The opening sentences of the book work really well in pulling the reader in, which was such a refreshing experience. It was told a sass but still had depth.
It focuses on strong female characters that we get to care about deeply, on mass displacement of Palestinians, love, desire, arranged marriages, motherhood, generational trauma. The complexity makes for such a good reading experience.

Took me a while to get into this one, but it's rewarding. Multigenerational story of Palestinian/Palestinian-American women and the challenges they face in their professional and romantic lives. Good voice, not overwritten. Wraps up a little swiftly and I wouldn't have minded more resolution/denouement, but I'd still recommend.

Unfortunately this one did not work for me. I went into it with high expectations, and while it may be a home run for others I found myself putting it down quickly / not feeling excited to pick it up. I DNFed.

Unfortunately, the writing style didn't work at all for me. It came across as really disjointed and it also made the pacing feel off. Additionally, given the current state of the world, I felt like this just wasn't the right book for me to invest my time and effort in.

Arabella swings between two modes: grief and rage. She wants to be recognized for her expansive talent as a theater director in an industry determined to pigeonhole her into her Palestinian American identity. So when her next — and potentially, only — opportunity is a genderbent production of “Hamlet” in the West Bank, Arabella must contend with what it means to return to the homeland her grandmother Zoya was forced to flee. “When the country you are from no longer exists, you can’t ever truly emigrate from it,” Arabella reflects. Alternating between the perspectives of Arabella’s post 9/11 New York, her mother Naya’s younger years in Detroit and San Francisco, and Teta Zoya’s final days in Jaffa, each woman unabashedly carves her own identity in spite of the tragedies unfolding in their community, personal lives and onstage. With scathing humor and raw emotion oozing off of every page, “Too Soon” is an engrossing 80-year saga that still ends too soon, leaving you ravenous for more. Author Betty Shamieh is a graduate of Harvard College and the Yale School of Drama, playwright of 15 plays and the founding artistic director of The Semitic Root, a collective that supports innovative theater co-created by Arab and Jewish Americans.

I could not get into this one. Barely got 10% in. A lot of unnecessary harsh profanity and I wasn't able to connect with the characters or story being set up.

Too Soon is perfect for fans of inter-generational storylines. On one hand it explores the economic and political nature of the arts. On the other hand Too Soon examines relationships between mothers and daughters. The pain we inherit and the scars we pass on. These women are stuck between loves, duty and passion. The ways parents fail their children, the moments we remember when we needed their support. Parenthood is by no means a perfect process. It's about these raw emotions of rage, guilt, resentment, love, and loss.

This book genuinely has everything it needs to be exceptional. The writing is razor-sharp in wit and reflection. The plot is captivating from the start with each timeline’s respective setting coming to life on the page. Shamieh’s choices are confronting and thought-provoking, challenging me to question my understanding of diaspora while illuminating universal truths of familial expectations, desire, and belonging. Nevertheless, I had small hang-ups with several characters, each of which disrupted my momentum while reading. Some of the earlier movements in character development, particularly with Zoya and Arabella, felt rushed and inconsistent. Both women are deeply complicated so inconsistencies are to be expected, but some character choices felt like their only purpose was to set the stage for a plot point. Now, once the stage was set, I got out of my head and fell right into these womens’ minds. I loved reading about Palestine through an intergenerational lens examining three distinct experiences of womanhood, particularly given the diversity of attitudes towards motherhood, ethnicity, and duty.

4.5 stars

Thank you Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC!

I don't even know where to begin with this review. I loved this story of three generations of Palestinian women, which explores themes of loss, motherhood, exile and art. It's very much a Palestinian story, unlike anything I've read before. It didn't disappoint at all.

This was such a beautiful book! At first I couldn't get into the story, but once I sat down with it and dove in, I was all in. Great writing and such interesting characters! Such a wonderful book about Palestinian Americans.

Thanks NetGalley and Avid Reader Press for a copy of this ARC.

We follow three generations of Palestinian women. The story centers on the granddaughter's journey to make it in the NYC theater as a director. I couldn't connect with this book as much as I hoped. Thank you, NetGalley!

I love family sagas and this one did not disappoint! I loved this book. I can already tell that it will be one of my favorite books that I read this year. I could not put this book down.

I can already say that this is going to be one of my favorite books of 2025!

The story centers around Arabella, Naya and Zoya. Three generations of women who are trying to navigate the cards that were dealt to them as Palestinian women. This was so beautifully written that I wish I could read it again for the first time.

I highly recommend this book!

Prepare to be captivated by a haunting and deeply realistic journey through generations. In Too Soon, Betty Shamieh introduces us to three remarkable Palestinian women, each navigating their own struggles and identities across time and place.

At the heart of the story is thirty-five-year-old Arabella, a Palestinian-American theatre director in New York. After years of hiding her heritage to fit into a world that often misunderstands it, she is now faced with an extraordinary opportunity to direct a production in the West Bank. The invitation forces her to confront questions of identity, belonging, and self-discovery she has long suppressed.

