Waseem

by Lilas Taha

The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of a doomed love and a young man’s education in hope.

In the crowded, streets of a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, Waseem has learned to navigate life with quiet resilience. Born with a disability that leaves him largely unable to speak or walk, Waseem’s world is shaped by the small, intimate details of camp life.

For years, Waseem has shared a deep, unspoken bond with Ameena, his best friend and the girl he has silently loved from afar. Ameena, a fierce and compassionate spirit, has always been there for Waseem, supporting him through every challenge. The friendship is both fueled and challenged by their secret ambition––to travel to Palestine, their beloved but unreachable ancestral home.

Waseem is in turn a tear-wrenching and hilarious journey of friendship, love, and exile. It explores the intersections of physical and emotional healing, and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Waseem's story is one of determination and transformation—a testament to the power of love and the unbreakable connection to one's roots, no matter how distant they may seem.
 

Genres: Literary Fiction

312 pages, Hardcover

Published September 9, 2025

About the author

Lilas Taha is a writer at heart, an electrical engineer by training, and a domestic abuse victim’s advocate by choice. She was born in Kuwait to a Syrian mother and a Palestinian father, and immigrated to the U.S. as a result of the Gulf war in 1990. She earned a master’s degree in Human Factors Engineering from the University of Wisconsin- Madison.
Pursuing her true passion for creative writing, Lilas brings her professional interest and her Middle Eastern background together in her novels.

Reviews

[Rosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a Nutshell: An OwnVoices literary fiction about a disabled Palestinian young man living in a refugee camp in Lebanon. Effectively highlights refugee experience along with ordinary human needs such as love, acceptance, freedom, and education. Interesting plot choices and characters. Genuine representation of a person living with severe disability. Erratic pacing in the second half, but that’s a relatively minor blip in the experience. Set prior to the current war, so it doesn't cover war-related struggles. Recommended.

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Plot Preview:

Waseem was born with a disability that left him unable to speak or walk. Living in a cramped Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon with his parents and younger siblings, Waseem is dependent on his family for his physical needs and on the small window for a glimpse of the outside world. This changes when his best friend Ameena, a fellow camp resident and a little girl with a big heart, brings him a book. Their friendship becomes stronger over their shared love for knowledge and their secret desire to visit Palestine someday.
As the years go by, Waseem’s feelings for Ameena transform into a deeper desire, but he is practical enough to understand that his yearning has no realistic chance of turning into actuality. That’s when certain events lead to a time of transformation in both their lives.
The story comes to us mostly in Waseem's first-person perspective.

Bookish Yays:
🍉 Waseem. An extremely well-written character who doesn’t allow his disability to break his spirit. His frustration as well as his willingness to go beyond the limits come out well.

🍉 Quite an interesting choice to have the narration from Waseem’s first-person perspective. Keeping in mind that he cannot speak, it is a brave decision as well, because we get to read only his thoughts and details of what he overhears or sees. Direct conversations are somewhat limited. This still doesn’t put any restriction on our grasp of the events.

🍉 Waseem’s disability is also written in a true-to-life manner. Because of the intimacy of the first-person POV, we can actually sense him struggling beyond the limits of his restricted speech and mobility. The author’s note mentions that Waseem’s character is based on one of her relatives; this familiarity probably influenced her accurate description of Waseem’s physical weakness that rarely affected his mental strength. Many make the mistake of assuming that those with physical disability also have issues with mental comprehension. Waseem’s character convincingly proves the inaccuracy of this.

🍉 Considering the physical struggles of the narrator and the trauma of camp life, you might expect this to be a narrative dominated by the ‘woe-is-me’ feel. On the contrary, Waseem is treated as any other main character would be treated. The author even infuses plenty of joyous moments amid his heartbreaks. I love that Waseem’s mischievous side is also depicted – rarely do books focus beyond the disability of disabled characters.

🍉 Given the narrator, I didn’t expect romantic love to feature in the plot. It took me some time to get used to this, but I appreciate how beautifully and realistically the book approached Waseem’s emotions. It never felt exaggerated or melodramatic, but it also didn’t feel patronising or sympathetic, if you know what I mean. It normalises disability in the true sense of the word.

🍉 Ameena. What an outstanding character! Not just because of her heart but also because of her brains and her determination. Her journey throughout is one of courage and ambition but never does she allow this to overpower her humanity.

🍉 The friendship between Waseem and Ameena – again, not like what you would expect. It feels like a connection between equals, with their bond coming out strongly. I love how the book never portrays Ameena as having sympathy for Waseem; she treats him the way she would treat any other friend and even corrects him when needed instead of treating him with kid gloves.

🍉 The refugee experience. Not at all like I had expected it to be written. Most refugee camp stories I’ve read focus on the problems such as poor sanitation, limited food, lack of education, and so on. They are also usually set in temporary facilities such as tents. This camp has more of a ghetto feel, and the story highlights the unity, bond and cooperation across the camp residents rather than only talking about the issues. It was a refreshing approach.

🍉 The strong feeling of hiraeth in the camp residents – so lovingly portrayed. It is heartbreaking to see characters longing for their homeland, even if they had lived all their life in the camp. It is like watching intergenerational yearning for a place kept alive through the older generation’s nostalgic stories.

🍉 Given that the book ends a few years prior to the presently ongoing war, it doesn't depict the current emotions of Palestinian people in camps. This does work to its advantage, as the story focusses more on the people than on the murky politics of the region.

🍉 Considering how much Waseem and Ameena love books, there is a lot of namedropping of classics and modern essential reads by various Middle-Eastern authors. Not surprising that I haven’t heard of a single book or author mentioned, and I even doubt I will find them here. But it is nice to see a story focussing on so many local authors.

