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yvo_about_books's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.25
Finished reading: July 28th 2024
"Children search in our eyes to discover the world. When they see happiness or joy or love there, then they know that these things exist."
I really enjoyed The Beekeeper Of Aleppo back when I read it in 2021, and after I saw Nicki mention Songbirds I decided to add it to my 20 Books Of Summer TBR. I loved the sound of the Cyprus setting and the disappearance of the maid had me intrigued... The resulting story didn't quite hit the mark like my first experience with her work though. Songbirds is by no means a bad read and I can see why others love it, but there were a couple things that prevented me from fully enjoying it. I did love the many descriptions of the setting; it really made the island come alive and made me wish I could visit myself. The story also briefly travels to Sri Lanka in the form of Nisha's memories, which was a bonus... I also liked how the story shines a light on the issues foreigners have to deal with, and how the story of the missing maids was based on facts. BUT. The story also had a considerably slow pace and nothing much was happening to solve Nisha's disappearance for most of the book. I felt a bit disappointed that instead there was a LOT of focus on the songbird poaching including detailed descriptions of the animal cruelty involved. The scenes at the red lake with the hare were likewise a distraction and not exactly pleasant to read... Especially since it seemingly has nothing to do with the plot. I liked the dual POV, switching between Petra and Yiannis to help learn more about Nisha. Nisha's diary likewise gave some insight... But the fact that neither makes much effort to find Nisha makes you wonder if they really cared about her after all. The ending was both rushed and lackluster, and it felt more like an afterthought rather than a satisfying conclusion to Nisha's disappearance. If you want to try one of her books, I would definitely suggest picking up The Beekeeper Of Aleppo first.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
lovely_bookshelf's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer
linguaphile412's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Miscarriage and Blood
Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail
holly_daze_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death and Death
Minor: Cancer, Domestic abuse, and Murder
onmalsshelf's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Apparently it seems that I'm leaning towards hard-hitting literary fiction in Q4 2021 and I'm okay with that.
This is the first time in a long time that I've grabbed a piece of paper to start writing thoughts down only 20% into it.
<i>Songbirds</i> is heartbreaking and evocative and I know I'll be thinking about this one for a long time. As someone who hasn't read either of Christy Lefteri's previous works, I'm glad I picked this one up first.
Somehow, Lefteri managed to craft an astounding story inspired by real events in Cyprus surrounding how foreign domestic workers are treated in Cyprus by the middle class families they are employed by and by the police.
Nisha is a domestic worker from Sri Lanka that has been working for Petra for 9 years when she suddenly goes missing on a Sunday night. We then follow her employer Petra and her lover Yannis on their journey to attempt to get justice for her in a country that has no love for foreign workers.
I found myself hooked from the start and was overall satisfied with the ending that seemed tied up to me. Make no mistake, like me you may be incredibly infuriated with Nisha's employer at the beginning of the book, but unlike one other person in this story (Mrs Kostas), Petra does end up having some character development and ends up seeing Nisha as an actual person instead of just a "Shadow of myself". Shocking that your domestic worker will have life outside of caring for your daughter Petra, so shocking.
Personally, I am wondering if there is symbolism between the songbirds and the foreign domestic workers. As in in Cyprus, they both seem to be 'delicacies' that only the middle class and up can afford, but they don't care enough to take care of them properly to keep them safe.
What is keeping me from rating it five stars is the pacing between the two POVs as well as the lack of plot movement surrounding Nisha herself. I just wanted the pacing to be a little quicker in Yannis'. I also had an issue with some dialogue being repeated when Petra was having a flashback multiple times on a bus ride.
I think that this would make a great book for a book club because just by looking at the DNFs, the one start ratings, and the two ratings, it may lead to a great discussion.
On the topic of DNFing, if you do decide to pick this one up but decide that it is not for you, please at least consider flipping to the author's note at the end.
I highly recommend this, but please be aware of the following trigger warnings (one of which I haven't seen anyone else mention in their reviews because everyone seems to be focused on the song birds):
This is the first time in a long time that I've grabbed a piece of paper to start writing thoughts down only 20% into it.
<i>Songbirds</i> is heartbreaking and evocative and I know I'll be thinking about this one for a long time. As someone who hasn't read either of Christy Lefteri's previous works, I'm glad I picked this one up first.
Somehow, Lefteri managed to craft an astounding story inspired by real events in Cyprus surrounding how foreign domestic workers are treated in Cyprus by the middle class families they are employed by and by the police.
Nisha is a domestic worker from Sri Lanka that has been working for Petra for 9 years when she suddenly goes missing on a Sunday night. We then follow her employer Petra and her lover Yannis on their journey to attempt to get justice for her in a country that has no love for foreign workers.
I found myself hooked from the start and was overall satisfied with the ending that seemed tied up to me. Make no mistake, like me you may be incredibly infuriated with Nisha's employer at the beginning of the book, but unlike one other person in this story (Mrs Kostas), Petra does end up having some character development and ends up seeing Nisha as an actual person instead of just a "Shadow of myself". Shocking that your domestic worker will have life outside of caring for your daughter Petra, so shocking.
Personally, I am wondering if there is symbolism between the songbirds and the foreign domestic workers. As in in Cyprus, they both seem to be 'delicacies' that only the middle class and up can afford, but they don't care enough to take care of them properly to keep them safe.
What is keeping me from rating it five stars is the pacing between the two POVs as well as the lack of plot movement surrounding Nisha herself. I just wanted the pacing to be a little quicker in Yannis'. I also had an issue with some dialogue being repeated when Petra was having a flashback multiple times on a bus ride.
I think that this would make a great book for a book club because just by looking at the DNFs, the one start ratings, and the two ratings, it may lead to a great discussion.
On the topic of DNFing, if you do decide to pick this one up but decide that it is not for you, please at least consider flipping to the author's note at the end.
I highly recommend this, but please be aware of the following trigger warnings (one of which I haven't seen anyone else mention in their reviews because everyone seems to be focused on the song birds):
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Miscarriage, and Xenophobia