I wish I could be more enthusiastic about this decidedly elliptical le Carre-like love story, with its often lyrical prose and Hemingway-like feel and fast enough pace to make it easily finishable in one sitting, but mostly I was just put off by how it was so hard to get a firm grasp on in the way of Malcolm Lowry’s “Under the Volcano,” which I was often put in mind of while reading, that it's virtually impossible for me even just to say exactly what the novel is about without fear of getting something wrong. But if literary elusiveness is your thing, this is for you.

Sometimes I read a book and enjoy it for the way it is written more than for the story being told and this is one such book. It’s beautifully written and has an almost noir feel as the author uses powerful descriptive language to bring Berlin to life. The story itself did not grip me but I do think the language and prose is enough to warrant this book being added to any TBR pile.

A literary novella set in New Year's Eve in Berlin. An ex-journalist, still in love with a woman who has disappeared, recounts the fractured pieces of his long love affair with her to a stranger named Hissel, while waiting to be assassinated. Hissel, an AWOL soldier, has been hired to kill a number of people connected to the woman's disappearance and as time ticks down to midnight, the story unfolds.

The author's writing style is melancholic and atmospheric, beautifully written and it draws you into the telling of the story. The story wasn't explored in great detail but left to the reader's imagination to fill in the rest, purposely (I think) to create our own version of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Cameron Publicity & Marketing Ltd for the opportunity to read and review this book. ⭐⭐⭐.5

Set against the smoky, surreal backdrop of New Year's Eve in Berlin, Syringa is a literary thriller drenched in melancholy and mystery. At its heart lies a decades-long love affair, unraveled by an ex-journalist who is waiting for his own assassination. Through his fragmented recollections, we learn about a woman who vanished, a soldier named Hissel who was sent to kill those tied to her disappearance, and the tangled web of memory, guilt, and longing that connects them all.

This novel feels like reading a poem whispered in a dream. Ian Orti’s writing style is rich, lyrical, and evocative—there were passages I found myself rereading just for the language alone. The atmosphere is beautifully melancholic, and the emotional undercurrent of loss, love, and regret is ever-present.

However, while the prose often enchanted me, I found myself wanting more from the story itself. The plot, though intriguing in concept, felt too elusive in execution. The narrative left large gaps—presumably to be filled in by the reader’s imagination—but for me, they were a bit too wide. I longed for more specificity, more grounding in the events that were being hinted at rather than fully explored.

Still, Syringa stirred something poetic in me, and that’s not nothing. It’s a book that’s more about feeling than following—a good fit for readers who enjoy introspective, experimental fiction with a noir-like atmosphere and a deep emotional pulse.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.