leavingsealevel's review against another edition
2.0
These books feel pretty orientalist. However. I may have written them off as such before starting to read them, because I'm touchy like that. Decent airplane book, anyway. Airplane books are allowed to have stupid politics.
roisin_killen's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
carstensena's review against another edition
5.0
I loved Finding Nouf, and I think this one is even better. Bringing an American couple into the Saudi world was a brilliant choice.
kejan's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
This was an amazing combination between a thriller and a book about Islam and its sometimes difficult contradictions. A true page turner.
lolajoan's review against another edition
4.0
A really well-done police procedural set in Saudi Arabia, with lots of very interesting cultural detail.
bibliobethreads's review against another edition
2.0
I had such high hopes for this novel when it first started! I was so intrigued by it being set in the middle east and was fascinated to learn more about what is expected of women in that culture. However, the story didn't really go anywhere and I didn't really warm to any of the characters. Just an ok book for me.
tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
3.0
‘This was a different kind of horror.’
Set in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, this novel opens with the discovery of a brutally tortured and murdered young woman whose body has been found on the beach. Detective Osama Ibrahim is assigned this case. Can the case be solved? So many murders of women are unsolvable in a city where the veils guarantee anonymity. And if this proves to be another murdered housemaid, then finding the culprit is likely to be impossible.
Women in Saudi Arabia are expected to live quiet lives within the boundaries of Islamic law and tradition. Yet there are some women, such as Katya who works in the medical examiner’s office, who are determined to be more independent. Katya is convinced that the victim can be identified, and her killer identified and found. With the help of her friend Nayir, Katya discovers that the dead girl was a young woman named Leila.
Meanwhile, Miriam Walker (an American woman) has just returned to Jeddah after a holiday in the USA. Her husband Eric has a job in Jeddah and she is becoming concerned that he may wish to stay in Saudi Arabia. Shortly after her return, Eric vanishes. While trying to find out what has happened to Eric, Miriam discovers how difficult it is for a woman without male relatives to exist in this conservative Islamic city.
Katya’s search for Leila’s murderer and Miriam’s search for her husband intersect, and solving the two mysteries makes for an interesting read. The story is told from the perspectives of a number of different characters and this provides different insights into the cultural aspects of life in Jeddah. In some ways, this was more intriguing than the crime-solving. The setting and the characters make this story interesting.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Set in the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah, this novel opens with the discovery of a brutally tortured and murdered young woman whose body has been found on the beach. Detective Osama Ibrahim is assigned this case. Can the case be solved? So many murders of women are unsolvable in a city where the veils guarantee anonymity. And if this proves to be another murdered housemaid, then finding the culprit is likely to be impossible.
Women in Saudi Arabia are expected to live quiet lives within the boundaries of Islamic law and tradition. Yet there are some women, such as Katya who works in the medical examiner’s office, who are determined to be more independent. Katya is convinced that the victim can be identified, and her killer identified and found. With the help of her friend Nayir, Katya discovers that the dead girl was a young woman named Leila.
Meanwhile, Miriam Walker (an American woman) has just returned to Jeddah after a holiday in the USA. Her husband Eric has a job in Jeddah and she is becoming concerned that he may wish to stay in Saudi Arabia. Shortly after her return, Eric vanishes. While trying to find out what has happened to Eric, Miriam discovers how difficult it is for a woman without male relatives to exist in this conservative Islamic city.
Katya’s search for Leila’s murderer and Miriam’s search for her husband intersect, and solving the two mysteries makes for an interesting read. The story is told from the perspectives of a number of different characters and this provides different insights into the cultural aspects of life in Jeddah. In some ways, this was more intriguing than the crime-solving. The setting and the characters make this story interesting.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
sonja_brigitte's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
inspiring
mysterious
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? It's complicated
5.0
drey72's review against another edition
4.0
Zoe Ferraris' City of Veils is a simple enough whodunnit--there's the victim, the victim's family and friends, and the investigators. What makes this more than just another whodunnit is its setting--in the Saudi city of Jeddah. Where women's movement and activities are limited, the police investigator's first thought is that the battered body found on the beach belongs to a housemaid--they're numerous, often abused, and without much recourse.
Then they find out that the victim--Leila--is outspoken, rebellious, and an aspiring film-maker who's been filming the not-so-pretty side of life in Jeddah. In a world where women can't do anything without a man (& not just any man, but a relative), part of the appeal of City of Veils was the figuring out of how Leila managed to maneuver herself into the situations she filmed--and whether her filming had anything to do with her death.
One of the other players in this story is Miriam, whose bodyguard-for-hire husband goes missing just as she returns from a visit home to America. The pages describing her experience at the airport (a room in the airport for Unclaimed Women!) really punctuate how different their world is from the West. And the description of Miriam's attempt to move while wearing the burka highlights how restrictive the simple day-to-day stuff is for someone who's used to much more freedom--not just in dress and verbal expression, but also in movement.
Tying Leila's death and Miriam's story together is the investigative "team"--the detective, Osama Ibrahim; the coroner's assistant, Katya Hijazi; and her friend, Nayir Sharqi. In the course of this story, Nayir's strict views on the edicts of Islam is tempered by his exposure to Osama's more balanced interpretation, and he realizes that when so much is expected of women, men must step up too.
Religion, murder, and mayhem combine into an engrossing mystery in City of Veils.
Then they find out that the victim--Leila--is outspoken, rebellious, and an aspiring film-maker who's been filming the not-so-pretty side of life in Jeddah. In a world where women can't do anything without a man (& not just any man, but a relative), part of the appeal of City of Veils was the figuring out of how Leila managed to maneuver herself into the situations she filmed--and whether her filming had anything to do with her death.
One of the other players in this story is Miriam, whose bodyguard-for-hire husband goes missing just as she returns from a visit home to America. The pages describing her experience at the airport (a room in the airport for Unclaimed Women!) really punctuate how different their world is from the West. And the description of Miriam's attempt to move while wearing the burka highlights how restrictive the simple day-to-day stuff is for someone who's used to much more freedom--not just in dress and verbal expression, but also in movement.
Tying Leila's death and Miriam's story together is the investigative "team"--the detective, Osama Ibrahim; the coroner's assistant, Katya Hijazi; and her friend, Nayir Sharqi. In the course of this story, Nayir's strict views on the edicts of Islam is tempered by his exposure to Osama's more balanced interpretation, and he realizes that when so much is expected of women, men must step up too.
Religion, murder, and mayhem combine into an engrossing mystery in City of Veils.