In it, Abawi uses her experience as an award-winning journalist to illuminate the Syrian refugee crisis in particular.

One such book is A Land of Permanent Goodbyes. Accounts, even fictionalized, of what is going on in the midst of this crisis are needed, ones that neither sugarcoat nor overly dramatize to the point of not recognizing the situations refugees and their families go through, to bring the awareness necessary to fix this pandemic of violence. And yet we need to know what is happening, need to understand that there are actual human beings behind and affected by these horrific conditions, and indeed need to see it through the eyes of those affected. However at the same time, little is written that takes a truly realistic approach to exploring what is happening in war-ravaged areas and what can be done. People, whether young or old, need an outlet, a lens to witness what is going on in our world and understand it without succumbing to depression. There is a reason why books such as The Hunger Games and The Maze Runner became such overnight successes. So many people have been uprooted that this truly is a global humanitarian crisis.

We live in a world that increasingly seems to be overcome with violence, displacing whole peoples as war wages across their homelands and they struggle to find a place that will accept them and allow these waves of refugees safe harbors and chances to lead at the very least safe and ordinary lives.

A land of permanent goodbyes