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  "Kabul had once been beautiful. Nooria remembered whole sidewalks, traffic lights that changed colour, evening trips to the restaurants and cinemas, browsing in fine shops for clothes and books." Now, all that was left was rubble. One small room and a family seeking desperately to survive every day. Nooria's younger sister, Parvana would sit on the street corners with their father and help find customers who needed a hand in writing a letter or to read from one received. It is so difficult surely to find humour or a little laughter in difficult times. And some of the father-daughter lines are very endearing. Like once, father and Parvana are walking and she notices this big mountain and asks for its name. Father says "Mount Parvana!" On being reprimanded by his wife to not lie to a child, he quips, "Mountains are named by people. I am a person and I name that mountain Mount Parvana!" This makes everyone laugh which tells me, all it takes is one stron...

  Five people were whisked away to a far off, uninhabited island and dropped off. Tricked and dropped off would more likely be the case. No questions asked, no answers given. Five people with vulnerable backgrounds. Each story having its own reason. Once on the island, they have been sent a message through notes, that they have to fend for themselves. Survive this stay (read: ordeal) and the last man/woman standing would return home. Last man standing - meaning, either the fittest survive or they kill each other. Whichever suits them best. I was so bored to listen to this book. Constant cribbing and crying by the protagonist. I mean, I get it that you are stranded on an uninhabited island; I get it that you are frustrated; I get it all. Even in my most vulnerable moment, even if I was seething with anger, I first of all, would not do something so stupid, like being convinced to go off on a cruise boat without informing people. I am a bold person in general, but not bold enough to d...