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The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar

The Thirty Names of Night

by Zeyn Joukhadar

  • Critics' Consensus (2):
  • Readers' Rating (7):
  • Published:
  • Nov 2020, 304 pages
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There are currently 7 reader reviews for The Thirty Names of Night
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Mary O. (Siasconset, MA)

Memorable
This is a beautifully written haunting story of love, loss and family. Rarely do you read a book that continues to evoke such strong emotions long after you finish it and put it down. A book well worth reading!
Mary B

The Thirty Names of Night
I received a free e-edition through Bookbrowse and NetGalley. I very much enjoyed this book. It was not a quick or easy read, but very good. Going back and forth between time frames meant having to pay close attention to each segment. The writing itself was wonderful, thought provoking. Very poetic and imaginative, revolving around ornithology across the generations and how it tied them together. Intermingled within the story was fantasy and magic. The main characters were Syrian immigrants trying to find their place in the world. For the main character and several others also being in the LGBT community.
Rebecca G. (Havertown, PA)

For the love of birds
There is so much to love about this book. It's actually taken a couple of weeks to write a review because I wasn't sure how to put my emotions into words. It's the story of an unnamed young woman who identifies as a boy. She's struggled all her life with a body she despises and is too strangled by her culture to face who she is, especially to the people in her life. She's also struggling with the death of her mother, a death she feels partly responsible for. Her mother was an ornithologist and her love of birds sustains the young woman, an artist confined to expressing herself through street art. The young woman,more
Karen S. (Allston, MA)

This might be several different novels
Joukhadar creates beautiful and haunting scenes throughout this tale of three generations of Syrian-Americans. Blending immigration, ornithology and sexual identity is an unusual mix, and it mostly worked. The overall storytelling was where the book lost me.
I wanted to like this book more, but it fell short for me. There is a lot going on and the pace did not carry me along, keeping me engaged. The build-up to the concluding events dragged too much for me, without the enjoyment of heightening anticipation. The author creates a world for the stories main characters across the generations, and keeps within thatmore
Dawn S. (Fergus Falls, MN)

Thirty Names of Night
I had a hard time getting into this book, and it was one of those that I had to set aside to maybe pick up again another day. It could be that it's just not my genre preference, but it just didn't hold my attention.
Julia E. (Atlanta, GA)

Parts Greater Than Its Sum
Covering three generations of a Syrian-American family, this exquisitely written novel offers a welcome voice to the American immigration experience. There are many brilliantly rendered scenes for the reader to savor. One feels, however, that the author is more of a poet than a novelist: one comes away with are memories of vivid descriptions rather than the solid satisfaction of a coherent tale, clearly told.. This work will likely be enjoyed by readers who closely identify with some of its important themes; others may wish the author's book editor had tickled out a more widely relatable story.
Susan S. (Springdale, AR)

The Thirty Names Of Night
Ambivalent is the way I feel about this book. I enjoyed the writing with its vivid descriptions which so clearly brought to mind the images of New York over time from the early 1900's to today. Unfortunately, there is much that the author assumes the reader will understand about the Arabic society. Unfamiliar language and customs made me feel the need for a glossary to keep up. I was also thoroughly confused about the whole IUD situation.
Throughout the book, I could feel the ambivalence of the characters as well. Nobody seems to know who they are – male/female, American/Syrian – or what they want to become.more
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