ggrillion's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
sarahelem's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Lucid, challenging, beautiful.
ianthereader0's review against another edition
5.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Home is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo is the best YA book I have read in years. Mind you, YA is not particularly my taste, but this novel written in verse really transcends genre to become something universally moving and understood.
Home is Not a Country follows Nima, a girl filled with questions about herself, her heritage, and her identity within the context of her family as well as society. She longs to be a different version of herself, one she personifies in the name Yasmeen, which was originally planned to be her name before the loss of her father caused her mother to give her the name Nima, instead. This novel is about identity and family, past and future, home and homeland. While this novel is short, I think it does exactly what it was meant to, the prose so vivid and precise, the atmosphere and culture almost tangible. I was moved and amazed by this book, and cannot believe it is a debut novel. I don’t really know what else to say. I know I have been pretty generous with my 5 star ratings so far this year, but this book really deserves it. Please give this novel a chance- it won’t take you much time to read, but I’m sure you will be thinking about it long after you are finished. Thank you Netgalley, Safia Elhillo, and Make Me A World for an early copy of this novel.
Home is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo is the best YA book I have read in years. Mind you, YA is not particularly my taste, but this novel written in verse really transcends genre to become something universally moving and understood.
Home is Not a Country follows Nima, a girl filled with questions about herself, her heritage, and her identity within the context of her family as well as society. She longs to be a different version of herself, one she personifies in the name Yasmeen, which was originally planned to be her name before the loss of her father caused her mother to give her the name Nima, instead. This novel is about identity and family, past and future, home and homeland. While this novel is short, I think it does exactly what it was meant to, the prose so vivid and precise, the atmosphere and culture almost tangible. I was moved and amazed by this book, and cannot believe it is a debut novel. I don’t really know what else to say. I know I have been pretty generous with my 5 star ratings so far this year, but this book really deserves it. Please give this novel a chance- it won’t take you much time to read, but I’m sure you will be thinking about it long after you are finished. Thank you Netgalley, Safia Elhillo, and Make Me A World for an early copy of this novel.
pgreen0309's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
nextbestcoast's review against another edition
5.0
This book in unbelievably gorgeous. The world that Safia built, the tenderness she shows to her characters, the gentle and painful interrogation of family and belonging- all of it will be on my mind for a long time. Highly, highly recommend.
candidlycaitlyn_mph's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
5.0
massi's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
srfrq's review against another edition
4.0
wow! wowowowoow!!
it kind of reminded me of ocean vuong at first but then took on a completely fantastical turn! so so beautiful, the metaphors, the imagery, the way she tied in events that took place earlier to later i was flipping back and forth.
nima's sinking in bodies of water to try and escape her life, her name, and then her completely dissolving into another reality?? and it's written as literal poetry? subhanAllaaaah!! it was so magical!
some fave quotes:
"it seems to me that this knowledge--that you could just as easily been any one of a hundred other people--is at the heart of empathy"
"how we mispronounce the language, how it wilts on our american tongues"
"maybe i am fading from this world to grow solid on the other side"
"and each time i think with something almost like relief that i will finally disappear my body returns and i think i've made the whole thing up"
"my loneliness grows teeth i feel them chewing at my stomach"
"i'm sorry you got this storm cloud for a daughter instead of the flowers you deserved"
"and reach finally to out to hold her hand right then the bus hits a bump in the pockmarked road my mother's hand pulls impossibly far away from mine to grab the rail above and i shove my fist deep into my pocket shame hot against my throat"
"and everything feels slowed down the moment broken into a string of smaller moments"
"since you love yesterday so much why not just stay here...and let me do the work of actually living of actually filling that life you've barely touched"
"i think i spent a long time hating myself thinking of myself as not enough thinking i was loving everyone i loved by wishing a better version of myself into their lives one more deserving more graceful i think i could have been a better friend to you instead of locking myself away inside my head and invented memories locking myself away inside the old photographs the old songs and letting my whole life happen without me"
i'd like to think the chapter called jazz towards the end was an homage to toni morrison and tied everything together so nicely, it made everything make sense! and it's so cool that i just finished reading jazz, and now i'll have this piece with me before i delve into paradise! :)
it kind of reminded me of ocean vuong at first but then took on a completely fantastical turn! so so beautiful, the metaphors, the imagery, the way she tied in events that took place earlier to later i was flipping back and forth.
nima's sinking in bodies of water to try and escape her life, her name, and then her completely dissolving into another reality?? and it's written as literal poetry? subhanAllaaaah!! it was so magical!
some fave quotes:
"it seems to me that this knowledge--that you could just as easily been any one of a hundred other people--is at the heart of empathy"
"how we mispronounce the language, how it wilts on our american tongues"
"maybe i am fading from this world to grow solid on the other side"
"and each time i think with something almost like relief that i will finally disappear my body returns and i think i've made the whole thing up"
"my loneliness grows teeth i feel them chewing at my stomach"
"i'm sorry you got this storm cloud for a daughter instead of the flowers you deserved"
"and reach finally to out to hold her hand right then the bus hits a bump in the pockmarked road my mother's hand pulls impossibly far away from mine to grab the rail above and i shove my fist deep into my pocket shame hot against my throat"
"and everything feels slowed down the moment broken into a string of smaller moments"
"since you love yesterday so much why not just stay here...and let me do the work of actually living of actually filling that life you've barely touched"
"i think i spent a long time hating myself thinking of myself as not enough thinking i was loving everyone i loved by wishing a better version of myself into their lives one more deserving more graceful i think i could have been a better friend to you instead of locking myself away inside my head and invented memories locking myself away inside the old photographs the old songs and letting my whole life happen without me"
i'd like to think the chapter called jazz towards the end was an homage to toni morrison and tied everything together so nicely, it made everything make sense! and it's so cool that i just finished reading jazz, and now i'll have this piece with me before i delve into paradise! :)
zoebowieee's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
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
3.75