Netgalley: Call Me Athena: Girl from Detroit by Colby Cedar Smith (written version)

 

Call Me Athena: Girl from Detroit by Colby Cedar Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a beautiful surprise that I've truly enjoyed. A story written in verse that expresses so much and makes you feel a lot better than if it was written in prose. It was sad, romantic, inspiring, heartwarming and more. Colby Cedar Smith is a great poet and storyteller.

We have a story of two generations, one during the first world war and the second one after. We follow three young adults from different countries.

First, we read Mary's story from Detroit, Michigan in 1933, a daughter of a Greek and a French immigrants who they had so much dreams about America but discover a life more different and difficult than they had dreamt about with the Great Depression and a number of kids that they have to feed. Mary doesn't want to follow in her family's culture and traditions toward women which means to be "a good Greek girl" instead she wants to become an independent modern American woman. Mary's story is inspired mainly by the grandmother of the author.

Second, we have the story of Jeanne from Saint Malo, France in 1915, the daughter of a rich doctor who is called to help in the WWI , Jeanne starts volunteering as a nurse at the hospital with the injured soldiers where she will meet Le Loup. Then, we have Giorges (Gio)'s story who starts from Komnina,Cenral Greece in 1915 to Northwestern France 1918, Gio's dream was to have his own boat and becoming a fisherman like his late father but things turn out very different for him.

Each character speaks with his/her own voice about their dreams for the future, their family, their hopes and what they have witnessed or their experience with the loss of a loved one during their journeys. This book is one of the greatest and most beautiful crafted historical fiction that I've read for such a long time.

Also, I've followed this written version with the audiobook and it was amazing which is narrated by Gail Shalan, Hope Newhouse and Ramiz Monsef. It was fantastic because the narrators knew how to express,, through their voices, the deep feelings and emotions of each character. They even used French and Greek accents to give it more authenticity. It was such a beautiful experience that I enjoyed so much.

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