Format: eBook📖

This was a sweet story, and I could easily see myself recommending it to my teens at the library. I loved Little Ash and Uriel, and seeing their relationship develop and grow as they embark overseas to immigrate to America was heartwarming. I had a bit of a tough time getting into the book right away, but once I reached the halfway point, the remaining pages flew by until I finally got to the back cover. One challenge I faced was that with a book like this, which references and uses specific terminology, the eBook made it very difficult to flip back and forth between the main text and the glossary. Luckily, I was able to pull up most definitions by highlighting the text, but I have no way of knowing if those definitions match the descriptions in the back unless I completely leave my spot in the eBook. This doesn't take away from the ebook itself; it’s just something I appreciate about physical books, where flipping back to the glossary can be much easier. Aside from that, there were a few parts where the writing felt a bit awkward, and it disrupted my reading flow enough that I had to pause to figure out if I was understanding the sentences correctly. Overall, I really enjoyed When the Angels Left the Old Country.

Format: Audio 🎧

I haven’t read many books in the historical fiction genre, but this was a great reminder that these stories have so much to give. One thing that helped bring this story to life for me was the dual narrative from Ellie and Homa. Without that, I think the story would have felt less emotional for me. Of course, I also recognize that there’s a lot of history and elements woven into this story that I’m not familiar with, but if anything, I found myself easily drawn into the characters and their lives. And following the lives of Ellie and Homa over several years was such an emotional roller coaster.