REVIEW: Aria (Nazanine Hozar)

Book: Aria

Author: Nazanine Hozar

My rating: 3/5.

Premise: 1950s Tehran. In an alleyway an abandoned baby cries into the night, attracting the attention of the young man who will save her. And so begins the story of Aria. As she grows, she is torn between the three women fated to mother her: the harsh wife of the man who rescued her; a wealthy widow, who offers her refuge but cannot offer her love; and the mysterious Mehri, whose secrets will shatter everything Aria thought she knew about herself. And then, just as the political turmoil in the country deepens, Aria falls in love with a boy caught on the wrong side of the revolution.

Before starting this book, I didn't know anything about the history (even the recent history!) of Iran. I also didn't know much about the culture there. So this book was really interesting to me. I loved Aria as a character - she's strong and independent, not letting anyone force her into submission. In fact, the main female characters are quite strong, even though some of their backstories are tragic. I'm not sure how I feel about the second half of the book. In this half, the revolution is getting underway and Aria is now a teenager/young woman. I was sad with where Aria and her friends end up, mostly because it wasn't where I was expecting. I think I looked at all the characters and went "oh well this will happen and they'll all be happy". But, of course, life isn't like that and there was a revolution on the horizon. While the stories didn't go where I expected, it didn't leave me disappointed, more heartbroken for them - I'd seen a happy ending but it didn't happen. But overall, a good read.