This book was interesting to me, because initially, I actually found it quite annoying. The granularity of bland details from the onset creates a strange detachment to such an affecting thing as these Israeli soldiers almost casually inflict themselves on a Palestinian girl before killing her. It does seem to read like a first person accounting of a historical event.

This makes a lot more sense when the second part begins. The writing shifts into a much more lived experience detail as a woman 25 years later, at great personal risk, feels she needs to uncover more of this event after feeling something deeply affecting in the lines between a historical document.

In her sojourn to a zone she is not allowed due to her identity as a Palestinian, we end up seeing how much of an effect history has on current, lived experiences. Visual motifs are as much of a through line as the universality of the Palestinian experience, even across 25 years. And the reader experiences the contrast between the now and then with the structure and difference in voice.

It’s a book that is far more concerned with conveying some specific notions, rather than characterization, fully fleshed out plot; more traditional and conventional narratives, basically. That was a strength for me. I imagine this might be polarizing for some because of it, though.