed. I thought her storyline was really good.

Thank you for bindery books and NetGalley for the eARC of Dust Settles North!!

A easy read story of dual nationality siblings who are split between their their parents’ Egyptian values and their American lives. Everything comes to a head when their mother dies suddenly and they realise that they know nothing about their parents or Egypt.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC!

I finished this book last week and have had to sit with my thoughts for days before writing a review because it truly was just such a hard hitting book.

Dust Settles North is about Hannah and Zain, two siblings who are dealing with the recent loss of their mother. On top of that, they find out that their father isn't who they always thought he was. Hannah and Zain also struggle with feeling like they have to be the perfect Muslims, which is a big theme in the book and something the two of them try to come to terms with.

Main themes
I knew going into it that it was going to be difficult to read, and I'm sure it will be for anyone else who has dealt with the loss of a parent (or anyone else) in their life. The first 50-ish pages were roughhh (I cried), but they were so good, and the emotions felt so raw and real. There were so many quotes that just made me pause and go, "yeah, that's exactly how it feels" (especially during the funeral) because I've never read a book that puts it in a way that feels so relatable to me before.

Just know that if you’re dealing with grief… this is gonna be rough. So worth it, though.

The conversations about religion and different kinds of religious people felt well tackled. I can't speak much on the Muslim representation specifically as I'm not Muslim and do not have much experience with the religion and culture outside of a few family members. However, I will say that I loved the way Dust Settles North talked about the different generations of the family and their different views on how a person should show their religion, from a more strict older generation to a more lenient younger one. When it comes to younger Muslim characters in the book, there are both characters who break more than a few "rules", and then there are the ones who always go to Friday prayer, and both can just coexist and be friends which I enjoyed.

Dual POV
The book is written in dual POV, pretty much an equal split between Hannah and Zain, and both kept me hooked the entire time.

I loved Hannah’s POV from beginning to end! I loved her friendships and her storyline, and I loved seeing her process of getting involved in activism in Egypt while also acknowledging that she has a privilege of just being able to leave the country in case things get too much. Her struggle with religious guilt was also one of my favorite storylines of the entire book, and I loved seeing her trying to get more comfortable and find her place in her religion.

Zain was sooo complicated, and I love a complicated character but this man frustrated me so much at certain points that I was sitting here talking back to my book to get my frustrations out lmao 😭 The only reason he got that reaction was that I already loved him at that point though, so I was rooting for him the entire time even when he was frustrating, and his character growth was amazing to see.

The negatives?
I have very few negative things to say about this book! One thing is that the end of Zain's arc felt kind of rushed and I would've loved to see it more in depth. There's also a flaw of his that he does work on, and he does get better, but I would have loved to see him actually talk about it to someone so I could hear about it from his perspective instead of only hearing about it from Hannah’s POV.

At the end of the book, there are also a lot of POV switches all of a sudden which just felt kind of jarring like it was breaking up the pace that had been set throughout the rest of the book with the POV switches. It would be like a few paragraphs of one POV, then switch for a few paragraphs, and then back again within the same scene. It didn’t happen a lot, only toward the end, so I didn’t mind it too much.

Rating
I was initially between 4.5 and 5 stars because it was giving me the 5 star feeling from chapter 1, but I wasn’t sure if the slightly rushed character arc was enough to pull it down a little for me, and I just… don’t think it is.

I also haven’t been able to stop thinking about this wook ever since I finished it last week and I know it’s gonna be a new favorite of mine, so I had to give it 5 stars! So excited for release date so I can get my hands on a physical copy and read it again.

I am so grateful for NetGalley and Bindery Books for giving me the opportunity to indulge in this book early! I kept hearing about it through Jananie’s YouTube channel ThisStoryain’tover and I am enthralled with this book. I am stunned with how powerful the themes of family values were throughout this book. I haven’t read something so powerful in that regard. The tie in to politics happening in a place that the characters are intrinsically connected to but also feel shut out of added so many textural layers to the story. The dialogue was simple, but some many more messages blared through the words that the characters spoke. As someone who experienced the loss of a parent, the throes of grief were depicted accurately. Once the plot got going, I couldn’t put the book down! Ever reader of color should read this! I can’t wait until this book officially releases!

