This is a beautifully written book, but so, so sad. With only a 145 pages it is a short book with concise language and I couldn't put it down. It begins at 7 am on a rainy day in Jerusalem where a group of ordinary Israelis and Palestinians are getting ready to start the day, for some their last day on earth, and ends at 2 pm when a suicide bomb explodes. The reader follows the different characters, each with their fears and troubles, each about to have their lives irrevocably changed for ever. This is not an uplifting book, nor is it an easy read, but it does give a fabulous insight into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without judgment or taking sides. A must read! ( )

The before and after of a tragic event; and how each of the characters in the story are involved and affected. Offering both sides of the Israeli-Palestine conflict allows the reader to appreciate their viewpoints and the situation. Retribution seems to be the solution but all it does is perpetuate hatred and revenge. People's lives are full of sadness and loss, fear and uncertainty. The path to reconciliation seems remote. What a mess.
Some of the sentences were unusual but this may be the result of translation. A thought-provoking read. ( )

Maybe I just didn't get it, but I just didn't get it.

Way too many characters to keep track of, more than once in the book I thought I was reading someone who had died in a previous chapter. No characters are given any real time to develop and any chance they have it switches to another character's POV. I have no idea the message/meaning of the book at all, nothing is clear. And on top of that a lot of the writing seems jumbled and reads wrong. Example (quoted exactly) from page 121:

"The girl the bag was passing he could only hang on to her to stop her the children the beauty of Lia the sun Amin."

...what? I had to re-read so many sentences of the book that were written like this one, seemingly missing punctuation and basic grammar.

Like I said, I just didn't get it. ( )