We also meet Naya, Arabella's headstrong mother, who escaped a turbulent past to live a seemingly idyllic life in California. Married off as a child, Naya's journey is one of resilience and reinvention, but also one haunted by sacrifices. And finally, there is Zoya, Arabella's grandmother, a matriarch whose strength shines through as she flees her homeland in the dead of night.

Shamieh masterfully weaves the personal with the historical, threading the complex and often heart-wrenching history of the Palestinian people into this intimate narrative. The result is a novel that is as earth-shattering as it is beautiful. It explores identity, displacement, and the enduring bonds of family with sharp realism and tender humanity.

Too Soon will break your heart and then carefully piece it back together, leaving you with a story that lingers long after the final page. This is a must-read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of history through the lens of extraordinary personal journeys.

#AvidReaderPress #Palestine #TooSoon #BettyShamieh

A topical and timely novel that might remind some readers of Enter Ghost thanks to the setting among other things but which is distinctly its own. Shamieh has created three generations of women who feel very real. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A very good read.

Very enjoyable, interesting, emotional read. Betty Shamieh is a talented writer and I am excited to hopefully read more novels from her in the future. Her protagonists are multilayered with such distinct voices. I adore the multi perspective aspect part of this book, and it all comes together to create a dramatic, exciting, and emotional family saga. Highly recommend.

I really enjoyed this book (except for the ending -- it wasn't bad but the rest was so good). It made me think, and I enjoyed the characters immensely. This was so well written, funny and poignant. Give it a try!!

Too Soon comes out next week on January 28, 2025, and you can purchase HERE!

Of all the people most likely to out your lies, your children are at the top of the list. Children don't yet know what is private, which is another way of saying what is humiliating to reveal.

4.5⭐

It's only fitting to finish this book with the Israel-Gaza ceasefire imminent. This was a beautiful complex book of motherhood, statelessness of Palestinians, art and theater, and the expectations of culture. And I loved all of it.

This book is so important to understand the impact to people the Nakba had and the lack of statehood for Palestinians continues to have today. And at the same time, it gives such a rich view into 70+ years of culture and how Palestinian American culture has developed in the face of statelessness.

If you enjoyed books like Pachinko and have been heartbroken over unnecessary civilian bombings in Gaza the past 15 months, this book is required reading.

TOO SOON by Betty Shamieh

Pub date: Jan. 28th, 2025
Publisher: Avid Reader Press
Rating: 3 / 5


How does history define the roles you play in life?

Zoya fled Palestine after The 6 Day War displaced her people in 1948. Naya came of age in the divisive streets of Detroit and San Francisco in the 1960s and 70s. Arabella, a Shakespearean director in New York, has returned to the West Bank to stage an ambitious theatre production in 2012. Three generations of Palestinian-American women– grandmother, mother, and daughter; three vastly different experiences navigating the world; one raw and honest narrative of identity, family, and history.

TOO SOON is a passionate debut that brings women's generational and cultural issues to the forefront. The book is told in 3 POVs, primarily following present day Arabella with chapters documenting Zoya and Naya's early and later lives. The alternating chapters gives readers an opportunity to connect to each woman's unique struggles, and also clearly see how generational curses and gifts manifest. While a prominent focus of the book is on the women's ties to their Palestinian heritage and family upbringing, the actual development of the characters throughout the book is quite minimal. Some chapters read more like diary entries with freeform reflection and ranting. Others have more action but the sequence of events can feel disjointed or slow at times. Readers who enjoy literary fiction with a focus on womanhood, motherhood, migration, politics, and narratives of return will likely enjoy Shamieh's first novel.


(Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!)

too soon is an intergenerational story of three palestinian women as they struggle with identity, motherhood and the multiple crossroads of life. the primary narrative follows arabella, a theater director approaching a midlife crisis when she’s asked to direct a new interpretation of hamlet in the west bank. alongside arabella’s story, we also follow her grandmother, zoya, who emigrates to america as a result of the nakba, and arabella’s mother, naya, who resigns herself to an early wifehood and motherhood to respect her parents’ wishes.

the story is easy to read and i enjoyed the author’s voice and perspective. the way the complex gender dynamics of the culture are portrayed are a real strength of this novel, as well as the struggle between both ‘fitting in’ to give yourself opportunities and ‘standing out’ to represent your culture. i struggled with the pacing of this book though, which is a slow start and a lot of info-dumping. what would or could be the most emotionally impactful moments of the narrative (the play’s performance and a major character death) are delivered in the epilogue.

i wish the structure of this worked for me more because it’s a beautiful novel with immersive writing and interesting themes. i’d still recommend it with the caveat that the plot and pacing doesn’t live up to the heartfelt quality of the writing.