"A feeling of not belonging deepened within her."

GENRE: Lit Fic

Would I recommend to others?: Yes, I highly recommend this book to gain a perspective into being an Arab, growing up somewhere that isnt your home and understanding what it means to be from two different cultures and never fitting in.

Review:

There's something to be said about being from somewhere but not living there, not fully identifying with what it means to be from there. As an Arab that is mixed and grew up in another Arabic country that wasnt my own, the way Hannah saw this and identified things that were different in Egypt based on what she knew and her perception from her parents

I dont read a lot of Lit Fic anymore but having read this book recently and as an Arab that was living in a country with Arab Spring, it was surreal to read it. The book has an Egyptian-American MCs and this is different than my own situation but I was able to relate to the identity crisis in the book SO much. The way it touches on grief as well, the last words hanging and never getting to change that just reminded me of my own grief journey too

Growing up feeling very much like I never fit in anywhere because I was always too much of this and too little of that everywhere! I'd recommend reading it to understand more about what being an Arab is, how living somewhere that isnt your country just makes you feel misplaced, gives you this feeling of never fitting in anywhere. And the sad thing? Somehow, everyone knows you dont fit in well, or at least that is how it comes off

"He told them to be careful and gave Zain specific directions on what to tell the driver. Their uncle gave them his cell phone. they were adults, but the family treated them like children - teenagers who couldn't fend for themselves - and it waws easy to just accept it."

Oh and the way one of the MCs says that her mom mentions how she "could never live here again" (as in living in Egypt again after moving to America), who hasnt heard this from their own parents after they have migrated to another country?

Dust Settles North touches on so many topics that are important, and one of them is comparing how politically different Egypt and America are, comparing the police actions and the stark different yet how similar they are at the end of the day.

I quite enjoyed Dust Settles North and I did want more but don't we all end stories wanting more from it? I did understand it had to come to an end, but I did wish we could see a bit more of what does happen to Hannah and Zain in the end, tie some of the things around a bit more. I will be reading more of Deena's work in the future and I cannot wait to explore more Arab perspective in fiction!

Thank you to Bindery, Netgalley and Boundless Press for this eArc in exchange for my honest review.