Breathe To Read

Breathe To Read

Monday, June 15, 2020

Read The World - Morocco - Dune Song

Book: Dune Song
Author: Anissa Bouziane
Pages: 368
Book takes place in the country: YES (at least 50%)
Author is from the country: YES
I have visited: NO


This is my 46th read for the year

Good grief have I been terrible at getting books in.  Moving is not for the faint of heart and does not leave me much free time.  And even in that free time, my head is spinning with details that I have found it hard to concentrate on a book.  It will be nice to be on the other side of this move.

This is my second Morocco book.  I didn't like the first one I read, so decided I needed a different read for my shelf.


This is the story of Jeehan Nathaar.  She leaves New York City for her home country of Morocco after the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings on 9/11.  As a Muslim American, she was asked constantly why "her people hate Americans so much", and decides she needs to escape.  Instead of returning to her parents, she ends up with a family in the desert who try to help her heal and find herself once again.

This book was pretty good.  It started out strong - good writing, strong characters, a story that made me want to turn page after page.  But soon - the story took a dip and I found myself not enjoying it quite as much as I had in the beginning.  Jeehan is an adult but acted frequently like a lost child.  And the story - once she was settled with the family in Morocco - wasn't as interesting as I was hoping it would be.  Pacing seems to be a problem with the author.  

This was better than my first choice of a book for Morocco.  And the writing was pretty good as well.  I just didn't enjoy the story in the second half of the book as much as the first.

Stars: 3 1/2