Review: As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , ,
As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh

As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow
Zoulfa Katou
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published September 13, 2022

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow

A love letter to Syria and its people, As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow is a speculative novel set amid the Syrian Revolution, burning with the fires of hope, love, and possibility. Perfect for fans of The Book Thief and Salt to the Sea.

Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. She still had her parents and her older brother; she still had her home. She had a normal teenager’s life. 

Now Salama volunteers at a hospital in Homs, helping the wounded who flood through the doors daily. Secretly, though, she is desperate to find a way out of her beloved country before her sister-in-law, Layla, gives birth. So desperate, that she has manifested a physical embodiment of her fear in the form of her imagined companion, Khawf, who haunts her every move in an effort to keep her safe. 

But even with Khawf pressing her to leave, Salama is torn between her loyalty to her country and her conviction to survive. Salama must contend with bullets and bombs, military assaults, and her shifting sense of morality before she might finally breathe free. And when she crosses paths with the boy she was supposed to meet one fateful day, she starts to doubt her resolve in leaving home at all.  
 
Soon, Salama must learn to see the events around her for what they truly are—not a war, but a revolution—and decide how she, too, will cry for Syria’s freedom.

My Review

It was hard for me to read some of the chapters in the book because they detail an up-close look at the revolution in Syria. It’s intense, with Salama fearing for her life at every turn and dealing with the ongoing trauma of the losses she’s experienced and the flow of patients visiting the hospital after being wounded by the warfare.

Salama lives in fear of what will happen to her family members and herself. Every time she leaves her apartment, she faces the possibility of death. She sees so many children harmed by the war. Khawf may be the product of her fear and trauma, but he is as cruel as her circumstances. He forces her to relive her losses, threatening to torment her with more vivid hallucinations if she doesn’t take steps to leave the country.

Meeting Kenan brings some brightness to her life. The two share a sweet romance, one that respects the customs and values of their culture, and shows their deep feeling for one another. They bond over a shared love for Studio Ghibli films and their dreams of writing stories or animating films.

The contrast between the lightness of their relationship and the heaviness of life in war-torn Homs really stood out in this story. Salama feels so torn between needing to help her people and yet still longing for joy and wanting to craft a life with a future for herself. It was easy to feel every emotion she experienced through the writing and descriptions.

Conclusion

I’m so glad I read this book, even though some parts made me uncomfortable. It was good to sit with the reminder of how ugly war is and the high cost for the civilians living in a war-torn area. I recommend the book for readers interested in stories about Syria and the Middle East. It’s also a great choice for anyone interested in YA with a protagonist with medical expertise.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
References to Islamic prayers and holidays.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. References to rape and torture. (Not shown on scene.) Salama relives fractured memories of her loved ones’ deaths. Salama helps treat civilians (including children) who are victims of bombing, sniper attacks, and chemical warfare. A soldier executes a child and mother. Soldiers repeatedly hit someone and start to assault a young woman. (Someone stops this from happening.)

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I borrowed this book from the library. All opinions are my own.

Review: Night by Elie Wiesel

Blogger's Favorites, Book Review and Content, Memoir, Nonfiction, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , ,

Night (Night Trilogy #1)
Elie Wiesel
Translated by Marion Wiesel
Hill and Wang
Published January 16, 2006 (Orig. 1956)

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Night

Born in the town of Sighet, Transylvania, Elie Wiesel was a teenager when he and his family were taken from their home in 1944 to Auschwitz concentration camp, and then to Buchenwald. 

Night is the terrifying record of Elie Wiesel’s memories of the death of his family, the death of his own innocence, and his despair as a deeply observant Jew confronting the absolute evil of man.

This new translation by his wife and most frequent translator, Marion Wiesel, corrects important details and presents the most accurate rendering in English of Elie Wiesel’s testimony to what happened in the camps and of his unforgettable message that this horror must simply never be allowed to happen again.

My Review

I first read this memoir years ago, but Wiesel’s words have stayed with me since. It’s been on my list to reread this book for a long time. This year seemed like the right time.

The author describes some horrifying things in plain language, describing a situation and reflecting on how he felt in the moment or immediately afterward. A few of the descriptions are hard to read, especially those involving children. While Wiesel doesn’t graphically describe these cruelties, his words are shocking, and we feel his own shock as he witnesses them firsthand.

This isn’t a long book. In less than 150 pages, the author briefly describes the small town where he grew up, his family, and the closing in of his world as his family and his Jewish neighbors are forced into ghettos and then deported to concentration camps in other countries. There, they face torture, starvation, and neglect. Elie Wiesel was fifteen when he entered Auschwitz.

As I read, I kept having to pause and close the book. To think. To let the echoes of the author’s words ring out over me. I wanted to resist knowing the depth of the horrors he described, yet I needed to bear witness to his account.

