Author: Stephen Davis
Publisher: Charlesbridge Teen
Publication Date: 19. September 2017
Rating: 3./5. Stars
Diversity: PoC (black Muslims from Mali)
TW: terrorism, violence, sexism, death
Summary: When Ali and Kadi meet, it’s hate at first sight. Kadi is the daughter of a librarian in modern-day Timbuktu. A lover of music and literature, she will one day become a guardian of an ancient manuscript collection. Ali is the son of shepherds and has been conscripted by the Defenders of Faith, an arm of Al Qaeda. He helps to overthrow Timbuktu and impose a strict Islamic state. The town’s citizens face many abuses as their way of life changes overnight. By circumstance, the two teenagers are thrown together. As they get to know more about each other, both let their guards down. But when Ali discovers the secret vault where Kadi’s family keeps their sacred manuscripts, he reports the discovery to his commander. Kadi is forced to risk a smuggling operation to save the manuscripts from destruction. Once her life is in danger, finally Ali must decide where his loyalties lie.
Part thriller, part love story, this exciting drama takes place in the midst of true-to-life events in Mali in 2012.
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Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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Timbuktu is mostly peaceful until a group of radical Muslims attacks their city. Their leader, Redbeard, thinks that their laws are too soft and implants Sharia laws. Everybody who protests against them will be flogged in public.
The people of the city suffer under their new ruler, but there is also rebellion.
In this story, we have two main characters. Ali, a shepherd-turned-soldier, zealous in his belief of what is right. And Kadija, the daughter of a Guardian, the protector of the sacred manuscripts. She is raised to become the next one.
Even though Ali and Kadija have no reason to trust each other, they slowly grow closer over the course of the story.
I really liked Kadija as a character. She was quite rebellious, refusing to give up her music fully and always trying to protect those she cared about in some way.
Ali was also very interesting character. He truly believes that what they do is the right thing to do. This obviously stands in stark contrast of how people react and who he hurts.
There’s also a lot of interesting side characters, which really added to the story as they make it feel even more lively. I really liked how especially the women, who suffered a lot under the new laws, rebelled against them.
I also liked how the author managed to fuse real-life events with his story, without becoming dry or boring. He also showed the cruelty of war, without being gruesome.
However, the beginning of the book is really slow, with a lot of world building and not a lot going on, which made it hard to keep reading at points. In the end, there happen a few things that really propel the plot forward and I enjoyed that part of the story way more.
I also didn’t really understand the romance in the book. I could understand them caring for each other and not wanting them hurt, but Kadija went from distrusting and disliking Ali (for good reasons) to wanting to kiss him very quickly with not a lot in between. Especially since when she kisses him, he just tried to destroy one of the manuscripts, which are sacred to her. If there had been a bit more build up there, I would have probably enjoyed it more.
Overall, the story was quite interesting with a lot of real-life events skillfully woven into the plot, but it is also slow and takes a long time to really get going. I ended up enjoying it well enough.
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