Lynda C. (Readnmachine) reviewed on 4/21/2018 + 1474 more book reviews

Didn't finish.

I just couldn't get past the narrative form, jumping from 1915 Syria to contemporary American with multiple stops in between, and the only signpost for the reader was the change from third-person to first-person narrative. Frankly, I kept wishing the first-person narrator would just get the hell out of the way and let the 1915 characters tell the story.

I usually like Bohjalian's books, so I waived my "one day" rule -- usually, if I have doubts about a book, I'll read on it for a day (usually 2-3 hours total) and if it doesn't grab me, it's gone. (Hey -- I'm old. I'm not going to live long enough to read every book ever written, so I've become choosy.) In consideration of his past performances, Bohjalian got an extra day's read.

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