Review of The Balkan Air

[Ukaegbu Confidence]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Balkan Air" by Aydin Kavara.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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The Balkan Air by Aydin Kavara is a work of science fiction that reads more like a well-rounded history book. What would it be like to be born knowing where you are from? To know exactly what last name you would have? This appeals to the heart desires of many who wish they could have hand-picked their families themselves.

In this book, souls are pre-destined in Heaven, waiting until they are assigned an identity and then sent to Earth. Alexander is a pre-destined soul from Heaven assigned to a specific family; however, upon arrival on Earth, he was sent to a town in Bosnia and Herzegovina called Herontown (Capljina). He could not remember his assigned last name. He was to return to the heavenly authorities to inquire about his assigned last name, but before he could do that, he met Ronnie, who then showed him how to stay on Earth without returning to the heavenly authorities. Fast forward to events on Earth, Alexander is born into a Muslim family as Ahmet, and the readers are taking on a mind-blowing adventure.

When I saw that Alexander met Ronnie, I wished he had returned to Heaven and gotten his rightly assigned family. It felt like nothing good would come out of this encounter. While reading this book, I found it really hard to believe that this is a work of fiction. Yes, the beginning suggests that, but moving along in the book, the explicit detail of the world-building made me feel like this book stems from a place of experience. It could be from experience as an excellent writer or personal experience; either way, the details in this book were finely written. I loved how Ahmet's tone changed as he advanced in age. When he was a baby, the story was told from the curious mind of a baby; however, it was not told in barely formed words like babies think; it was told from the point of view of curios but the knowledgeable child, and as he advanced in age, the writing tone evolved took. We are introduced to his cousins and other characters in the book and the many mischievous acts they carry out. One character I loved was his grandmother, Esma. I loved how strong she was and how she could stand up and be the shoulder to rely on for her family. After having a husband who was stroked at thirty-five and needed care around the clock, she became the man of the house.

I loved many aspects of this book and had a fantastic time reading the book. The part where Ahmet was sent to a mental asylum was so well written. I re-read that part. The book also carried an incredible sense of humour. There are no dislikes to this book. When I saw the introduction, which discussed souls being pre-destined, I expected a different type of story, but I was shocked by the twist I encountered while reading this book. This book carries the emotions of the characters excellently. I have never felt fear from reading a book like I did when I read chapter 18. Trust me, you'd want to read this book.

The book displayed excellent editing, as I found no errors while reading it. I give this book a perfect five-out-of-five rating. This book contains mentions of the LGBTQ community and war-related religious content, so readers who are sensitive to these aspects should be cautious while reading. I recommend this book to fans of the fictional genre.

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The Balkan Air
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[Dana Lawrence Lohn]

How fascinating would it be if indeed this book is nonfiction from the perspective of the author, perhaps autobiographical or a memoir, but it felt like such a wild story that Kavara didn’t want to say that? I read this morning that Sebastian Junger, the writer, says he had a near-death experience not dissimilar from what is described here! Sounds like the story affected you very deeply, particularly with the fear you felt as you read Chapter 18. Very cool review.

[NetMassimo]

Bosnia and Herzegovina are lands still scarred by the consequences of Yugoslavia's fall, so a novel set there surely includes references to all of that. The basic idea of souls being pre-destined adds layers to the story that make me curious. Thank you for your great review!

[David Awunor]

Thanks for the review! The attention to detail is truly commendable. I, too, wasn't expecting the storyline to evolve that way. What if he actually went to heaven to be reassigned to his right family? Would it have been the same?