This is a hard book to read, and an essential one, alongside Anne Frank’s Diary of a Young Girl and Boy from Buchenwald by Robbie Waisman (who knew Elie Wiesel and was at Buchenwald with him when the camp was liberated).

If you want to know more about what happened to the teen boys who were liberated from Buchenwald, I highly recommend Robbie Waisman’s book for that as well.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day

January 27, 2026, is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. It’s meant to be a day that we honor and remember the victims of the Holocaust. Remembering what happened, understanding the route that led humanity to that dark place, is necessary not only to honor those who died but to prevent these atrocities from happening again.

We cannot prevent this from happening again without acknowledging the truth of history and carrying that torch forward.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
One homophobic comment and a few uses of the G-slur.

Romance/Sexual Content
One vague reference to child trafficking within the camp. In one scene, Eliezer sees a camp officer having intercourse with a woman. The scene is quick and not detailed.

Spiritual Content
The memoir details Wiesel’s desire as a child to study his faith deeply. During his time in Auschwitz and Buchenwald, he wrestles with anger toward God for what has happened to him and others.

Violent Content
Brief, horrifying descriptions of the murder of children, including babies. Descriptions of cruel and inhumane treatment of those imprisoned in the camps. Brief descriptions of prisoners, including a child, executed by hanging. Wiesel describes deep shame as he makes decisions based on self-preservation rather than compassion for others, including his father.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I purchased a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

MMGM Review: The Aftermyth by Tracy Wolff

Book Review and Content, Fantasy, Middle Grade 8-12, , , , , , , ,

The Aftermyth (The Aftermyth #1)
Tracy Wolff
Aladdin
Published February 3, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About The Aftermyth

In a world ruled by the tenets of Greek mythology, one girl’s fate is more than it appears in the first book in a new dark academia fantasy middle grade series from #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Crave series Tracy Wolff.

What’s your myth?

Penelope Weaver has spent her whole life preparing to attend Anaximander’s Academy, where students learn how to bring to life the stories of Greek mythology as well as discover the Greek god whose principles they most embody. Penelope knows she’s an Athena—all smart, practical, and rule-following girls who take part in stories that matter are Athenas.

But when Penelope and her twin brother Paris arrive at Anaximander’s, it appears fate has other plans. Penelope isn’t placed with Athena but with students who are anything but practical and who prefer parties to rules. And that’s just the beginning. She’s given the world’s worst muse, her assigned tasks feel impossible, and the magic of Anaximander’s is overwhelming. Not to mention, there are two very different boys making her new life even more confusing.

But as things go from bad to dangerously worse, one thing becomes in a world where everything is fated to happen a certain way, some stories need to be rewritten. As the world around her shifts and cracks, Penelope is asked to forget everything she thought she knew to help create a better story…even if that changes every plan and breaks every rule.

My Review

Since this book is set at a magic school centered around Greek mythology, I feel like comparisons to the Percy Jackson series are inevitable. Other than those themes, though, I didn’t find myself thinking of that series much as I read this one.

I really appreciate the way the author set up this story. Penelope is from a family who were all in the Athena house, so she expects to continue the family tradition at school. When she doesn’t, she resists fitting in with her new classmates, even though, to observant readers, she does have some traits that show why she belongs there.

That part of the story, where Penelope wrestles with her family’s expectations (and her own) versus her true personality and character, was really nicely done. It made me think a lot about how family culture shapes us, and how important it is for us to discover where our true interests and talents lie, which can be challenging from within a dominant family culture.

I also appreciated that Penelope learns about the value of friendship. She learns to trust her instincts, ask questions, and not accept things at face value. All good lessons. The way things roll out in the story, I found myself putting the clues together alongside Penelope, which made for an engaging reading experience.

Though this series opener is a bit long (more than 400 pages), the chapters are short, and the fast-paced storytelling makes it feel like a quick read. I’m curious to see where the series will go next.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 8 to 12.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Romance/Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
In the story, the pantheon of Greek gods and goddesses is real, and students who attend Anaximander’s school receive a (supernatural) gift and mentorship from a muse as they continue their education.

Violent Content
Situations of peril. Snakes threaten characters in one scene.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday

I’m sharing this post as a part of a weekly round-up of middle-grade posts called Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday. Check out other blogs with posts about middle-grade books today on Marvelous Middle-Grade Mondays at Always in the Middle.

Review: There’s Always Next Year by Leah Johnson and George M. Johnson

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , ,

There’s Always Next Year
Leah Johnson and George M. Johnson
Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
Published December 2, 2025

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About There’s Always Next Year

From New York Times-bestselling author George M. Johnson and USA Today-bestselling author Leah Johnson comes a revolutionary new holiday romcom for fans of Lynn Painter, Alice Oseman, and Nicola Yoon.

