A review by heather_lt
A Land Without Jasmine by Wajdi Al-Ahdal

dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

I really don't know how I feel about this short story... If it's a social criticism of Yemen culture, it's a scathing one. It was sometimes difficult to read, especially from the male perspectives in this book. It's all very ambiguous. I don't even know what genre this would fit into, maybe magical realism? The only thing I liked was the structure. Every chapter is a different point of view which adds to the investigation. I use the word "investigation" very loosely as I wouldn't call this a detective story. All in all it wasn't terrible despite the content being unpleasant. 
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