Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

This was a heart-rending and thought-provoking story that must reflect the reality of so many Syrian refugees around the world. Katouh has a strong authorial voice and Salama is an engaging protagonist. I didn't see the twist coming, and would recommend tissues for the last 100 pages or so of this novel! I'll definitely look out for future works by this author.

A beautiful story that will stay with me for a while.

This book was different from what I expected. I went into it blindly -- having completely forgotten what the blurb was when I first requested it.

A bittersweet story of Syrian refugees from Homs, considering whether they should leave their country or stay and fight. I thought it was very thoughtfully done.

A debut novel from a new one-to-watch author.

Salama was supposed to be studying to be a pharmacist. Instead she has to act as doctor in the understaffed hospital as the stream of wounded continues. The civil war hasn’t just taken her dreams, but her parents and brother too. Her only family left is her pregnant sister-in-law and best friend, Layla. Salama is plagued by an hallucination that takes the form of Khawf, a deeply unpleasant, demanding man, the product of PTSD and a head injury. With the birth of Layla’s child looming, they plan to escape Syria via the Mediterranean, but Salama is torn between Layla’s safety and her desire to help the victims of the war. Then she meets Kenan, the boy she was supposed to marry before the Revolution, and her plans are thrown into disarray.

Katouh broke my heart into a thousand tiny pieces then slowly put it back together again. Her love for Syria permeates every word; the prose is lyrical and atmospheric and compelling. Throughout the devastating, horrifying situation there are moments of beauty and hope: Salama’s relationship with Layla, her devotion to the patients, her burgeoning romance with Kenan.

There were times when Salama’s internal monologue became repetitive, but I didn’t mind because it was so indicative of her trauma and the way she clings to daydreams of what might have been. Honestly a lot of the criticism I’ve seen in lower-starred reviews seems to come from ignorance, but in the context of her trauma and loss it all felt very real to me.

A ‘youth novel’ which focussed on romance over the gravity of the situation on a few occasions. Snatches of lovely prose juxtaposed with puerile dialogue. A heroine I didn’t like and a suitor just too perfect. And that reveal towards the end? Eurgh. A step too far for me.

Salama Kassab was a pharmacy student when the cries for freedom broke out in Syria. Her family were alive and she was on her way to her dream career. However, this all changed very quickly. As a pharmacy student Salama was seen to have enough medical training to provide assistance as a nurse in the hospital. Overnight she went from learning about medicine in her first year of university, to stitching up the wounded and holding the hands of children as they passed.

Salama lost her family early in the war and is plagued by hallucinations since. She is desperate to escape with her sister in law. But even in a horrible situation happiness and love can still be discovered. When Salama meets Kenan her plans to leave get thrown into disarray. Kenan feels so passionately about staying to fight for his country and Salama feels passionately about him.

This book was absolutely heart breaking. She could tell that Katouh absolutely wrote from the heart, with her their love for their country that is at breaking point. We see a story of loss and heartbreak but also one of hope for a better future. I can't recommend this book enough, it was beautiful.

I thought that As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow was a beautifully written book, absolutely one of the best I've read this year. It was heart wrenching with some shocking twists and real page turning chapters that kept me reading well past when I should have been asleep. It also had fantastic main characters and a touching story there.

But perhaps most importantly, it did what the author set out too - educated to the reality of the conflict in Syria.

A fantastic book.

I absolutely loved this book. The descriptions of Syria in the midst of war, the lengths people have to go to to survive, the brutality, but also the hope that can been found in the smallest of things made this book brilliant. I will be recommending it to everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley for this copy. This is a really good book, kept me entertained throughout and I would thoroughly recommend to all.

A novel, but I would imagine a heartbreaking amalgam of numerous true stories. A trainee pharmacist having to work as a doctor during the war in Syria due to a lack of trained staff. A detailed account of the horrors she witness, and the trauma of PTSD. Everyone does what they have to to survive.. exceptionally well written, and important story to tell

An excellent read, insightful and intelligent, as well as educational.

I have ordered several copies for my library and will promote and recommend this one to students and staff alike.

