What an amazingly beautiful story, totally poignant and heartbreaking, Salema is volunteering in a hospital dealing with all the harrowing sights and sounds that this war is doing too her country, it made me cry reading about the atrocities, The burgeoning love affair was a little light relief and necessary,

WOW! From the cover to the final words, this book will put you every emotion possible due to the content which may not be for everybody as there are a lot of trigger words, but if you can, you must read this story. It is also heart wrenching, beautiful and highlights the effects of war through the eyes of a Muslim woman without being condescending. I loved the use of the natural Arabic words and phrases which only add strength to the book, A must read if you are not too easily put off.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC to review.

What a beautiful story! As long as the lemon trees grow is a love story but in so many levels. Salama is a first year pharmacy student living in Homs with her parents, older brother Hamza and his wife Layla, who is also her best friend.
When the civil war breaks out Salama works in the hospital doing things that no eighteen year old should even contemplate. She treats the injured alongside Dr Zaid, dressing sounds and amputating limbs. She also looks after pregnant Layla and tried to keep the promise she made to her brother; to protect his wife.
When Salama is at her most desperate Kenan comes into her life and shows her that colours other than grey still exist in the world, you just have to look for them.
As well as romantic love As long as lemon trees grow is about patriotism. Love for your homeland; the place that shaped you and grounded you. The story also helps people who have been fortunate enough not to experience the sort of conflict in Syria and other parts of the world to understand a little of how it would be to live in constant fear and to pray for death rather than capture.
Heroic, heartwarming and honest.

Beautiful, poignant, impactful. AS LONG AS THE LEMON TREES GROW tells a tale of home, a sense of 'own-ness' and the struggle of choosing between survival and love for one's country. 5/5 stars! I cannot wait to read more of Katouh's works.

TW: death (adult & children), torture, sexual assault, murder, war, starvation, PTSD, grief

This book is devastating and hauntingly beautiful and a story that I will be thinking about for a long time. There are scenes that are seared into my memory, scenes that utterly broke me and I had to stop reading. This book made me sob and it is one of the most beautiful stories I have read.

This story is set just after the Syrian revolution began and deals with what happens to the people who are living in a war torn country. We meet Salama who wanted to become a pharmacist but those dreams are shattered when the revelation begins and now helps at the hospital saving as many people as she can. She meets Kenan who wanted to study animation but now films what is happening in Syria and uploads it to youtube so people can see what is happening. Together they bring back hope into their lives despite the circumstances they live in.

As long as the lemon trees grow hope will never die.

There is also Layla, Salama’s sister in law and only family left after her parents are murdered and her brother imprisoned. And Kenan’s younger brother and sister that he is doing his best to protect. These people are Salama and Kenan’s lifelines. Seeing how they feel terrified that anything could happen to them and there would be nothing that they could do. There are several scenes that are inspired by real life events and that made it even more chilling and devastating to read.

This land is me. And I am her. My history, my ancestors, my family, we’re all here.

We also meet Khawf who is part of Salama’s hallucination, he is the one that keeps pushing her to find a way to leave Syria to find safety but she feels guilty for leaving while there is so many people who need her help. She has learnt on the job but she always has a wealth of pharmacological knowledge that helps so many people. Kenan feels like he needs to fight for his home and share with the world what is happening. I really loved seeing the different aspects and how they struggled with the choices they made. It was so raw and real and I felt that struggle with them. Zoulfa has written these characters so beautifully and they are complex and feel so real and I completely fell in love with them. I also loved seeing how they carved out some joy for themselves amidst all the sorrow.

When they realise they will not survive long enough to make any impact they decide they need to leave to keep their family safe. But even the journey to escape is harrowing. Zoulfa doesn’t shy away from the realities of what has happened and continues to happen in Syria and everyone needs to read it.

This is a book that everyone needs to read. It gives voice to the voiceless and shows us the strength and resilience of the Syrians and their fight for justice and freedom and how hope can be find in even the most difficult circumstances.

One of the most touching and heart-tugging books I've read in a while, the pacing was generous and the characters came alive to me

It has been a while since I have read a book that is as equally distressing and but also equal joy too. A stunning story of Syria and one I can't wait to read and share with my Student Book Club.

