Thank you so much to Bookish First and Forge books for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!
Well shit, that put me into a book coma.
I put the post script down and looked some of the people up on Facebook, and seeing that three year gap in their posts just made this book so, so incredibly real. Seriously you can look up Hakam's band on youtube! I am not sure where the videos were filmed, hopefully Mosul, and they're pretty talented
Alright anyway - based on true people and events during the ISIS occupation of Mosul, the book is about the people and animals of the city during that period. Abu Laith is doing everything he can to keep the animals and his family alive until a brilliant rescue is made at the end of the occupation. The other family, the Zarari's, also stayed in the city throughout the bulk and were eventually displaced - the two stories crossed paths at the end.
The research is real. I just thought to look up the vet as well, Dr Amir, and Four Paws, and they do some amazing work.
One of my real burning questions is - what happened to the monkeys? They were put back in the cages after they escaped and never mentioned again, I thought some were still alive but they weren't rescued.
I'm totally 100% recommending the book. The author drove me nuts with a few style issues such as constantly saying "he later recalled" or "she later remembered" while telling the rest of the story in present tense. Small details though, the decline into occupation and then liberation and the mounting rescue just made this so hard to put down. I want to buy a finished copy so I can have one without the errors and make everyone read it!
Thank you thank you thank you for this book
Well shit, that put me into a book coma.
I put the post script down and looked some of the people up on Facebook, and seeing that three year gap in their posts just made this book so, so incredibly real. Seriously you can look up Hakam's band on youtube! I am not sure where the videos were filmed, hopefully Mosul, and they're pretty talented
Alright anyway - based on true people and events during the ISIS occupation of Mosul, the book is about the people and animals of the city during that period. Abu Laith is doing everything he can to keep the animals and his family alive until a brilliant rescue is made at the end of the occupation. The other family, the Zarari's, also stayed in the city throughout the bulk and were eventually displaced - the two stories crossed paths at the end.
The research is real. I just thought to look up the vet as well, Dr Amir, and Four Paws, and they do some amazing work.
One of my real burning questions is - what happened to the monkeys? They were put back in the cages after they escaped and never mentioned again, I thought some were still alive but they weren't rescued.
I'm totally 100% recommending the book. The author drove me nuts with a few style issues such as constantly saying "he later recalled" or "she later remembered" while telling the rest of the story in present tense. Small details though, the decline into occupation and then liberation and the mounting rescue just made this so hard to put down. I want to buy a finished copy so I can have one without the errors and make everyone read it!
Thank you thank you thank you for this book