Gott ist nicht schüchtern

Sometime towards the end of the novel, when our protagonists are in a smuggling ship crossing the Mediterranean, the narration tells us that it's the middle class who attempts this life-threatening escape from war-torn nations, because they are the once who once learned to expect better from life.

This book does a good job at making you empathise with refugees by following the heartbreaking fate of two Syrians who - despite their beauty and success and a lifestyle mirroring Western ideals - get uprooted and mixed up in the Syrian revolution and subsequent war.

I fault the book sleeve synopsis for making me expect that our two protagonists - Amal and Hammoudi - would meet sooner, and for longer. I read anticipating more of them, and subsequently was slightly disappointed. Even though they got their bittersweet connection.

Despite being told with a detached tone, this was very memorable and powerful.