This was such a harsh reading, and the only reason I gave a low score to "enjoyment" is because I can't find any enjoyment in the suffering that was portrayed in this book. Still a must-read for people who want to know more about how people lived through the Nakba.

I don't think I was the right audience for this book, but it was a good reading anyway.

||Sometimes he just wanted to squeeze Henrik until he popped. Lovingly of course.

This was such a cute retelling of the original The Elves and the Shoemaker, with lots of memorable quotes, both deep and just outright funny. I am so, so very happy to have received this ARC. Elias, Henrik and Johan's stories touched my heart and left it wrapped in a warm, comfy blanket. The way they care about and what they sacrifice for each other makes me want to believe in a better world. We need more soft stories like this, and everyone deserves a Johan in their lives.

A YA novel that didn't have to go so hard, but I'm glad it did.

I wish I had this book when I was 12 and puberty just hit my body. The hair growth wasn't something that bothered me, but everyone around me - from family members to friends to complete strangers - felt the need to tell me how my body hair was unsanitary, how gross and wrong it was, how I had to wear long trousers or skirts even in summer if I didn't shave because it was just so disgusting that a female was letting her hair grow free and wild and had I no respect for myself? For a long time I bent myself to this pressure. I still remember the anxiety that would rise in me every time I was brought to a friend's mum who was an esthetician, the smell of warm wax the heat that was burning my legs and the pain that came after. The red legs and armpits groin area (not a brazilian as TJ, but close enough) that was with me for a full week if not more. But oh, my legs were so beautiful and smooth!/s Only to start a month after with the same excruciating pain. Don't get me wrong, I'm white, but my southern-ItalIan genes make it so that I'm quite hairy all over my body. This book felt like a love letter to my younger self. It made me ugly cry, it made me reflect, and I think in some way adjusted a tiny part inside of me that had been smushed by society for way too long. Even if now, at 34, I let my hair grow as much as they desire, I still feel the pressure to shave whenever I fly to Italy in summer. Still feel judged. But I'm also slowly learning to let these societal expectation go. And this book, and TJ's struggle, well, I think they were the final push I needed. So, thank you, Jesmeen Kaur Deo, for this love letter to all hairy girls and people out there.

Anyway, sorry for the rant, please go read the book and gift it to the people who need it the most. I'll sure do it when my niece needs it.