A review by chaistainedpages
A Map of Home by Randa Jarrar

Did not finish book.

The book seems to be written by two different authors - one captivating and funny and the other bores you to death. I skimmed over paragraphs amounting to at least a dozen pages because they were filled with unwanted details and never-ending descriptions. And that one chapter (14) in which she refers to herself in second person is almost unbearable. The author as a kid is unrelatable because she sounds too old for 6, 8 and sometimes even 13. There is incessant cussing - at first adding hilarity and then just seeming like the useless words students tack on to meet their word counts for essays. The author drones on about mundane details of everyday life and yet zips past the details when Nidali runs away from home. When I started reading the book, I had a solid 4-star rating in mind which has dwindled down to the two stars I am rating it now.