A review by greyemk
Kartography: A Novel, by Kamila Shamsie
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
This is one of those books that is mostly a love letter to a city and the human characters are incidental. Luckily, Shamsie is talented enough that not just our leads but our supporting characters and their supporting characters all feel real and lived-in. Like real people behaving like people do.
Raheen loves Karim. Always has and always will. This book is about how to take the parts of ourselves we can’t control, our histories and our childhoods, and make them make sense. Have them shape us into the people we want to be and not drag us into the worst parts of the past.
When we love something, a person or a city, we believe we know it better than anyone. But love can be naive or it can be complicated. It’s easy to love when we hide the unsavory bits, the pieces that make us uncomfortable, the hurt and pain. What means more is to see things as they are and love anyways.
I love these characters and this world. This was the first book I’ve read in a very long time where I wasn’t counting down to the end, thinking about what to read next (other than more by this author). I was immersed. The prose hit the sweet spot between poetic and straightforward, with its moments of beauty mixed with its readability.
This was just a really good book! I feel like I have more to say but I’ll leave this review at that so I don’t ramble incoherently for ages.
Raheen loves Karim. Always has and always will. This book is about how to take the parts of ourselves we can’t control, our histories and our childhoods, and make them make sense. Have them shape us into the people we want to be and not drag us into the worst parts of the past.
When we love something, a person or a city, we believe we know it better than anyone. But love can be naive or it can be complicated. It’s easy to love when we hide the unsavory bits, the pieces that make us uncomfortable, the hurt and pain. What means more is to see things as they are and love anyways.
I love these characters and this world. This was the first book I’ve read in a very long time where I wasn’t counting down to the end, thinking about what to read next (other than more by this author). I was immersed. The prose hit the sweet spot between poetic and straightforward, with its moments of beauty mixed with its readability.
This was just a really good book! I feel like I have more to say but I’ll leave this review at that so I don’t ramble incoherently for ages.