Andy was supposed to shed her too-serious student journalist persona and reinvent herself on New Year’s Eve. Instead, she puked on her crush, dropped her phone in a fish tank, and managed to get her car stolen. Now, she only has the first day of the year to stop the gentrification that’s threatening her family’s business right her wrongs from the night before, and figure out why she feels so drawn to the electric new-girl-next-door. How can Andy find her voice when everything’s being turned upside down?

Dominique is an influencer on the verge of securing a major brand deal that will ensure his future and family legacy. But when he runs into his former best friend, unresolved feelings emerge — and in a small town, there’s nowhere to hide. Not from his cousin, Andy, who has always seen him for his true self, not from his busybody manager, Kim, whose favorite color is money green, and certainly not from himself. When all the world’s a stage, can Dominique rise to superstardom without leaving the ones he loves behind?

There’s Always Next Year is a dual POV, double love story about what it means to nearly blow your life up, and race to put it back together before your time runs out. And if they fail? Well, there’s always next year.

My Review

I read George M. Johnson’s incredible memoir, All Boys Aren’t Blue, so I was excited to see his name on this book. I haven’t read anything by Leah Johnson, though I have a copy of You Should See Me in a Crown, and I’ve heard awesome things about it. This book made me sorry I’ve waited so long to read any of her books!

The opening scene is so much fun. Dominique is just getting off a plane, returning to his small town for the first time since he’s been living in New York as an influencer and model. He is prepared to be recognized as a local celebrity! I love how that scene plays out.

The story alternates between Andy and her cousin Dominique’s perspectives, telling two side-by-side holiday romance stories filled with hijinks and small-town drama. It’s got that perfect snow-covered holiday vibe, and it made a perfect upbeat read to break up the more serious books I’m often drawn to.

While this is a charming romance novel, it also highlights the harm that gentrification inflicts on small communities, destroying family businesses and driving residents from their homes and neighborhoods. The story balances this topic well with the development of the romance and the thawing of the estrangement between Dominique and his family and friends.

All in all, this is a perfect sweet romance to read this winter.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong language used occasionally throughout.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing.

Spiritual Content
Dominique visits his mom’s grave and speaks to her.

Violent Content
One character commits some destructive pranks.

Drug Content
In her first scene, Andy wakes up with a horrible hangover and embarrassing stories about what she did while drunk the night before.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Review: Better Catch Up, Krishna Kumar by Anahita Karthik

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , ,

Better Catch Up, Krishna Kumar
Anahita Karthik
HarperCollins
Published January 27, 2026

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Better Catch Up, Krishna Kumar

“Come for the road trip of a lifetime. Stay for the kissing!”— Meg Cabot, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Princess Diaries series.

Buckle up for a wild ride with this cheeky and charming rom-com where one girl’s quest across India to seal her first kiss turns into finding first love in the most unexpected places. Perfect for fans of Axie Oh, Ann Liang, and Jenny Han!

Eighteen-year-old Krishna Kumar may have gotten into her dream college, but that doesn’t mean she’s stopped being a bi disaster. Even after spending her whole summer in India flirting with her gorgeous neighbor Amrit, she has nothing to show for it. And now, her fate is sealed: she’s destined to be the only freshman who’s never been kissed.

Then her flight home is delayed right as a distinctly flirty text from Amrit lights up her phone. Krishna is determined to seize her last chance at a perfect first kiss with her summer crush, even if it means asking her cousin-turned-nemesis, Priti, for help. Because Amrit is miles away at a family wedding—and Priti’s best friend, Rudra Desai, is the only one with a car.

The unlikely trio set off on a road trip to crash a wedding and save Krishna’s summer. But as she starts to fall for the quiet but irresistibly hot and charming Rudra, who everyone knows is unrequitedly in love with Priti, Krishna’s heart better catch up to her head before she skips right past her first kiss and falls directly into her first heartbreak.

My Review

I enjoyed the pacing of this road trip romance. Krishna is a fun narrator, taking readers with her through mishaps, awkwardly blurted comments, and her desperate attempts for a first kiss.

Though at its core, this is a romance, the story also highlights the relationship between Krishna and her cousin, Priti. Krishna doesn’t understand why her cousin became so distant after Krishna’s move to the States, and at first, she is kind of resigned that she’ll never get it. But the close proximity of the road trip forces Krishna to confront more surprising feelings than those she develops for Rudra. As she understands more about why Priti’s behavior changed, she sees a path to reconciliation and realizes how much she misses her cousin. I loved that.

I also loved the romance between Krishna and Rudra. Watching her fall for him and trying to figure him out was lots of fun. There’s one miscommunication toward the end that would have resolved quickly if the two actually talked to one another. Despite that stretch, I am super glad I read this one.

