Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I really didn't enjoy this book despite some nicely atmospheric descriptive writing. The main reason being I found the premise so outrageously far-fetched and unbelievable that I just couldn't get on board with the thing and because of this, despite serious issues being addressed, the book lacked credibility and seemed a little silly. I also couldn't stand the MC who was unpleasant and unsympathetic. She was less radicalised young woman and rather more petulant brat with Daddy Issues. By the time the 'romance' became apparent I was groaning.

This book was not for me.

It took me a while to pick this book up however wow this book is a fascinating read. The story was beautifully told and told with sensitivity and subtle about religious beliefs. The only thing I found questionable was how long a woman could live with men and pretend to be a man. overall a great read and I would recommend.

Wasn't able to read and review book before it was removed from my e-reader


In California her name was Aden Grace Sawyer. In Pakistan she must choose a different name – Suleyman – and take on a new identity as a young man. She has travelled a long way to begin her new life, and she’ll travel further to protect her secret.

But once she is on the ground, Aden finds herself in more danger than she could have dreamed. Faced with violence and loss, she must make intense and unimaginable choices that will test not only her faith, but her understanding of who she is.

Compelling, unnerving and timely, Godsend is a subtle masterpiece of empathy: a study of what it means for a person to give themselves to their faith, and how far they will go from home to find a place to belong.

I'm torn over my latest read, Godsend. Influenced by John Walker Lindh's life, it follows Aden who travels to Pakistan to further her Islamic studies even though she can only do so by adopting the identity of a male. Initially, it was difficult to get into (the dialogue is very forced, flat and unnatural, albeit with goodish reason) but it quickly became hypnotic, watching the inevitable spill out onto the pages. However, that was only when I mentally put aside the whole "I'm pretending to be a boy" subplot, as it was infuriatingly easy. As other people have noted, only a male author could ignore her female body so easily. The Islamic radicialisation of youth is an hugely important topic which seems to have good traction in literature - The Reluctant Fundamentalist, A Good Country and Home Fire (which I hesitate to put in this category) all come to mind. Notably, they all focused on Western raised or born youth (maybe The Reluctant Fundamentalist less so, but his radicalisation in early adulthood was tied to his Western experiences). Harder to sell but easier to romanticise, perhaps? Interestingly, Wray is the only Western white author, from that list... As always with Canongate, the cover art is *brilliant* and it'll definitely grab your attention .

Very powerful and hard-hitting novel that doesn't shy away from disturbing themes and subject matter. Definitely a worthwhile read but I suspect some readers may find it a bit off putting at times.
3.5

With thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

While I liked the idea for this book I’m afraid the execution wasn’t quite there for me, I found the writing quite sparse, not overly descriptive and quite bare and stripped back at times. I found it difficult to connect with the characters and found myself reading more out of duty than enjoyment. I also found the premise of girl disguised as boy stretching credibility at times. It does give a disturbing insight into the world of Islamist extremism although I really felt I needed more insight into why the main character decided to go down the path she chose in the first place. I’m pretty sure it will gain many plaudits and others will enjoy it if enjoy is the right word but it didn’t really work so well for me. I’d sum up my thoughts by saying I felt it had unfulfilled potential.

Thanks to NetGalley and Canongate for ARC.

Lost amongst her family in America-disappointed by an alcoholic mother and an unfaithful father-Aden Grace Sawyer is hoping to find answers and a sense of belonging amongst her Muslim brothers. And so, alongside her friend and sometime beau, she travels to the Middle East and immediately disguises herself as a boy (Suleyman) so that she may worship, study and fight.
Evidently her boyish beauty, American accent, burnt passport and remarkable feeling for scripture set her apart but; "She was hidden by her clear and perfect strangeness. Her strangeness was itself a burqa that withheld her likeness from them."
For a while, at least, she seems to find what she is looking for and she immerses herself in the discipline and training required to become a fighter. She feels herself purer in faith and a valued component in a devout campaign; "The escarpment rose before her and her breath aspired toward Heaven and the world in all its failings lay behind her on the plain."
Inevitably, her travels fail to bring her the unanimity she so desires as her journey spirals into violence and her concealment is increasingly difficult to maintain.

