Home is Not a Country

 Tell me a story… about feeling out of place 

Home is Not a Country by Safia Elhillo 

Publishing date: March 2, 2021

Date read: June 10, 2021

Nima doesn't quite feel like she belongs in America. She wonders if things wouldn't have been better if her mother had stayed in her home country and chosen the other name that was considered for her - Yasmeen. She sometimes imagines who she would have been if she had been born Yasmeen instead. But be careful what you wish for...

This novel is written in verse.

I don't want to give too much away with this review, which really makes it hard to describe. I think the less known about the plot the better with this one. It's a short novel - just over 200 pages, but told in verse - so a lot happens in a little time. The one thing that I will give away, that I myself was not expecting, is that this book takes a sharp turn into magical realism about halfway through. It's done incredibly well, and I loved the turn, but I definitely was not expecting it. 

I loved the character of Nima. I thought that her fears and doubts were incredibly realistic and made her feel like she was a real person. This helped a lot as the magical aspects started making the book itself feel a little less grounded - in a good way. 

I dislike giving such a short and vague review, but it's so hard to review this book without giving things away. I'll just say that I thought that it was beautiful and had me hanging on to see how things would all play out. I'll definitely be checking out more by Elhillo in the future.

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

Trigger warning: racism