Review of The Elephant Tooth of '95

[Freda Ramirez]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Elephant Tooth of '95" by Rana Baydoun.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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The Elephant Tooth of "95: An Enchanting Story of Family, Romance, and New Beginnings by Rana Baydoun is a lovely coming of age story that follows the protagonist after graduation from university as she experiences a series of firsts in "adulting"; from her first job, first love, first heartbreak, making tough decisions and finding love again.

The structure of this story was such a treat and made it that much more engaging. The chapters were named after popular songs of different eras - Classical, English, German, Arabic and even Spanish songs that were quite nostalgic and alluded to what was coming up for Noor Berouti. For example, in "Chapter Twenty-Five - You Gotta Be", is the title of an R&B/soul hit song by British singer Des'ree from the year 1994. It is such an upbeat, motivational tune, that was the perfect "mood music" for how Noor picked herself up, not only emotionally but physically as well after heartbreak from her first love, to regain her "joie de vivre". There is even a Spotify link to listen to all the songs mentioned while you read! As well, action seamlessly took place in different international locations as we follow Noor through various life experiences from Sin el Fil, Lebanon, "which literally translates as “the Elephant’s Tooth”" [Chapter Two - The Chauffeur, page 9], to Germany to Spain with relevant languages sprinkled in so the reader even gets to learn other language expressions.

In terms of negative aspects, there were none. Only found one error which was a typo, therefore demonstrating that this was a very well edited book.

As such I would rate this book 5 out of 5 stars.

This was a wonderful read and I would unreservedly recommend it not only for young adults who would see themselves, regardless of background, reflected in these pages, but also for anyone who would like to indulge in a little nostalgia not only musically but with a touch of history wrapped in an international setting to immerse themselves in.

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The Elephant Tooth of '95
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