Status Updates From Az örökkévaló dolgok könyve

I am tearing up. This was a well written chapter and such good tension!

This got really interesting again - Samir is on a journalistic quest! I am now very curious to see how it’s going to end.

Annnddd… we are back to a fated-lovers love story. I dislike that this is the route the novel is going towards the end; it feels strange but I also appreciate that it is akin to a full circle moment. Let’s continue reading!

This book can be divided into three genres: 1. childhood sweethearts love story 2. WW1 historical fiction/soldier’s pov 3. a perfumer’s life quest to bottle home. All three are great but in one novel feels a bit dizzying. I think the 3rd genre is unique and interesting enough on its own.

Samir’s conversations at the Villa deRose is absolutely heartbreaking! I wish I’d gotten more insights from Léa’s or Firdaus’s perspective. The initial shifting perspectives have now become static on one main character — and I am not certain if this will be an exciting choice as I near the end.

Inexplicably, the story has turned into a chronicle of a solider-turned-perfumer’s experiences during the first world war. I wasn’t expecting so many journal entries and accounts in France; not sure how I feel about the subject & tone shift yet.

Léa has my whole heart - she is so sweet and attentive!! Altaf … I do understand why he did what he did but I personally don’t condone it. Samir - I am rooting for you.

Well, that was brutal to read.

I knew going into the book that the chapters involving the Partition would be difficult; but seeing it through Samir’s eyes was absolutely shattering. I could feel his grief as he listlessly wandered through the burned wreckage of Shahalmi Bazaar.