[14.01.19]
I absolutely love stories like this one.
It is a story about friendship, about women who support women, about a part of the world that I knew little of, about the effect we can have on the people around us.
And it's told from multiple viewpoints. Who is the main character of this story? It's hard to tell, there are so many. I like this narrative because it reminds you that this world is full of so many different types of people, but that doesn't mean we can't get along.
I would call this a cute contemporary but it's not quite - because although the story is bubbly and uplifting and seemingly lighthearted, really this novel deals with very deep subjects, and a lot of the time it completely surprised me by how fearlessly it approached topics that are often categorised as taboo.
It's not every day you find a story like this one. Sure, it could have been better written- but it's well worth the read anyway. The author said it herself- she is "a storyteller first, and a writer second." The writing itself is not clever or profound or particularly skilled, but it is sufficient. It is enough. The real gem in this novel is the subject matter, alongside the setting. There's not enough literature about these parts of the world. It's refreshing to see an author bringing attention to a part of the world I have never experienced, and doing it in a way that is relatable and educational but not condescending toward the culture.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.