If you’re looking for a road trip romance, definitely check this one out.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used fairly frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Kissing and making out. References to arousal. Vage references to sex.

Spiritual Content
Krishna visits a holy site with a group. They remove their shoes before entering the site. They attend part of a wedding celebration. Some wedding traditions are briefly described.

Violent Content
In a couple of scenes, men eye Priti and Krishna or call out at them in a suggestive way.

Drug Content
Teens drink alcohol at a party and a nightclub. Whether they’re of legal drinking age isn’t discussed, but they could be. Several unfortunate things happen when a character drinks too much.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use but help support this blog. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Bookish Goals for 2026

Discussion Post, Lists, News and Fun, , , , , ,

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Goals for 2025

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s prompt is our bookish goals for 2026. Check out the other posts on Jana’s blog. I’m really interested to see other people’s posts.

I feel like I’ve posted some really intense goals for the last several years, and I’m not sorry. It helps me to focus and read books in areas I might otherwise neglect. But it also means I fill my reading calendar to overflowing in the rush to check off books on my reading list.

This year, I’m wondering if I can find a gentler approach that leaves me some flexibility while also giving my reading life a bit of structure. Here are the goals I came up with.

1. Read a poem every day.

I started this last year after reading Why We Read by Shannon Reed. She struggled to read poetry and felt bad about it, but discovered that one poem per day was a really sustainable pace for her. I tried this in 2025, and though I took a bit of a break this fall, it was very successful for me. Absolutely worth repeating this year. I got a few poetry books for myself this Christmas, so I’m armed and ready for this.

2. Connect with Other Bloggers/Reviewers

In 2025, I connected with some KidLit book bloggers who meet once per month for a Zoom chat and post on the Marvelous Middle Grade Monday, and It’s Monday, What Are You Reading weekly memes. It’s been so much fun to talk to other reviewers and bloggers about kidlit. We even have a quarterly book club meeting, so I get to talk to actual humans about a book we’ve all read. It’s heavenly. I’m excited to continue in 2026.

3. Finish Some Book Series

In 2024, I started using a Reading Tracker spreadsheet that I really like, so I now have a record of the series I’ve started and intend to finish. I’d love to pick a few from this list and prioritize catching up or finishing the whole series.

4. Journal Regularly

When my oldest daughter was little, we started a Mommy & Me Journal and wrote letters back and forth to one another. I still have the journal, and over the years, I’ve periodically written to her again in its pages. I think I’d like to keep doing that more deliberately this year and start writing to my littlest. I like the idea of leaving behind a record of memories and encouraging words for them to read someday.

5. Visit My Library

Over the summer last year, my daughter and I visited the library about once per week. It was a great way to get us out of the house and give us new books to read. When school started, we dropped back to visiting about once every two or three weeks, and I’d like to continue doing that.

6. Create a Bookish Workspace for Myself

For the last 10 years, I have worked at the dining room table using my laptop. Every evening, I have to pile up whatever I was working on and put it all away so we can use the table for dinner. (There are six of us in our house, so we need the whole table!) Over the summer, my partner and I crafted a plan to create a permanent workspace in the front room of our home. Some work/health/family hoopla tabled the project, but I’m excited to get started this year.

7. Preorder 12 Books in 2026

Preorder sales really help authors. While I want to be careful to read more of the books I actually own, I want to choose one book coming out each month this year and preorder it as a gift to my future self.

This is kind of a cheat goal since I preordered seven books on January first, to add to the two I’d already preordered for this year. Here’s what I have on preorder so far:

8. Read Books I Own

In previous years, I have used two reading challenges (Book Riot’s Read Harder and Austine Decker’s Beat the Backlist) to motivate myself to read books I already have on my shelves. The first year I did this, it really energized me to read books on my TBR. Last year, my approach to the challenges was more of an afterthought.

This year, I am going to try something different. I might try to jump into a couple of weekend readathons, or pick a small project for the month, like reading a certain author’s backlist or finishing a series.

9. Continue to Self-educate Through Reading

I don’t have a firm plan for this yet. It might be nice to feature one nonfiction book for each celebratory month (Black History Month, National Native American Heritage Month, Disability Awareness Month, PRIDE Month, etc.). That’s not the only time of year to read these books, but it might help me to have specific targets.

10. Notice What Excites Me About Reading

I like the idea of leaning into whatever is exciting me about reading. I read a wide range of genres, so this could take me all over the map. If I can pay attention to what’s energizing me as a reader, I think setting shorter-term goals, like reading a particular series I’m excited about or catching up on an author’s backlist, will be really fun.

What are your bookish goals for 2026?

I’d love to hear about your reading plans for this year. Are any of my goals similar to the ones on your list?

If goals are too structured or anxiety-inducing, leave a comment and let me know what bookish event (book release, conference, author event, book you want to read, etc.) you’re most looking forward to this year.