Mortada Gzar takes us on an adventure from war-torn Iraq to rainy Seattle. As the tale unfolds, we are given access to the author's past. It is not safe to be a homosexual male in Iraq and as he leaves his childhood behind, Mortada discovers just dangerous it is.

I loved the glimpse of Iraq from a native perspective; the culture, the history, the religion, the day-to-day workings. What an interesting time and place for Mortada to have grown into the man he will become.

Present-day, Mortada has immigrated to Seattle in search of Morise, the American soldier he fell in love with during the war. Surrounded by an interesting cast of characters and a city that is its own character, this book was an enjoyable read.

I’m happy I didn’t put this down. I wanted to throughout the first half, some of the characters and plot points feeling unclear. I couldn’t tell if there was a lot lost in translation, if the story had been distorted somehow, if the Iraqi culture was that hard for me to vibe with, or if I just wasn’t connecting, plain and simple.

By the end, I had learned a lot about the horrors that he and so many people experienced and understood that this book was meant to unfold a lot like life does- people do inexplicable things, act in puzzling ways, and if we are patient through the discomfort of not understanding, we just might be rewarded with someone’s precious story.