This book had so much potential because I just found the synopsis to be fascinating and from my experiences with the author's past works, I just had really high hopes for this one.
Unfortunately, I do think it fell a bit flat because I couldn't really connect with any of the characters. None of them really stood out to me and I couldn't relate with any of their issues at all.
However, if I did have to pick a favorite character, I would pick Harun just because his issues seemed to be much more complex and I enjoyed reading about his struggles with his sexual identity and being able to share that with his very traditional family as well as his ex-boyfriend. I thought that the author did a great job with portraying that struggle.
In terms of Freya and Nathaniel, I could honestly care less about the two of them. I felt that the issues that Freya was struggling was just communication with her sister and literally, all she had to do was to go visit her rather than resent her and whatnot. As for Nathaniel, I honestly thought that there might be something slightly wrong with him and his brain because there were just so many instances especially in those flashbacks where I seriously wondered what in the world was he thinking. Plus, I would also like to state that both Freya and Harun thought the same about him so I was not alone in thinking that LOL.
The one part I did enjoy was the writing style. I liked how the author had all three of their POVs and would also include these flashbacks on their personal lives as well so we got all three POVs in their present day and in their flashbacks which added a lot more understanding and context to what they were dealing with.
Overall though, I think that this book was a general miss for me. It had a lot of great potential but I think because I couldn't relate with the characters and this book was very character-driven, it fell pretty flat for me.
Unfortunately, I do think it fell a bit flat because I couldn't really connect with any of the characters. None of them really stood out to me and I couldn't relate with any of their issues at all.
However, if I did have to pick a favorite character, I would pick Harun just because his issues seemed to be much more complex and I enjoyed reading about his struggles with his sexual identity and being able to share that with his very traditional family as well as his ex-boyfriend. I thought that the author did a great job with portraying that struggle.
In terms of Freya and Nathaniel, I could honestly care less about the two of them. I felt that the issues that Freya was struggling was just communication with her sister and literally, all she had to do was to go visit her rather than resent her and whatnot. As for Nathaniel, I honestly thought that there might be something slightly wrong with him and his brain because there were just so many instances especially in those flashbacks where I seriously wondered what in the world was he thinking. Plus, I would also like to state that both Freya and Harun thought the same about him so I was not alone in thinking that LOL.
The one part I did enjoy was the writing style. I liked how the author had all three of their POVs and would also include these flashbacks on their personal lives as well so we got all three POVs in their present day and in their flashbacks which added a lot more understanding and context to what they were dealing with.
Overall though, I think that this book was a general miss for me. It had a lot of great potential but I think because I couldn't relate with the characters and this book was very character-driven, it fell pretty flat for me.