Thank you so much Bloomsbury Publishing Plc and NetGalley for the arc of As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
I will be truthful, it’s been a long time since a book made me wholeheartedly sob, but this book totally did. I only picked it up because it was recommended by an author I adore, but this book blew me away.
This book isn’t an easy read, it took me quite a while to read it, but I don’t regret it, that gave me time to think, reflect and consider the themes within the book, in particular the atrocities and hardships of wartorn Syria. Despite this, the characters’ love for their country, each other and their faith, but most all of their, in the majority lost families shines through with such sincerity and feeling, and yes I’m getting emotional again!
This book is a world away from my personal experience, climate, culture, and the war itself, but I was immersed in Salama’s world; A very young unprepared woman who treats the ill in a hospital, facing death, injury and pain daily, performing the role of a doctor, with only chemist qualifications. She knows that she can’t stay, but to her home is a world with lemon trees and a climate where they thrives, but she has to. Every day her life is filled with facing mortal challenges she wasn’t trained or prepared for, fear, poverty, starvation and destruction and inevitably loss.
Yet, this book is uplifting, filled with love and beautifully crafted characters (real and fictional,) it is filled with faith and hope and belief that there is something better. I would also say that if you are looking for a truly faithful and educating guide to Syria, including it’s history, politics and people, you couldn’t do much better than start with this book. A truly astounding book that I truly recommend taking your time over to absorb, reflect and learn from.

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow is a sensational debut about hope and survival during the onset of the Syrian revolution that will simultaneously make your heart swell and break.

It centres on a young Pharmacology student named Salama, who has been made to take up the position of surgeon just one year into her studies due to the lack of more qualified personnel. Living with her pregnant sister-in-law, Salama fights for her country and its freedom by saving as many lives as she can, a role not without danger and trauma.

And then fate has her path crossing with Kenan, the boy from another life who brings a bit of light and hope back to her days. However, Salama is also haunted by Khawf, a physical manifestation of her fears out to constantly remind her of the horrors around her as a means to push her towards the ultimate decision of whether she should leave her country behind for her own safety and survival.

The story seamlessly drops you into Homs and Salama’s world, depicting wartime conflict on a civilian level with such brutal honesty, showing the fight for freedom in a developing country where much of the world ignores the cries for help. Alongside themes of war this book involves the exploration of grief and mental health as well as an instant of on page sexual assault so I highly advise checking the content warnings before reading.

Katouh expertly weaves tension and emotion into her writing and my nerves were through the roof with worry for these characters with each turn of the page. Salama’s strength and resilience was so inspiring but also hurt my soul because so much of what she sees and goes through stems from true experiences that are still ongoing today.

However, this book is not just about nightmares and guilt and the things that have been lost. It is also one about allowing yourself to dream, of honouring your motherland and all the love and colour that can be found in the darkest of times.

Salama and Kenan have my whole heart and their relationship was beyond beautiful. If you’re looking for a book where the Muslim representation is done right and respectfully then look no further. This is a book that I now hold close to my heart and a story that will stick with me for a long time, I can’t encourage you to read it enough.
Final Rating - 4.5/5 Stars

What an amazing read, this really gets to the heart of why people fight for their country and endeavour to live in the best way possible, whilst facing shortages of food, water, places to live safely, and all the time being surrounded by explosions, gunfire and murders.
Salama is a pharmacist, but due to shortages of staff, has been informally working as a surgeon, dealing with emergencies far beyond her remit. There is a shortage of medications and anaesthesia, but she does her best.
This novel is set in Homs, during the revolution. We are shown the struggles of families to get daily basics of life, yet the Pride in their country and the determination to stay and fight is as heart warming as it could be considered reckless. Why do they do this? They have hope and faith in themselves.
This is beautifully written, very emotional and tear jerking, it makes the reader more aware of the despair of refugees, and the perils and dangers they accept in order to escape a country of no hope, in order to seek a new beginning of a new life of peace and safety. The common theme seems to be, we will return to the Lemon trees, when times are better.
For a YA novel, it seems quite graphic regarding the war and mental health issues, but these are difficult truths. This should be on the bookshelf of every school library, it must be essential reading for all ages.
I recommend this book throughly, I will spread the word to various teachers of my acquaintance.
A five star read. My thanks to Netgalley and to Bloomsbury publishers for my advance digital copy, in exchange for my honest review.

This book definitely gets 5 stars from me. A beautiful hour ey very emotional so I felt rely connected to the story and the characters. Very enjoyable, I'll definitely be recommending this!

This was an amazingly emotional book which I completely loved. It took me a little while to get over it and find another book to move on to. It is a really important book but also has wonderful characters that you never want to leave. Read it!

