🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅
No Land to Light On
Yara Zgheib
304 pages
Atria Books
What a way to start my reading year! I got this #gifted book in the mail on Saturday, finished it in one sitting on Sunday, and I’ve been ruminating on it ever since. 5 haunting, beautiful ⭐️
“It has been observed that birds feel a sort of pain before taking off, almost like fear and that nothing alleviates that feeling except the rapid motion of wings.”
Heart wrenching and utterly compelling. This book completely captivated me and took me through the gamut of emotions. Even days (and another book) later, No Land to Light On still sits deep in my soul.
This is the story of Hadi and Sama, Syrian refugees very much in love, expecting their first child, and planning a future steeped in freedom. The American dream is vivid and personal to them. But very quickly that dream collapses as Executive Order 13769 strips away the very hope that the United States once offered to them.
Zgheib’s storytelling is poetic and lyrical. I was drawn in from the first page and couldn’t put it down until last. And when I turned the final page, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to them. I found the added details about migratory birds perfectly symbolized the plight of these refugees, not having a place to call home.
Although the premise is rooted in The Muslim Ban, Zgheib takes great care to make this a personal story rather than a political one. It is a raw portrayal of the immigrant experience, giving a human face to the stories we hear in the news. It’s a look at how fragile and transient the experience is, full of both hope and desperation.
I loved this book immensely and cannot recommend it highly enough.
*As a mom of a NICU baby to fellow NICU moms: this book gives vivid detail of many of our experiences.
Thank you Yara Zgheib, Atria, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book.
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