Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Beekeeper of Aleppo

Definitely helps you see stuff from a different perspective. I was interested in this book mainly because I wanted to be informed of the struggles of immigrants and people who are forced to flee their country for safety despite their love for it.

Content Warnings

spiritualeigh's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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zoebill96's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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___puddin's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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larns's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Content Warnings

katsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

“Where there are bees there are flowers, and wherever there are flowers there is new life and hope.”

“But in Syria there is a saying: inside the person you know, there is a person you do not know.”

“Sometimes we create such powerful illusions, so that we do not get lost in the darkness.”

“When you belong to someone and they are gone, who are you?”

This was a beautifully written novel. I really loved the format. Each chapter was split into two timelines and the transition happened literally mid-sentence. It was a super interesting way to format. The beginning of each chapter followed the main character and his wife in their current timeline as refugees seeking asylum in England and the end of every chapter recounted part of their journey from Syria. This story was so heart-breaking and intense. This is one of the few novels that made me genuinely cry. Nuri and Afra's journey was traumatic in so many ways and they way the author explored that was incredibly compelling. In her author's note, she wrote that she sought to answer the question "What does it mean to see?" While Nuri is the narrator, both he and his wife's narratives both explore that question. The novel really looks at what both Nuri and Afra "see" and how it affects their relationship. Afra is blind for most of the story and figuring out what caused her blindness is a major plot point. With Nuri, he sees things that make the reader question if they're real or not. I won't spoil anything but figuring out what Nuri is seeing (and if it is real) is also a major plot point. I found it to be a very interesting theme and I'll be thinking about it for a while.

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jasminrain's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Its the kind of book that ticks all the trigger warnings but you still need to read it. I listened to it as an audiobook and the narrator did an absolutely phenomenal job capturing the characters, their emotions and the world around them. I loved that the story was not linear but jumping back and forth between the present and the past. I can't say that its a book that blowed my mind with twists as it was quite easy to figure out what was coming.

It's the kind of book that you have to read because of the topic. While its definitely on the heavy side with content and themes, lots of the darker events are actually not discussed in detail which was a bit of a relief. The only thing that I found really appalling was the ableist language that the main character used about her disabled wife. All the other triggers in the book were rooted to the story and the trauma that the characters experienced, but it was the choice of the author to use this language. When I started reading the book I also thought that the author had Syrian background and I was suprised to learn later that she didn't. It kinda made me wonder if that was her story to tell in the first place.

Regardless of all this I really enjoyed the book. I wanted to keep listening and learning about their journey and all those past events that were discussed in the present. The book was quite fast paced at times and the story of their journey jumping a lot. I think I would have liked to learn more about certain moments. But apart from all that it was such a good book!

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