I found Wray's book both absorbing and fascinating. I read about Aden's successes and progress with a horrified mixture of desire for her to find that which she so yearned and a desperate hope that she would fail before she lost any last vestiges of her fragile and misguided self. Of course, no good could come from her quest and thoughts about where she is now left to turn are unanswered. It was alarming to find myself understanding her plight and how easily young impassioned people may be persuaded. She is looking for certainty and when her Jihad does not deliver that either, I found myself sympathetic; "All her life lay behind her, every day, every hour, bright and irrevocable and fixed. She saw it so clearly. Ahead was starlit blackness."

Perhaps it was not necessary for Wray to have his protagonist as a disguised female as the tale offers . plenty to think about without any further complication, but overall a memorable and thought-provoking read.

I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you.

This is an interesting compelling read. Adens story seems so real and her emotions feel really raw. The story is haunting and disturbing read.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Godsend - ostensibly based on the story of John Walker Lindh, an American who joined the Taliban 2000 (and was later captured post-9/11) - follows Aden Sawyer, an 18 year old from California who travels to Pakistan with her friend to study in a madrasa.

A very strong opening, but I feel like the second half of the book didn't quite deliver. The build up to the doomed journey was highly engaging, and I was excited to see what direction the story took. But certain narrative choices (which I won't discuss as they're kind of spoilery) didn't work for me. Still worth the read due to the timely nature of the topic matter, but I finished this one feeling it could have been so much better.

I just couldn’t get into this at all, I felt the characters were one dimensional on the whole and there was no explanation as to why Aden, the central character, had turned to Islam in the first place. I’m often astounded by male authors who can write in the voice of a female character but not on this occasion, I’m afraid. It does seem well researched and I was interested to learn about bacha posh, a custom in Pakistan and Afghanistan whereby a daughter is dressed and treated as a boy in a family where there are no sons. She is allowed to go to school and can escort the female members of her family outside the home without a male escort. I’m not a big fan of dialogue without quotation marks. It takes longer to read through a conversation because you have to think about where speech begins and ends, i.e. what is commentary and what isn’t, but I can live with it if I’m involved in the storyline. In this case, I wasn’t.

This book has rave reviews but it also has mixed reviews. The style of writing just wasn’t for me.

I was given this to read by NetGalley, prepublication in return for an honest review. If I am honest, I read this from two perspectives, my own personal enjoyment and enlightenment and the impact it might have in the libraries I work in. It is a fascinating insight to a world and religion I have very little knowledge of other than what is fed to me by the Media. Set pre 9/11, I am guessing we are supposed to have more empathy with the central character who is acting solely on her beliefs rather than reacting to an event.

The story is of Aden Sawyer an 18 year old Muslim, American girl living in California. Her parents are separated, her mother an alcoholic and her father, a professor of Islamic Studies, who has left her mother for another woman. She dreams of travelling to Pakistan and Afghanistan and becomming a Jihadi. She begins by attending a local mosque to study and hatches a plan with her boyfriend, Decker to go. Her family think she is going as far as the Middle East to study but she has other plans. She shaves her hair and disguises herself as a boy as she knows a Muslim woman would not be allowed where she wants to go or to do what she wants to do.

Arriving in Peshawar, she changes her name to Suleyman and throws away her passport ready to join the fight. She studies th Qu’ran and learns to fight, handle weapons and explosives and to kill. She does question her actions against the teachings of the Qu’ran from time to time but continues with her brothers in their war.

This is far more than a coming of age story, it is a lesson on identity, Afghanistan, Islam, survival, jihadi training camps, Mujahideen, dancing boys, Mullahs and Madrasas and so much more. For me, I learnt a lot and whilst carried away by the whirlwind of events she finds herself in, I was a little disappointed with the end which seemed to come in a rush and disrupt the momentum of the book. From the perspective of a Librarian who has to be careful about which books to stock due to the type of library I work in, I have concerns that this material may encourage those susceptible to follow a similar course.

That said, I would encourage friends and family to read it to see something of a world we are not normally privy to.

It is very strong subject matter.
An American woman who leaves her home to go to Afghanistan.
You would expect it to be a quite understated novel yet the author has not allowed that to happen, which for me as a reader is a very brave and yet great thing to do.
It is deep, raw, emotional
I found it at times pretty tough to read yet I was intrigued to find out how it ends
Thank you to both NetGalley and Canongate Books for my eARC in exchange for my honest unbiased review

On a journalistic assignment for Esquire magazine, John Wray travelled to Afghanistan to meet people who had known or met John Walker Lindh. Lindh was the American who joined the Taliban and who was captured by US forces in December 2001. While in Afghanistan, Wray heard rumours of another American who had joined the conflict on the opposite side and some said it was a woman, perhaps even a girl.