Dust Settles North is Deena ElGenaidi’s debut novel, following Egyptian-American siblings Hannah and Zain in the aftermath of their mother's unexpected passing. The story unfolds as a dual-POV, mostly shifting back and forth between Hannah and Zain across their past and present, as they both learn to live with the grief of their mom's death and the betrayal over discovering their father was having an affair. Their lives take dramatic turns, with Hannah dropping out of law school to move to Egypt to discover herself while Zain flounders in his stagnant journalist career back in America.

I was initially drawn to this story not just by the gorgeous cover but by the synopsis placing this during the Arab Spring protests. As Hannah became more involved in the protests, the story grew more interesting as her character really began to start fleshing out as she started confronting her complicated grief more. Zain's POV on the other hand often left me wishing to be back with Hannah but his story also got more interesting when he visited Hannah in Egypt and began writing about the protests. Dust Settles North tackles the feeling of being both American and Egyptian, not quite fitting in either place, how religion and gender intersect with Hannah and Zain's lives and how all of these things combined inform their grief.

I understand that this is ultimately a character piece but, given the synopsis and how much it comes up in passing, I thought more time would have been spent "on-screen" actively involved in the protest movements rather than having that become a focal point in the last quarter of the book. However, that's not a fault of the book so much as my initial expectations. Considering Hannah wanted to learn about "the real Egypt", we spend very little time with non-expats or exploring Cairo. When the protests finally take center stage in the protagonists' life, it felt rushed as did some character development towards the end of the novel.

Ultimately, this was still an enjoyable book that tackles a lot, particularly for a debut author, and does it fairly well. If the overarching theme of grief sounds daunting, ElGenaidi handles it in a way that stops it from being overbearing even though it's a major aspect of the character's lives.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bindery Books for the opportunity to read this as an ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Dual POV focusing on loss of a parent and the different ways we grieve. This book is sad. Just, so sad. But in all the sadness there is also strength, resilience and hope. And some really instructive history lessons.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bindery Books for the ARC!

So, here you are. Too foreign for home, too foreign for here. Never enough for both - Ijeoma Umebinyuo

The story is told from the POV of two siblings navigating life and reflecting on their lives after their mother’s death and a revelation that almost destroys what’s left of their family.

This one was a mixed bag for me. While I struggled to connect with the characters, I loved certain aspects that the author portrayed.

- A perfect Muslim is a myth; everyone is striving. The burden of unrealistic expectations and how it can affect the way an individual practices their religion. This was evident in the way Hanna and Zain lived their lives and also their reactions when they discovered more about their parents.

- There is no one way to grieve, and you cannot predict the shape it would take.

- The book also delved into the complexities of sibling relationships.

- The Egyptian culture - the good, bad and the ugly

- The quote above rings true, and as a Nigerian British, that lack of sense of belonging is relatable. Hanna’s most especially showcased how it can be tricky to navigate both worlds.

The aspects that I didn’t particularly enjoy

- At some point, I was unsure whether this was a political novel or a story of grief/loss and how it can unravel a family. Although I truly understand the importance of showcasing historical event, the balance was tipped more to the political happenings in Egypt, which sort of threw me off because going by the synopsis, I had a different expectation.

- There were aspects that seemed rushed and unresolved. E.g. The resolution between the children and their father, their mum’s life pre-America, the letters, and the love triangle (if I could call it that). The revelation piqued my interest, but as I went on reading it, it fell flat.

Themes: politics, love, identity, patriarchy,loss, grief, religion, cultural pressures, gender expectations

Dust Settles North really had potential, but Zain ruined the book for me, the character was a stupid guy and his decisions were harsh and senseless. But the exploration of what it means to be Egyptian-American was very good.

Dust Settles North is raw, poetic, and hits you in the chest. It dives deep into themes like displacement, memory, and identity in a way that feels super personal but also universal. The writing is lyrical and powerful—you can feel the weight of every word.

