danaaliyalevinson's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Dysphoria, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Hate crime, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Transphobia
emzireads's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Islamophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Xenophobia, Body shaming, and Body horror
caidyn's review
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Grief and Transphobia
Moderate: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Islamophobia, and Homophobia
rexpostfacto's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Deadnaming, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Transphobia, Grief, Islamophobia, Homophobia, Racism, and Xenophobia
puttingwingsonwords's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Dysphoria
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Racism, Medical content, Transphobia, Sexism, Xenophobia, Misogyny, Islamophobia, and Hate crime
Minor: Pregnancy and Sexual harassment
rorikae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The story weaves between two narratives. The first follows a Syrian American trans boy struggling after the death of his mother. Longing to be his full self, he paints murals at night. One night he comes across the journal of a Syrian American artist who may have encountered the same rare bird as one that his mother saw as well. Haunted by the ghost of his mother, he searches for what happened to this artist who disappeared years ago. As he searches for what happened to her, we also get to experience her journals and the story of how she came to America and became a painter. As both stories progress they become more and more entangled.
Joukhadar's storytelling is beautiful. His prose is lush, conjuring up the worlds of both of his protagonists. We come to fall in love with the birds that Nadir and Laila experience as we also come to care deeply for each of the characters. They stand as one of the incredibly strong parts of this book. Flawed and deeply human, both are searching for where they belong, parallel stories across time.
As someone who loves birds and art, Joukhadar does a wonderful job of painting a picture with his words that makes the reader feel as if they are right beside the characters. This is truly a beautiful book and one that I think everyone should read. The audiobook is phenomenal and the two narrators do a great job of capturing the emotions behind both of the characters. I will definitely be checking out more of Joukhadar's work.
Graphic: Grief, Transphobia, Animal death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, and Deadnaming
Minor: Sexual content
jojo_'s review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Racism, Xenophobia, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Grief, Injury/injury detail, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Misogyny, Cancer, and Homophobia
Minor: Transphobia, Deadnaming, War, and Dementia
denteaste's review
- 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
5.0
the characters are complex and interesting and very human in their flaws and their quest of trying to find a meaning to life itself, the representation feels organic and it is so important to show that LGBTQ+ people were not invented in the 2000s
the two stories were nicely woven in one another, with a touch of a magical realism
Graphic: Racism, Miscarriage, Death, Dysphoria, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Transphobia, Violence, and War
Minor: Dementia
revoluca's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I loved you once, and I love you still, but not all migrations end with a return home. Even memory begins to cut if you hold on to it too tight. I don't know anymore if I believe in angels and signs. Perhaps we are the miraculous creatures my mother was looking for.
Graphic: Dysphoria, Transphobia, Hate crime, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, and Grief
solenekeleroux's review
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Transphobia, Homophobia, Islamophobia, and Grief