I can never say, I enjoy reading these type of stories. I choose them very carefully. 'As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow' recalls the story of a young pharmacy student Salama who was living in Homs, Syria, when war broke out.. The cover of the book and the title peaked my interest, more than most books have done. I was not disappointed.
Salama, the protagonist in the story was traumatised by the events of the war. Her fight for survival was unimaginable. Early in the book we met Khawf, who is Salama's conscience and guide. She battles with him throughout. Stripped of most of her family by the war, Salama has to find her own way. Salama eventually realises things are not really as they are and in her survival she has to adopt different tactics. The book, is clearly and beautifully written, it takes you on Salama's journey. It is moving and perhaps upsetting but I am so pleased I have read this and recommended it to others.

Such a beautiful book! I absolutely loved it, I’ll be recommending it to everyone! It was easy to get into and easy to follow too. It has an important message and story which is hard to read at times (it’s just a very sad situation) but it has been presented in a really beautiful way.

This book was so so so good, it made me cry, laugh, scream… and if a book makes me do all those three things like this book, it’s a damn good book! I can’t wait to read more from this author!

I went into this read expecting tears and that’s exactly what I got. As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow depicts the life of Salama, a young girl living through the war in Syria who consistently fights to defend her country and protect her fellow people despite having lost her family to the tragedy of war. Salama suffers from a case of PTSD that causes hallucinations, specifically of one person whose purpose is to remind her of everything she has to lose if she doesn’t flee. Throughout the book Salama fights these suppressed thoughts represented by her hallucinations of Khawf, translating to fear in English - a play on words I really liked. This story highlights the never-ending fear of war victims in Middle Wast countries, where nobody bats an eyelash at the strikes from the US. Salama is written as a character who is torn between fighting for her country and healing her people, or protecting the only family she has left- her sister-in-law. Her thoughts, feelings and actions are so representative of survivors and their guilt, and her experiences as a pharmacist-turned-doctor to heal those injured by attacks touch your heart with the variety of people and tragedies they undergo. The lack of a 5th star- at times, the writing felt immature, and sometimes it lacked enough emotion, or felt too rushed. It does make sense considering it is a YA book, narrated through the perspective of an 18-year-old girl, so I guess it was on me for expecting a more mature, descriptive writing that tears through your soul. (Spoilers ahead) - I think the ending may not satisfy many people. In a book like this, the grief-stricken protagonist who has lost everyone along with all hope, typically ends in tragedy, in hopes for the most realistic representation of what these current wars look like. I was expecting that too. However, I enjoyed the fact that this story inspires some hope for escaping war and finding safety, if not freedom, rather than being doomed to death, despite the fact that this is not where war victims end up in current day. It felt fitting for a YA book to have a happy ending rather than a tragic death, so I was satisfied in the end. The only thing I will say is that this book is not meant to be an accurate representation of real life victims in Syria. If it is read with that mindset, you’ll be disappointed, as I was when I started reading it. If instead, you read it with the view that it is a tale about them, you’ll be more satisfied with the glammed-up version where things work out and they live happily ever after, as I was once I changed my perspective. Overall, I enjoyed it thoroughly and would definitely recommend it to others who are looking to be eased into more mature reads about real tragedies.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bloomsbury for this ARC.

Beautiful read, important subject matter and stunning writing

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access this book in exchange for my feedback.

I have already been promoting this in our libraries. Both harrowing and beautiful to read, this brings the reader face to face with the reality of a war we think we know about but in truth cannot imagine. I loved Salama as a character, and through her you gain an insight into the conflicts of those caught up in such horror. Do you stay and do what you can, or do you get out and try to save something for yourself? If you do try to leave, where do you go? Despite the very real horrors here, there is also hope. It is without doubt a powerful story and I found it a compelling read. Fantastic!

This is an amazing book which tugged at the emotions and made me want to cry. The book is about the Syrian War/Revolution as described by the life of Salama who is 18 and a trainee pharmacist. It is a very powerful read that describes the people and how war is affecting them, the foodless shops, love and above all devotion. Life in the hospital is described with great depth and is certainly a raw realistic scene of pain and death. At the start the shop had 3 very old dried up lemons and 1 piece of stale pitta bread for sale. The book describes how Salama sought food and water and how she used paracetamol to bribe her way out of the situation. I winced at the fact that operations were done with no anaesthetic, including severing limbs as medication was so scarce. Salama remembers her childhood, before the war, and visiting her grandmother and having lemons from her lemon tree.
The way that Salama cares for her sister in law Layla was described throughout so beautifully and showed what a caring person Salama was. Khawf who was always with her showing her all the nasty things that were happening did eventually save her life when he warned her about the hospital being attacked and so perhaps he was not all bad. Kenan and his siblings changed her life and gave her feelings of love that were certainly reciprocated.
This is a slow, thoughtful read that has been beautifully written it is full of sadness but always hope still on the horizon, All the way through I was asking myself will they escape, will they get a boat out of this hell hole and will the find a good life in Germany. It depicts the people's side of war in a clear manner that added much depth to the book.
At the end I had to go and research the history of Syria and especially what caused the revolution. After reading this book and doing my research all I could think about was what about all the other pointless wars that are going on around the world and what is happening to the civilian population there.