The characters are complex and easy to connect with, especially if you’ve ever felt caught between worlds or like you’re carrying a history that no one else sees. It’s not just a story—it’s a reflection, a protest, and a kind of healing all at once.

Always interested in intercultural reads I was keen to get this one.
Zain and Hannah were brought up in the United States by first generation immigrants from Egypt. As such, they grew up navigating religion, customs and strict boundaries at home (stricter for the girl and allowing more for the boy) and American life outside. We learn all this right after the main event: right on the first pages we learn their mother died.

The novel then follows the siblings (not very close to begin with) and how they (try to) cope with the grief, how they (try to) find themselves in this mixture of cultures and customs picking and choosing which works best for them.

Hannah decides on a whim to abandon Columbia Law School and stay in Cairo. Not telling anyone until she's found herself an apartment. Zain complicates his life by sleeping with his boss.

There's more happening (of course there is) which I won't spoil (of course I won't)

Having moved well over a dozen of times in my life, and having lived on various continents, with children born all in a different country, this book is right down my alley in terms of "watching" people adapt to new circumstances and navigating cultural intrinsicalities. However it could've done with some pacing: some parts were overly explained whilst at other times things were barely dealt with.

That said, I think the book shows how we all grief differently, even if and when culture binds us.

2,5 stars rounded up b/c it's a debut

I received an eARC from NetGalley in echange for an honest review

I find it so hard to rate books like this one. It is very slice of life and as a result feels very personal. There are certain books that serve to remove you from reality and others that ground you in it. This was a case of the latter. We follow the lives of two very real, very messy siblings who are young and discovering revelations about family, religion, politics and the like. I loved how informative this book was and it did a great job of presenting readers with a nuanced take of Egypt. While reading it really felt like I was immersed in the culture, and the insight into the protests and civil unrest that rocked the country in 2012 was something I'd never heard about. A point was made that really drove the message of this book home for me; we really don't know much in the West about historical events like this and it can instill in us a misinformed picture of what that people and culture are like, for better or for worse. We can forget that we are all still human and that comes with a wide range of ups and downs, triumphs and mistakes.

Hannah and Zain are going through a lot, and the way that the author crafted the manifestation of grief in their life and the emotion that entailed was so well done. I feel like Zain's character got more closure in the end then Hannah's. I wasn't a huge fan of how the casual hookups she used to cope with her grief throughout the story weren't really addressed in the end, but it could be that the author was showing how grief doesn't follow a standard timeline and that her healing would come later down the line. Hannah being a third-culture kid spoke to me though and I could relate a lot to her sentiments of being caught in between. The religious commentary was very intriguing and I appreciated the wide scope it gave on the varying degrees of devoutness that exist. Overall, this was a very engaging read which opened my eyes to a new culture that I enjoyed being part of for a short time with these characters. Happy Reading :)

amazing and emotional. I love how you could really feel the loss of the mother and it was so heartbreaking to read about. All of the characters were developed so well. I loved both of the characters, they were so nuanced and messy. Hannah's coming of age in Cairo was so interesting and I loved how she followed in her mother's footsteps. Zain's struggle was such a good representation of generational trauma.

This was a quick and captivating read for me. Thanks to my history undergrad, I was well-informed about the Arab Spring, yet I was completely unaware of how the aftermath of the revolution immediately affected women’s rights in Cairo—especially given that women were an integral part of the revolution itself.

I liked how the story focused on how messy life can be, especially when you're in your formative years and trying to figure out who you are. Add something life-altering like grief, and this book captures how much a person can change in that kind of situation. Hannah, a third culture kid learning to navigate life in Cairo during such a tumultuous time in the city’s history, was engaging and made it a true page-turner.

I wish that the book had just focused on Hannah. She was so interesting and captivating and there was so much to delve into. I didn't love Zain's point of view.

Wow, where do I even begin? This book explores topic of grief, isolation, and the conflicts in Egypt in the early 2010's. ElGenaidi does a fantastic job of balancing these fictional characters and their story while also bringing in the real experiences of Egyptians. As someone who doesn't know terribly much about the topic, reading this book made me want to do even more research into Egypt and its modern history.

