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Nila is the nineteen-year-old daughter of Afghan immigrants, living in Berlin. She is conflicted about her identity, telling people she is Greek to avoid confronting the stereotypes applied to Afghanis in the aftermath of 9/11. She lives with her father after her mother died a couple years before. She gets involved with an older American writer and loses herself in the Berlin club scene. The relationship with the American is not healthy, and she exhibits a self-destructive tendency.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The positives include lyrical writing, and the exploration of themes of identity, belonging, grief, and the search for freedom. Nila’s interest in the art of photography is appealing. The ending is well done, incorporating the rise of anti-immigrant groups that have arisen in Berlin (and elsewhere). The downsides are the uneven pacing and the repetitive party scenes, which could have been reduced by half. These scenes get very old very fast. Overall, it is a promising debut novel, and I look forward to what Aber writes next.

3.5