Free review copy received from the publisher!

I put this one down in February 100 pages in but that was entirely down to my own mood, nothing to do with the book. I went back to it on Monday and appreciated it a lot more this time around!

Between Beirut and the Moon is a very interesting debut novel from Lebanese author Naji Bakhti, alternating between funny and dark with a kind of ‘if we don’t laugh, we’ll cry’ mentality. It depicts Adam, a young boy born to a Muslim father and Christian mother, coming of age during a turbulent time in Beirut. He’s going through all the normal teen stuff, worrying about girls, bickering with his friends, while contending with post-civil-war Beirut. He also dreams of being an astronaut but, as his father says, ‘who ever heard of an Arab on the moon?’

I highly suggest reading the interview with Bakhti with The London Magazine for some marvellous insight into this book! I find it interesting that he chose to write it in English, his second language, with the direct intention of communicating with an audience outside of Lebanon, to bring more awareness to Lebanese history and its people.

Sometimes the humour was a little too boyish for my tastes, but that’s to be expected from a coming-of-age story with a teenage boy protagonist. Overall I thought it was super readable, I enjoyed the style a lot, and will definitely be looking out for what the author writes next!