I think the topic of grief was handled really well, I loved seeing the parallels between Hannah and Zain with how they were handling the loss of their mother. On top of handling the loss of their mother, the characters (mostly Hannah) are trying to maneuver what it means to be an Egyptian American, and the feeling of not belonging in either of those spaces. This made the characters feel so personable and complete in a way I wasn't expecting, yet adored!

If you're looking for a read filled with diverse characters, complex emotional exploration, and present-day topics, Dust Settles North is the perfect read.

The description and title of this book was exactly the type of book I’d like to read. Unfortunately, the writing was in a style that I didn’t enjoy. Just because it isn’t for me doesn’t mean that I can’t see how this book can be captivating to the right audience, and I look forward to reading reviews and hearing from those it suits more! Thank you for the opportunity to read this book

Thank you to NetGalley, Bindery Books, and Boundless Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There are so many layers to this book, so much that I appreciate in Deena ElGenaidi’s writing. The book is written in third person and oscillates primarily between Hannah and Zain’s perspectives, two siblings who have recently lost their mother. The story opens with them traveling to Egypt for their mother’s funeral and follows them over the course of the months that follow from their loss. Zain heads back to Philly where he works in a dead-end journalism job, while Hannah stays in Cairo, perfectly juxtaposing the two siblings as they exist: one foot in one world, one foot in another.

There are myriad themes that DUST SETTLES NORTH deals with, namely: Islam and being a “good Muslim;” grief and loss; infidelity; the Arab Spring; and not knowing who your parents truly are. This last one was the most intense and hard-hitting for me. It is not something that most of us confront until we’re in our twenties, just as Hannah and Zain have. But our parents had lives, loves, friends, hopes, and dreams all before we were born. It’s solemn and intense, but it is beautiful how Hannah is able to learn more about her mother as she stays in Cairo—and sees her more than maybe she ever did before. In contrast, Zain learns much more about his father and sees him in a different light as he stays at home, but knowing gives more depth to Yousef as a person, even if knowing more results in pain.

As much as the book deals with Hannah and Zain’s loss, it also deals with their emotional journeys. Hannah grapples with not being a “good enough” Muslim in Egypt, while Zain repeats mistakes his father made and self-medicates to numb his pain. Deena ElGenaidi does not shy away from making her characters real. I could see Hannah in her flaws and imperfections, and I could see Zain through his struggles and misdeeds. I cared deeply for Hannah, but I also really appreciated how often Zain failed. It was a beautiful representation of a young Arab man that didn’t feel prescriptive or like he was trying to fit in the idea of what an American audience might expect. I liked that he was unlikeable at times and got angry and made mistakes. ElGenaidi allows her characters to be human.

As I said in my review of “Great Disasters” by Grady Chambers, DUST SETTLES NORTH posits itself incredibly well in time. Immediately, we know the Arab Spring is occurring, and it shapes Hannah’s experiences in Egypt, but the book still is so intensely about the characters and their journeys. This not only created a bursting political tension that could be felt all over the body while reading, but it also guided the character’s actions, which only makes them more real. People do not exist without context, and neither do characters.

But as much as there are events that have occurred during the book, the characters are the driving force behind the plot. Hannah and Zain were the plot, and as a writer, I applaud ElGenaidi for still being able to make the story compelling. It is incredibly difficult to use an emotional journey as the propelling plot point and make the reader want to keep going.

Some other things I appreciated: the mention of Palestine several times and the calling out of Zionism; the description of panic attacks; the reconciliation with their father; and the fact that Yasmeen and Yousef let their children eat Gushers. That was my favorite part.

Thank you again for letting me read this book, and thank you to Deena for writing it. It goes without saying that we need more books like this in the world.

4.5 stars rounded up. With thanks to Netgalley and Bindery Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The novel is told from the POV of two siblings, Hannah and Zain. They have never been particularly close but in the wake of their mother's unexpected death and a revelation about their father's past, the two protagonists are forced to reflect on where they are in their own lives as well as re-evaluating what they know about each other. Hannah leaves behind a place to study law at Columbia to live in Cairo and try to follow in her mother's footsteps by involving herself in feminist protests while Zain goes off the rails both at work and in his personal life.

