Kaytee Cobb

There's a huge turning point in this book, the central conflict that helps explain that difference from the way the book starts with our protagonists alienated to the story that we get into.

And that turning point worked really well for me.

I liked the way that she developed the story.

I liked the way she developed that central conflict and then the way it resolves by the end of the book.

So I thought she really, like her plot arc here was just really fantastic.

That journey to get there is beautiful and pivotal, and she really vividly depicts both the time and place of this storyline and gives us these complex characters to root for as well.

So even though The Stationery Shop wasn't a great hit for me, this one met and exceeded the expectations I had set before it.

And it's because I went in with a lower bar, of course, right?

Everybody loves this one, but everybody loves The Stationery Shop, so I probably won't.

And instead, I did.

The story itself was beautiful and the writing was stellar.

And I think really importantly for this reader is it wasn't focused on a love story.

It wasn't about the relationship.

between Ellie and the man who becomes her husband.

It's about Ellie and her friend and what happens to them.

It's the lion women.

It's not the lion couple of Tehran.

It was notably hard, and it needs to be mentioned, it's notably hard to read about the city's

the culture, the significance of Iran during a time when it is featured so heavily right now, daily in our news headlines.

And they're a country in turmoil during that time as well.