As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow opens Goodreads in a new tab
Zoulfa Katouh
Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her big brother; she still had her home. Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. Haunted by Khawf, a manifestation of her fear, Salama must choose between staying to resist and fleeing to survive, even as a budding relationship offers a reason to hope. A love letter to Syria and its people, burning with the fires of hope, love, and possibility.
- ISBN
- 9780316351379
- Edition
- Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
- Genre
- Literary Fiction
- Format
- Physical
- Pages
- 417
My thoughts
🍋”Insh’Allah, we will come back home. We will plant new lemon trees. We’ll rebuild our cities, and we will be free” what an absolutely heart breaking soul crushing tear jerking story- but still oh so hopeful. a story of pain, guilt, sorrows, dreams, hopes, and love- this book is raw and it makes you feel so so much- the good, the bad and the ugly. 🍋”In the end it doesn’t really matter; there are no innocents in the eyes of the military. They’ll kill us all, protestors or not. To them, the idea of freedom is infectious, and we need to be put down before it spreads.” The Syrian Civil War has been going on for close to 15 years now and sadly still not a lot of people in the world know about what is happening there. Although this book took some creative liberties regarding the timelines of the events- it is very much based on true experiences and in a real place- Homs, Syria. 🍋“Fight what? We’ll be lucky if the worst that happens to us here is death, and you know that. Either we’ll get arrested by the military or a bomb will kill us. There’s nothing to fight for because we can’t fight. No one’s helping us!” The main intention of the book is raise awareness of a realty that Syrians are experiencing but it is a world apart from what we are used to. A reality full of death, horror, bombings, sieges, violence and destruction. And how they manage to stay hopeful and continue fighting for their rights even amidst all of this. 🍋 “Do all six-year-olds know what death is? Or is it only children of war?” Although this book is YA, and I thought I had grown out of my YA loving era, but that fact did not hinder my reading experience at all. In fact it was all the more achingly beautiful to see the budding romance between two young adults who are fighting to live the day in a war struck world. 🍋”Bury me before I bury me you” My heart broke in Ch. 29, but oh lord the epilogue- it healed my tender broken heart bit by bit. If any couple deserved a HEA it was SalamaKenan- gosh I love them both so much. Absolute must read, I will not stop recommending this one, ever🍋💛
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