This is the starting point for Wray’s new novel. It is set in the second half of that year, a period which everyone knows as the time of 9/11.

Aden Grace Sawyer is a teenage American girl who has recently converted to Islam and who heads away from a dysfunctional family life to Pakistan. She travels with Decker, her sort-of-boyfriend who is an American of Pashtun origin. She is fiercely committed to her new faith, perhaps, even to the point of being over-zealous. In the very first section of the novel we read:

“Some kids from school walked by and snickered, and she allowed herself, for the last time, the luxury of picturing them dead.”

This is the first hint of the darkness that lies ahead, although it does not start to really make itself known until the halfway point.

Aden, on leaving the US, takes care to disguise her gender. She bandages her breasts and has taught herself to speak in a deeper voice. She believes she needs to pass as a boy to achieve her goals. She cuts all ties with her former life, even to the point of destroying her passport and begins to live as Suleyman, a young man.

Aden’s stated aim in Pakistan is to attend a madrassa and to learn about her new found faith. However, once she reaches Pakistan, the book, which starts like a coming of age story, takes a much darker turn. The madrassa is in Peshawar which, as someone notes, is very close to the border with Afghanistan and very soon we are in a world of war and conflict.

The book is a fascinating read. Wray writes very sensitively, sympathetically and subtly about religious beliefs. He gives us a rarely seen glimpse of “the other side” as an American writing about 9/11 as seen from Afghanistan (“What does that matter to us?” one man says, “What happens in America is no concern of ours” says another). He is not afraid to write in an ambiguous way where, for a few pages, the reader is left wondering what just happened until, a bit later, the pieces fall into place and it becomes clear: for a while the reader is on tenterhooks wondering what exactly Aden or someone else has just done. He also writes in a deceptively allusive way about, for example, what it is like to be a victim of a drone attack.

So, whilst it is sometimes a bit difficult to suspend disbelief for so long (could someone really go so long pretending to be a man without being discovered when living as part of an army of men), somehow that does not matter because it is the story that matters here and that is a powerful one well worth reading.

The review here in The New Yorker is well worth taking the time to read (probably after rather than before you read the book): https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/15/the-911-novel-that-finally-understands-the-fulfillments-of-faith.

A Young Lady Aden from California against the wishes of her separated parents heads to Pakistan to join the Jihad with her friend Decker who organised the journey. As a concert to Islam her intentions are for a greater understanding and purpose in what she believed. The other thing you need to know she as agreed with Decker pretends to be a he and It is set in the same year as 9/11

As a white British Christian who has spent time in Pakistan before 9)11 i was greatly interested in seeing some of the culture and lives of these characters but mindful this is a novel and not real life but a closer view than i would get off this kind of life.

I guess that those who have a strong faith or belief whatever the background or faith will be prepared to push boundaries for the greater good of what we believe and the convictions as in this case with Aden the courage from their fight. I can only admire the convictions if not the way it is followed through and obviously my believe it's in a different faith but the GOD of Adam, And Abraham. I know there are crossovers or i believe this to be so and have a friendship with a good number of Muslims some more committed than others. But I'm reviewing the book not my understanding of the issues but it is why was I to read this book. From my standpoint I found this well written and believable novel the characters very real and the situations Aden found herself in I could believe to being possible..
I recommend this book to you are hope you read it and get a insight to a different lifestyle or may be one you revise our have heard of. I believe strongly in peace and Prayer over guns and weapons as i know many in these two faiths do as well.

It's hard to imagine that a story about a young American woman leaving her home for jihad in Afghanistan could be so muted and quiet - yet Wray has written a book which is filled with intensity and yet sidesteps all the tabloid sensationalism that often accrues to this topic. Balancing a coming-of-age story with its Afghan setting takes skill and Wray never makes a wrong move.

I don't want to say much about the plot but this is a masterful study in empathy for a protagonist whose shining idealism leads her down some dark pathways. There are questions subtly posed about to what extent Aden Grace makes choices, and how her options might be circumscribed.

The setting of Afghanistan just before 9/11 (which happens offstage during the story) is also rendered with acute detail: not least in the tensions between the Afghan Pashtuns and the wealthy sponsors of jihad from outside the country.

This is a lean tale but with searching depth, and the writing is elegant and precise. An extraordinary book, then - I can't believe I hadn't heard of Wray before this.