Welcome to Litsy!

It‘s time for me to admit this book isn‘t working for me. It explores the horror of reality in Syria through the eyes of an unusual child. I‘m guessing for the NBA translated lit committee, this approach was affecting, with the juxtaposition of innocence and violence. But I‘m not big on child narrators and it‘s not having that impact for me. I tried, but I shall go no further.

This is like nothing else I‘ve read. A Syrian teen, who thinks differently, maybe through learning disabilities or neurodiverse, who just wants to walk and draw and take comfort in The Little Prince, but is tied and has no voice, in a world that makes no sense. It‘s a really tough, disorientating book. Pure horror.

One of the scenes that will stay with me were the disproportionate deaths of women after gas attacks-because it wouldn‘t have been