I was intrigued by the premise of this book but wasn’t quite sure what to expect. As her country is torn apart by war Salema , a pharmacology student, is volunteering in a hospital dealing with all the trauma that the war throws at her. A harrowing novel that opens the eyes of the reader to the horror and despair that war inflicts on civilians - hunger, cold ,death and grief – the list could go on. Yet despite this and the grim decisions that Selima must make it is also a novel of hope and love both for our fellow man and for our birth country. The developing relationship between Salema and Kenan was a much needed contrast to the war surrounding them. I was a little surprised that this is described as a Y a novel as it is graphic at times. And the twist – how heartbreaking. It’s a novel but I will not forget and for that I must thank the author. Many thanks to net galley the publisher and not least so far at all for giving me an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

A compelling read.

The writing was lovely, the imagery took me to each scene that was set and the relationship between Salama and Layla was remarkable.

I would definitely recommend this book.

Incredible storytelling, beautiful descriptions. This is exactly the kind of YA book that would be perfect in schools - as long as there is a caveat for some pretty harrowing descriptions of war. I really wish I'd read something like this when I was at school.

Beautifully and devastatingly looks at the impact of living in a country at at war, on family, relationships and mental health, using slightly abstract/magical realistic elements to really get inside the mind of Salama. A truly unforgettable and important book.

Wow. This was such an amazingly wonderfully written book. Such a harrowing and emotional story, but a must read

This story is harrowing yet beautiful, truthful and important - one that will stay with me for quite some time. It tells the story of Salama who, whilst in the middle of studying for her Pharmaceautical degree, is plunged into conflict when the Syrian revolution begins. Her world is upended and her family torn apart; she must now learn to live amongst the ruins of her city, forced to take on the role of doctor at the hospital and watch thousands die who she cannot save.
Katouh does not hold back on describing the atrocities of war and as such, this book is a hard read, one which should be undertaken considerately with YA, yet it is firmly a book that should be read as the author is right when she states that people don't really know what's happening in Syria. It is immensely hard as someone who has been born and raised in the safety of the UK to ever be able to comprehend the fear that living in a warzone brings, and yet reading Katouh's descriptions, I came close to understanding the fear that her characters felt.
There were many times I cried during this book but throughout it all, throughout everything that Salama, and also Kenan, experiences, the underlying message is hope. Human beings have a wonderful ability to hold onto hope even in the most difficult of circumstances and I was so very pleased that for the main characters at least there is a happy ending. This was my hope throughout reading!
I was also very impressed with the author's note at the end whereby she discusses her choice to avoid the stereotypes and confinements that they bring in this novel which is very much needed and applauded.
Ultimately, this book is necessary. It is necessary to tell the human side of the Syrian conflict, to give those living in the western world an opportunity to see, feel and understand how it feels to live your lives in fear and it serves as a piece of history too. This book is important and I will be recommending it wholeheartedly.

**Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read an advanced e-copy of this book. All opinions are my own **

I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The publisher's description sounded interesting but I have to admit that I wasn't sure what to expect.

I am so glad that I found this book though - and that I kept going when in the very first few pages I was tempted to put it down because I found some of the images in the hospital hard to take. Yes, this was a hard book to read in many ways. The suffering that is described in this book is almost impossible to imagine in my comfortable Western world. Yet at the same time I believe it is important that I, and others, do read books like this. That we don't forget how privileged we are to have never known war in our own country, to have never had to endure thirst, starvation and an ever present threat to our lives and liberty.

What was amazing about this book though was that out of all that horror, fear and bloodshed there was still hope. I wanted there to be a happy ending but at every moment I feared something might happen to prevent that - it made me want to keep on reading, hopeful that there might be some light at the end of the tunnel. At it's heart this is a love story - both about Syrians' love of their country and the love that two teenagers have for each other. But it is much more than this. This is a book that I think will stick with me for a long time - and there aren't many that I can say that about.

Such an emotional book and couldn’t put it down. So heartbreaking to read about the conflict in Syria and what people have been through.

WOW! This book is so beautifully written and will break your heart a thousand times over.

The author pulls no punches when dealing with the harsh realities of war and revolution – the tragedy and loss as well as the love and togetherness of the Syrian people.

The strength of Salama, Kenan, Layla and their families and friends will stay in your heart forever. There were some beautiful touching moments and a real love story amongst so much horror and brutality.

Lemon Trees was a lot to process when I’d finished reading – a highly recommended debut novel from Zoulfa Katouh and would be a well-deserved book of the year!