It took me longer to finish this book than it would usually because this is a book to absorb slowly. But also because of the devastatingly beautiful but overwhelming emotion it invoked in me.

Set in Homs, we get to see the everyday people behind the headlines. And how powerful that is.

There are many times I found myself having to put this book down while I paused for a moment. How lucky we are not to know the terror these people suffered every day.

The pride in her homeland flows throughout this absolutely stunning novel by Zoulfa Katouh, and to weave an enchanting love story amidst the account of the war, was no easy feat. But in my opinion, it elevated this book beyond what was already a triumphant telling of a war we knew so little about. Salama and Kenan's love story captivated me and with every word, held me enthralled.

Exploring themes of trauma, grief, ptsd, guilt this is not an easy read. And nor should it be. But it is without doubt one of the most powerful and captivating stories I have ever read. I adored every word.

The ebook provided by netgalley was corrupt and so I had to wait for the book to be released before reading it hence why my review is late.

I loved this book so much. I have never read a book about the war in Syria and it's easy to disassociate normal life to the people living there, But after reading this book, it reminded me that the people there are real people with hope and passions and dreams. And that made it even more emotional for me.

I cried so much while reading this. I don't remember the last time I've sobbed this much while reading. Salama is the strongest character I have ever met and she deserves so much. The things she went through everyday while upholding everything she believed in was so inspiring.

The plot twists were shocking and I never would have seen them coming.

I think everyone should read this book.

As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow is a title that truly deserves book of the year. A compelling story that is incredibly important. Raw, visceral, wrenching and revelatory.

Have you ever read a book so powerful that you couldn’t find the words to describe just how impactful and an important narrative that it pushes upon you? That’s exactly how I feel with As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow. I always think it’s a good thing to read outside your usual boundaries – YA isn’t usually my bag but with this cover and the heartbreakingly powerful story, I couldn’t resist. A story of survival in war torn Syria, I turned the pages through blurred vision, the writing made me aware of the plight of a country that is proud of its origins. I need to read more stories in this genre.

“For now, this flag is our shield against the cold winters, the bombs falling from the sky, and the bullets that tear into our bodies. In death it’s our shroud, our corpses swaddled in it as we return to the soil we vowed to protect.”

My guts and nerves were in shreds by the end of this stunningly beautiful story. You know you have a talented writer in front of you when they leave you feeling wrung out from the emotions pouring from you.

Three shrivelled lemons and a mouldy pitta bread – that’s the image that is imprinted into your mind with the opening sentence. Just sit for a moment and imagine that that’s the only thing to be found in your local supermarket. The panic, the worry, how can you feed your family when that’s the only thing available? You can’t. The onslaught on war and revolution surrounds eighteen-year-old Salama Kassub, a Pharmacology student, she has no choice but to serve as a doctor because very few remain – they are either dead or they’ve fled their homeland of Syria. She feels completely out of her depth, she’d never been trained to cut people open to stop the flow of internal bleeding or amputate limbs. She’s only eighteen, sometimes you have to keep reminding yourself of that fact. She’s ill equipped to deal with the true face of war – children and the elderly with fatal wounds, it’s not how her life was supposed to go – she wanted a good career, a nice husband, and children.

Salama has to make a huge decision. Along with her responsibilities as a doctor she must decide what’s best for her pregnant sister-in-law, Layla. It’s not safe here for a pregnant women and so they makes plans to escape to Germany. The only problem being the cost to get a boat from Syria. There’s individuals who will take use the situation to gain financially. It’s going to cost 4k, but they don’t have that amount of money left. What are they going to do? She also sees a spectre called Khawf, someone that she can only see, someone who reminds her of the right path. Someone that frustrates the hell out of her.

Although the story is heartbreakingly devastating there is a ribbon of hope pulling the pages together – a light-hearted romance between Salama and Kenan – the boy she was meant to be betrothed to before the revolution exploded. A boy who makes her see another way.