I really loved the exploration of the siblings' relationship and, in particular, how it had been affected by their religious upbringing and the fact that neither felt they could be honest with the other as a consequence. This sense of religious guilt also infiltrates some of their romantic relationships, especially Hannah's and it came across as a very sensitive and nuanced portrayal. The setting of Cairo in 2012 was fascinating and I learnt a lot both about the politics of that time and how it must feel to negotiate and explore an American-Egyptian identity. The novel is very well written and maintains a good sense of pace, I read it in just a couple of days. Thought-provoking and memorable, I look forward to reading more of El Genaidi's work in future!

First, I don't understand the title. I think 'stuck between cultures,' a line from the book, would be a better title, as the time periods go back and forth between the U.S. and Egypt. But anyway...

Dust Settles North is about an Egyptian family: parents born in Egypt and two children born in the U.S. The children grow up happy, carefree, self-centered, and entitled. All is well until their mother's unexpected death, which takes them back to Egypt for the funeral. Long-held secrets are revealed, causing a rift with their father, significantly affecting the children's lives.

The family is Muslim, but the adult children don't practice. They lead very American lives. However, thoughts of their dead mother and her approval or disapproval seem to hover in their minds constantly while they learn to live without her presence. I lived in Maadi for two years, and reading about Cairo made me want to read this book. I remembered my times walking on the streets and visiting the sites mentioned. The author brought it all back for me.

A gripping novel about a family that learns to accept one another despite their faults and the mistakes they make along the way.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bindery books for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

"Dust Settles North" is a not a story that nudges, that prods at it's readers with gentle murmurings of ideas about grief; no, "Dust Settles North" is a story that shoves, that upends, pushing aside preconceived assumptions of diaspora stories and comingling ideas of grief and revolution.

One of my biggest pet peeves with BIPOC diasporic stories is when the story makes an overly concerted attempt to have readers feel empathy for it's main characters, but that was very much not the case with "Dust Settles North." Neither Hannah nor Zain are morally good or morally bad people and in fact there are moments when they make grating choices that readers will certainly not agree with; but throughout the strife, they are simply humans trying their best, making mistakes along the way, a thread that runs clearly through the heart of the story. The duality in how these siblings handle grief reflects an astute character study in both hierarchy within their Egyptian American family structure, as well as reflecting the diametrically opposing environment they exist within. Concurrently, neither of their characterizations fall into the realm of flat stereotypes, forming multi-faceted characters who are not solely defined by their identity.

Zain is the eldest son in an Egyptian American and Muslim family and although those characteristics frame a majority of his psyche, his character arc is ALSO a study on lack of directionality due to career burn-out, the natural evolution of self-pity into self-sabotage, and the dedicated effort required to break the toxic "Sad Boi" mold. And the same can be said of Hannah: being the only daughter in a Muslim Egyptian American family is an intrinsic part of who she is, but her story also focuses on the diasporic feeling of being between two cultures, an unrelenting yearning to understand the culture of her ancestors, and the messiness of sex as a coping mechanism. The wealth of modalities both these characters hold never overwhelms their storylines, seamlessly blending in and out of their arcs with ease.

And on top of that, the author sets the messy chaos of these characters in the backdrop of an Egypt that is on the brink of political upheaval; the story never has to say it outright, but every aspect these characters, big or small, is inherently political. Hannah mildly uncomfortable at the bar with her newfound acquaintances casually saying Israel instead of Palestine, Zain getting constantly passed over for important stories by his white boss, Hannah second guessing the intentions of every man she meets, Zain's enduring Islamic guilt at his self-destructive behaviors, and the list goes on and on. Ergo, while both are on vastly different paths, both Hannah's and Zain's destinations seamlessly point toward revolution.

My only critique would be in the structure of the dialogue, which oftentimes sped through and condensed conversation points in moments when it felt like expansion of back and forth dialogue was necessary. But otherwise, I enjoyed this book immensely and will most definitely be keeping my eye on what this author writes next.