I think this book had a lot of potential and I enjoyed the story, overall. I think the summary is a little misleading - the story is not really a retelling of Romeo and Juliet but rather the life, times, and loves of a group of people in a performing arts school in Istanbul.

First, I liked how the narrator tells the story. It reads like a screenplay, helping you picture the entire scene. The writing style was beautiful, very artistic and complemented the performance art environment within the story. I like how descriptive the passages are when discussing the city itself, its restaurants, bars, and street scenes. It introduced the different culture that many of the American characters are weaving their way through.

The main issue I had with this book was the large number of characters. So many characters not only made it hard to remember everyone and their backstories, but also to invest in most stories and people. Many characters lacked depth and seemed unnecessary, resulting in simply taking time away from more substantial ones. The substantial ones, however, were given a great show of emotion, heart and turmoil, and became very realistic. You are able to grab hold of a few characters and cheer them on their journey. Unfortunately, the narrator also jumps around very quickly from one character story to another, sometimes after one or two sentences. It lost its flow and caused confusion at times when I couldn't figure out when we made the change.

I would have liked more dialogue and some interaction between other characters, rather than sticking to individual couples. And I wish the final performance was given more time and detail. The idea of the performance itself was the main reason I was interested in the book. The entire story leads up to this one performance which was briefly summarized and quickly ended. Lastly, I felt like all but one character got a satisfying ending, which was a bit disappointing. I don't agree that everyone should have their happy ending either, but the ending was a little depressing. Which is funny considering Michael wanted to change the ending of the play to a happy one because he didn't want a tragic, depressing ending.

Still, the story is written beautifully and I did enjoy it. Kudos to Durso for his great, poetic writing style. I do think this is an interesting read with a great take on cultural differences, diversity, performance art, passion, and love.

I had to give myself a few days between finishing Istanbul Days, Istanbul Nights and writing up my review, mostly because I couldn't quite decide what I thought about it. Some aspects I really enjoyed, while others frustrated me slightly.

Starting with the positives, I definitely enjoyed the writing style! The prose was very well thought out, at times feeling almost like poetry. It is quite clear that every word has been thought through, and nothing was left to chance. It was really easy to get lost inside this very colourful canvas, I just kept turning the pages, one after the other, without really realising how much I was reading in a single session.

At the same time, this book is very original and peculiar in its narration. We follow a varied set of characters, all in some way related to a college in Istanbul, their stories seamlessly blending one into the other. I'm not sure whether this was due just to the formatting of the arc I had, and so may not be an issue in the final version, but it was at times incredibly difficult to keep up with the cast: a few times, I struggled in understanding whom we were talking about, mostly because I couldn't always tell when a certain character's part had finished and a new one started. This was quite annoying, and it meant that I had to go back and reread certain passages to understand who was doing what.

Speaking of characters, they are another aspect I had a sort of love/hate relationship with. I enjoyed the diversity of the cast, and I did think that, for the space each of them was granted, we got quite a good glimpse of their personalities, backgrounds and feelings. Having such a big cast, however, also meant that each of them had very limited time for growth and development. As a result, a good number of characters actually felt only like "extras" there for background and number, but not really making any significant contributions; and while some evolved significantly as the story progressed, others seemed to only represent a "type", and they carried out that role for the whole book.

Perhaps the main character, and the most developed one, is the city of Istanbul itself. We are exposed to the city during the days and nights of a whole academic year, learning every person's favourite spots, and the immense diversity of this city between two continents. After reading this book, I definitely feel like visiting Istanbul. Also, I craved Turkish food ALL. THE. TIME. There is a lot of cooking and eating going on here, and the descriptions of the meals are just perfect.

I personally found the blurb to be slightly misleading, and struggled to see this book as a modern retelling of Romeo & Juliet. Sure, that is the plot device used to bring characters together, as they work on exactly this kind of play for their college, but I failed to see it in the bigger picture. Sure, there are many unlucky romances, but that didn't exactly justify the comparison for me. This is more a book on life, with its joys and disappointments, some happy endings and some not-so-happy ones, but mostly the need to challenge ourselves, follow our dreams and ensure we make some good friends along the way to share all our most important moments with.

Definitely a solid read, but one that had just one too many issues to make it perfect for me. You'll probably like this book if you enjoy unconventional storytelling and don't need to get too attached to the characters in order to feel invested in their story. Make sure you have easy access to a Turkish restaurant or a friend with great cooking skills throughout, otherwise you might endure unnecessary suffering!

Günaydin.😊

Today I'm talking about a deep voyage into Istanbul. The book I'm reviewing is "Istanbul days, Istanbul nights", by Leonard Durso.
The Writing style is peculiar: We read little flashes of characters' life, and then we are inside their heads. This is a really interesting choice, it's captivating. We enter inside the mind of the characters with easy ways.

This book must be read at high volume, the words need space to fill, everything want to be listen and felt. The characters are so natural described by the author, who is a great narrator. It's like a theatre's storytelling. You can listen the voice of the author through the words you read. It's fantastic. I'm feeling the same things of the characters, I'm living their moments and their thoughts. Every single word is relatable.

We see Istanbul through quick postcards. I know that I would love every single part about Istanbul, because Istanbul is in my "most interesting places to visit" list. This book make me want to read everything about this city. The atmospheres are unique, as unique is the city. Normal life in Istanbul, fascinating.

The described world is little, full of different people. A microcosm with every kind of personality and interests. People meet here to find themselves and share their passions, creating a fantastic life-mirror. This book talks about loss, love, passion, life, loneliness. Thought about mortality is in every culture and in every human being. I want to say that every person has problems, bad thoughts, good days and beautiful dreams: we are all the same, even if we talk different languages and love different things. We share the same feelings. This book shows that.

Work is a good pass for our frustration: we can put our energy on it, as Michael does with his play. This is the importance of music, dance and sport, our passions as antidotes to bad things. Thoughts about love can be find here: Love is more than words. It's hugs, kiss, touch, smiles, shared life. Even if some characters don't know this, sadly.

The most satisfying parts to read are the description of painting's acts and dancing sessions. The writer shows that the characters have beautiful souls, full of colors and passion. The narrator uses Magnificent words, which touch my heart , because they explain how I feel when I'm drawing or writing.

The story goes on, so slow. It becomes boring at certain times, because the Focus is often on people's thoughts, so deeply studied. The lives of the characters are full of sadness, at the end. You can read this quote to understand:“My life is not the life I started out to have. Somehow, I lost my way.” - it's so dejected. They lose lovers, friends, dreams. Only few people find their happiness.
How random happiness is. Life is, after all, continuing.

• I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review •