"This debut novel from the Vancouver-based Syrian writer reads as many things," writes Kamal Al-Solaylee for Canadian magazine Quill and Quire, "a coming-out memoir, a history lesson, a critique of authoritarianism, a narrative about sharing narratives – but above all, it's a requiem for a dying country and people."[4] The Globe and Mail called the novel "sombre, fantastical, violent and tender," adding that Ramadan's "English-language debut is a gay son's conflicted love letter to Syria."[5]