Reviews

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

sapphosirens's review against another edition

3.0

3.5*

emiliacastel's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

jalehrter's review against another edition

5.0

Heartbreaking, poignant and insightful. A beautifully written book which touches on the refugee experience in a delicate manner

lyricallylittle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

peterpeter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

This is such a conflicting and difficult book for me to review. I desperately wanted to love it, and just couldn’t quite get there. 

Lefteri’s prose is uneven throughout the book. Parts are some of the most beautiful and poetic passages you can imagine, and some just feel clunky and meandering trying to force metaphor or allusion in a way that doesn’t quite work. Parts of the story are tragic and compelling, and other drag for far longer than they should.

Minor spoiler

I found the portion of the book that took place in Athens went on for far too long, and at times it felt like Lefteri was attempting to add a smidge of magical realism to the story, but didn’t want fully commit to this idea here. After reading the author’s note at the end, based on her own personal experiences it makes complete sense why this section would be so long and extra time devoted to it. But I do think it is the most difficult section to get through and dragged significantly.

On the whole, I would say this was a good but uneven reading experience. Perhaps I was not in the complete right headspace for this book, and one day may come back and revisit. Despite my complaints, I would say it is still of value in this world for the themes and topics it is trying to convey. 

dengola's review against another edition

emotional informative inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

thetortureofvinther's review against another edition

emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

bstone's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

byoung1997's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

tumi_schn00r's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.25