Rating: 5/5 stars
Summary: Amidst war-torn Syria, Salama Kassab is a pharmacy student who volunteers as a self-taught surgeon at her local hospital in Homs. She tends to the wounded and is desperate to save the dying. Tortured by guilt and PTSD, Salama struggles to decide whether or not to leave Syria. Her PTSD manifests as a hallucination named Khawf, who haunts her, urging her to choose life over her loyalty to Syria. Fated to meet a boy named Kenan, Salama finally makes a choice and accepts the reality of war for what it is: revolution. 

Review: Zoulfa Katouh rips your heart to shreds with nightmarish realities of war conflict and the fight for freedom. I knew what to expect and was still unprepared for how devastating parts of this story were. I am so impressed with the way Salama’s character changed from beginning to end.

Salama’s PTSD through Khawf was such an accurate way of showing cycles of grief, anxiety, and fear. Having gone through PTSD myself, this was very relatable. The hallucinations, especially the revelation toward the end of the book that absolutely threw me for a loop, added depth to Salama’s depressive, emotional spirals. 

Sharing her pain with Kenan was a sweet relief and I loved how he helped her see the “colors,” as well as the revolution itself. Their romance was a mercy and peace as they struggled through tear-jerking horrors. 

I loved this book and everyone should read it–prepare to weep. Everyone should know the truth. The pain of revolution is palpable, lingering forever in the words of a Syrian child before he died, “I will tell God everything.”

Click to find it on Amazon & Goodreads.