Book Club: My Selection

I really enjoyed the first and third part of this book (Mind and Soul), reading from Leila’s perspective and gaining an insight from the life events that shaped her. It really drew me in. The second part lost a bit of traction for me and didn’t have the same impact as experiencing the story from Leila’s viewpoint. The supporting characters weren’t as strong and I found the way in which these characters were introduced throughout the first part of the book to be quite formulaic.

I appreciated the structure of this book and it’s desire to give readers a life story using a different style structure (giving us the defining and important moments throughout someone’s life as they reminisce through their death) and I enjoyed the setting of Istanbul and rural Turkey which gave me knowledge about the culture and country that I didn’t have prior. The book didn’t grab me as I was hoping but there were parts I found engaging and important, and the writing was eloquent and lyrical throughout.