A Look Into Others Lives...

A Land of Permanent Goodbyes

by Atia Abawi 

Hardcover, 288 pages

Published January 23rd 2018 by Philomel Books

ISBN: 9780399546839

Checked Out From Library

About:

In a country ripped apart by war, Tareq lives with his big and loving family . . . until the bombs strike. His city is in ruins. His life is destroyed. And those who have survived are left to figure out their uncertain future.

In the wake of destruction, he's threatened by Daesh fighters and witnesses a public beheading. Tareq's family knows that to continue to stay alive, they must leave. As they travel as refugees from Syria to Turkey to Greece, facing danger at every turn, Tareq must find the resilience and courage to complete his harrowing journey.

But while this is one family's story, it is also the timeless tale of all wars, of all tragedy, and of all strife. When you are a refugee, success is outliving your loss. (Goodreads)

Rating: 4 Stars

Review:

This book was beautifully written and is heart breaking right from the very start. I only had a little bit of an idea what these refugees had to go through from watching the news and reading about it in papers. This book added details and made it all realistic. It really nailed into me how lucky my family and I are, even my family that emigrated from Europe 100 years ago. The author doesn’t pull any punches describing the horror and atrocities of war and what happens to all the displaced innocents. The strength it takes to leave your home with nothing but hope that someone somewhere will take you in and help you… it blows my mind. Because of all of that I gave this book a higher rating. 

This book was not without its issues though, and that’s where it loses a star in my eyes. There are multiple narrators, Tareq, Destiny, and Alexia. Tareq’s part, though a tad slow sometimes, was really the meat of the story. It made you have hope for him and what was left of his family.  The parts of the story that are narrated by Fate/Destiny are kind of really cool but at the same time seemed out of place. They’re semi inspirational and meaningful, but are stuck into the story almost like page filler.  It made me feel like the author wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with it and it just failed. Near the end of the book a new character named Alexia emerges. She is an American volunteer working at a refugee camp. I feel like she was a good character (she was the helper everyone should look for in the time of crisis) but her narrative wasn’t really necessary and it took away from Tareq’s story. 

Overall this was an inspirational read.  It fits in with what’s going on in the world right now and shines a light on the tragedies and strengths of these people. It is an intense read so younger teens might be intimidated by it.