The main purpose of this book is to raise awareness. Awareness of a reality that happens at the same time as our reality but it's completely different, like a world apart. It’s now been exactly one month since I’ve finished this book and I’m still struggling to verbalize my thoughts on it. Is it enough of a review to say that I want to push this book into the hands of everyone that can read it and stand over them until they’ve finished, until they get it? A love letter to Syria and its people, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow is a speculative novel set amid the Syrian Revolution, burning with the fires of hope, love, and possibility. Perfect for fans of The Book Thief and Salt to the Sea. Salama ahh salama she was so strong and loyal to her family and to her patients and to her country. It was so hard being in her mind sometimes. The guilt and the fear and sadness was to much. She wasn't perfect she made mistakes horrible ones but she's only human and the fear and desperate need to survive will make u do anything. I understand and I love her with my whole heart <33

The sun hangs low in the sky, beginning the process of bidding us farewell, the colors slowly changing from orange to a heavy blue. There are so many other quotes but I don't want to spoil anything so you can experience it fully yourself, I am broken and in pieces but also so grateful to have read this book. Definitely one of the most important and emotionally devastating books I have ever read. This is, of course, a little joke, as harmless as possible given the fact that this book is extremely sad and it carries a beautiful and important message. Katouh wrote the novel with young teenagers and their perceptions of the war in mind. For her, writing a story with characters that readers could relate to in some way was important.Kenan was ready to send his siblings out of Syria while he stayed behind. Discuss why you think he would have made that decision. In the Author's Note, Katouh lets readers to know that while this is a work of fiction, the stories in the book (like the Karam El Zeitoun massacre) are based on real events. He smiles. “It might sound cheesy, but I’m sure our souls met way before they found their way into our bodies. I think that’s where we know each other from.” And it is one! All the characters in this book love their given and chosen families fearlessly and this is a powerful aspect of this book.

By writing in English, Katouh felt she could finally get the message out about what is happening in Syria, especially since she says many people do not really know about the atrocities taking place there. Building empathy PDF / EPUB File Name: As_Long_as_the_Lemon_Trees_Grow_-_Zoulfa_Katouh.pdf, As_Long_as_the_Lemon_Trees_Grow_-_Zoulfa_Katouh.epub This is my land, and just like the lemon trees that have been growing here for centuries, spilled blood won’t stop us.”

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Katouh felt like those outside had become immune and fatigued by the events unfolding in Syria and the human impact it was having on people. According to Katouh, many Syrians are judged for choosing safety and fleeing from their homes. The author believes, though, that going to a new country and starting from scratch takes an immense amount of strength. as a pharmacy student with some medical knowledge, she had to volunteer at the hospital to heal and help injured people. she teaches you to fight your fears no matter how persistent and real they seem. she teaches you that you can eventually heal from the pain and trauma and if not, you can still find love and happiness. although some of her decisions were dumb and hypocritical, i appreciated the realism. I glue my eyes to the brown soup, listening to the hissing flames. Since not long after I moved in, Layla has been nagging me to talk to Am at the hospital. She’s heard the stories of Syrians finding safety in Germany. So have I. Some of my own patients have been able to secure passage across the Mediterranean Sea via Am. How he finds the boats I have no idea. But with money, anything is possible. It has the power to spark rebellions, to conquer cities, to break free of the chains that hold you.

Lemons are an homage to one of Nizar Qabbani’s verses in a poem, which was about Syria,” Katouh explained. At the same time, the author tries to destroy the stereotypes that seem to constantly be associated with the Muslim culture: her heroines are free and brave and unafraid to express themselves and dream big while also, yes, they wear hijabs. Because guess what? Wearing a hijab doesn't stop them from being free to express themselves. Hope, love, light, dreams. This is what you hold onto. With all the death and sadness going on in this book, there was still so much beauty in the love between the characters and their families, the love they had for their country, and in the hope they had for their future and for Syria. I've been waiting for this book since the day it was announced, you can imagine how much my expectations have built up, so when I got an arc I was both excited and scared it won't live up to my extremely high expectations, but I was also like "I have never cried reading a book, so I don't think I'll cry" hihi she has no idea she's gonna be sobbing by chapter 5 He means so much more than that one four-letter word –love– but there's no other way to describe what I feel about him. And so i'll have to be content with it; find a way to carve a whole universe into its letters – an infinity. Be thankful that through him, I'm blessed enough to know the meaning of it at all.'Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. A love letter to Syria and its people, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow is a speculative novel set amid the Syrian Revolution, burning with the fires of hope, love, and possibility. Perfect for fans of The Book Thief and Salt to the Sea>.Salama ...