There Are Rivers in the Sky Review by Momma Leighellen’s Book Nook.

FIVE STAR FAVORITE
BOOK OF THE YEAR CONTENDER!

“May life be kind to you, child, and when it is not, may you emerge stronger.” – There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak

Sometimes a book hits just right. Some of it is in the writing. Maybe it is in the themes. Some of it is timing. There are just not enough words to tell you how much I loved this book and how it moved me.

“It’s just so easy to feel lost when you feel low, like you’re drifting alone in endless floodwaters. But you’re not alone. There are many of us on this wooden Ark – sailing without knowing if there is land ahead. Sailing in hope nonetheless…” – There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak

There Are Rivers in the Sky Review

This book is poetry in action. Have your tabs and colored pens at the ready! Because you will be annotating like CRAZY in this one! The writing just flows so lyrically and the story, although told in three POV across hundreds of years, is captivating, insightful, heartbreaking, and just downright lovely.

“Words are like birds. When you publish books you are setting caged birds free. You never know whom those words will reach, whose hearts will succumb to their sweet song.”

The novel uniquely and brilliantly brings three very different people’s stories together through on single droplet of water. The water transforms into rain, into snow, and travels through each story, from the River Tigris to the Thames and back, remembering all the lives it has touched. It shouldn’t seem to work but it does. The author must have tirelessly devoted herself to history and I went down countless google rabbit holes. But that’s exactly when I know a book is speaking to me. I learned so much.

The story is a beautiful ode to the historic city of Neneveh, now modern day Mosul in Iraq. It’s a thoughtful look at the ways we destroy for the sake of “civilization” and the things that connect us all – our histories, memories, losses and desires. So much has changed about life and yet so much remains the same. Life can be so very cyclical. And that can be both horrific and comforting.

“Books, it seems to me, do not end, even when we finish reading them.”

This is one of those never ending stories. I will forever be touched by this book! If you enjoyed The Covenant of Water, this will be a favorite. Definitely a 5 star read and a favorite of 2024 for me!

Thank you @Knopf for the early copy and @prhaudio for an early listen!

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