Premise:
I think that it comes out pretty natural to compare it to Persepolis. The plot is very similar, the historical period is the same, even the artwork is similar, but I didn’t see it as a bad thing. War is war. You can’t just say that Persepolis did it best because war is war, and it’s awful everywhere. This is just a different experience, but still a true story, so we should pay some respects for who lived through it and for who died because of it.

What is it about?:
I found it a “lovely” story. It doesn’t tell us much about the war, but it makes us live with the characters for a couple of hours. We discover what happens “inside the walls” during the war, and how people still try to act “normal” during this awful scenarios. Persepolis is a little different because it’s more of a life-long story, here we’re just spending a typical day with the characters.

The story switches between what happens in the room and the past life of the characters who stay there. This thing comes out pretty naturally in the story line and it adds a lot, in this way we’re able to learn about the culture as well (foods, weddings, maids, games, baby’s names).

Characters analysis:

Some people have criticised the behaviour of the characters, saying that they lacked feelings, such as anger or sadness. According to my interpretation, they are not lacking anything. This people are just trying to live their lives as normal, that’s why they love the little things (coffe, cakes, vodka, tapestry, watering the plants). Some of them are just surrendered by their faith

This happens for example with:
- Anhala, who is unfortunately completely abandoned by the family she grew “What about you? You’re not going with them? Me? Oh, nooo. Canada’s too far away… I’m much to old for that now. […] I’d rather stay here! At least I feel at home here”. Also “Farah’s parents left the country the next day, they moved to Paris […] to wait until the situation in lebanon settled down. They left Anhala behind.”, and at the end “Farah and Ramzi finally got theit visas […]. Farah’s aunt took Anhala in”.
- Ernst, who keeps playing the board game by himself, playing both as himself and his dead brother.

Final thoughts:
The drawings are super cute and they have so many pretty and delicious little details. It took me about 2 hours to finish the whole thing. It’s definitely an easy read and I feel like it’s more of a child reading then Persepolis. I enjoyed it a lot , recommend it!