🍉 Several thought-provoking quotable quotes amid the lyrical writing, not a surprise given Waseem’s poetic bent of mind.


Bookish Mixed Bags:
🍊 The book spans many years, but the timepoint is specified only at random. Unless Waseem’s or Ameena’s age is mentioned in passing, it is a bit confusing to figure out how old they are or how many years have passed by. While this isn't a major constraint, it would have helped to have clearer timepoints or age references.


Bookish Nays:
🍈 The pacing goes all over the place in the second half. Some scenes drag a little bit, with repetition in the actions and emotions. At the same time, some important events are rushed.

🍈 The ending took me by surprise. I cannot go into spoilers, but suffice it to say, I didn’t like a few of the developments, even as I appreciated the change in perspective. It felt a little too contrived.


Overall, even though the first half clearly worked better for me than the second half, I enjoyed the several novelties this OwnVoices work had to offer: a disabled character who isn’t handled with kid gloves, a refugee camp where life is not just about past losses and missed chances, and a love story that is more cerebral than physical. The lyrical writing and the ramble-free first-person narrative added to the beauty of the book.

Definitely recommended to readers of character-driven fiction with a preference for OwnVoices writing.

3.75 stars.


My thanks to Skyhorse Publishing and Arcade for providing the DRC of “Waseem” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.


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[Nadia Masood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the most hopeful things I've read all year.

Waseem has a disability due to which he can barely walk or talk, and he's stuck in this crowded Palestinian camp in Lebanon. His best friend Ameena is basically the opposite of everything you'd expect. She neither pities him nor walks on eggshells around him. She's sweet and smart, which makes their friendship feel so real. They spend their days dreaming about Palestine, this place they've never been but somehow feel like home.

There are parts of the story that'll wreck you. Life in the camp is brutal. But Taha somehow manages to show you all these tiny moments of joy that just exist alongside the pain. Like when Waseem's making sarcastic comments about the camp drama, or when Ameena's teasing him about something ridiculous. It reminded me that people find ways to laugh even when everything sucks.

The writing doesn't feel like it's trying too hard, which makes this an easy and enjoyable read. Taha just tells you what's happening without getting all preachy about politics. Sure, the situation is messed up, but she's more interested in showing you who these people actually are. Waseem's story is indeed one of determination and transformation. By the end, I was completely invested in these characters and their impossible dream.

If you like books about family dynamics, community, friendship, sacrifice, resilience, and healing that don't sugar-coat reality but also don't leave you totally depressed, definitely check this out.

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a heartwarming yet sad story. I’m not sure if I particularly “enjoyed” it but it was a beautiful read. -thank you to NetGalley for the e-arc :)

[Leenah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am so so grateful for the opportunity to read this book. As a Palestinian myself, I am always searching for people who are telling our story. I was so excited when I stumbled across this book on Netgalley. After reading it, I definitely had some conflicting thoughts. I want to begin with the overwhelming positives about this book. I really enjoyed the narration. The writing style worked well for me and it gave off the feeling of being an internal monologue without being super informal. I also found some beautiful passages in this book that I see myself returning to in the future.

“If heaven is not a concept, if it is materialized by a physical place, then I imagine Mother’s celestial body is now enjoying oranges in Yaffa.”

There was so much beautiful prose and well thought out lyrical moments. I felt as though, for the most part, these characters were real people with real struggles and real passions. Which makes it hard for me to fully articulate what exactly went wrong for me here. I felt as though there were important moments in the book that received a glossed over explanation and there were others that were perhaps less important to the overarching plot that received more time on the page. While I appreciated that the focus was on his relationship with Ameena (his best friend and the girl he’s in love with), at times it felt like because of that lens we were missing out on some of the special moments between Waseem and his community. He discusses how his disability impacts him but we never fully see him come to terms with it. He discusses his dream with Ameena about seeing Palestine but we never see that dream realized for him. The aftermath of Ameena’s wedding wreaks havoc on his life but instead of fully seeing that we get a two year jump cut and a chapter from Ameena’s perspective. I will say I did enjoy the scenes where Taha writes about Waseem’s day to day life. It added a level of humanity and calmness to the story that I appreciated.

Overall I truly did enjoy the prose and would consider reading more from this author but some of the narrative choices didn’t work well for me. I’m still so excited to have more Palestinian literature to recommend.

[Mallory · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was won in a Goodread's giveaway.

Overall I would say that this is an important read right now with everything happening in Palestine. There is little to no information that is circulating about how many Palestinian's were refugees after WWII and how that has impacted future generations. I think this context leads to greater empathy about what is currently happening.

Now for the book itself, I found that Waseem was a likable character and that he wasn't perfect. I often see or read about people with disabilities having no flaws, but Waseem had moments of being jealous and prideful that really came across as a more authentic depiction of a real person. There were some inconsistencies with the pacing of the book and I found the perspective change at the end to be very abrupt and a little confusing, but overall I enjoyed this read.

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Arcade for the eARC!

I loved this book. And at moments, I hated it. But it's only because it was so true that was it was hard to look at. Taha created such a beautiful cast of characters in such terrible circumstances. And we get to watch them make the best of everything. We watch them hold onto hope so hard. We watch them appreciate each other, annoy each other, work hard to change their circumstances, make decisions we might disagree with, and love each other - sometimes fiercely, sometimes in the only way they know how. I loved the exploration of home vs homeland and family vs found family. I loved the depictions of grief and how different people handled it. I have the feeling this is the type of book that will teach me something every time I read it!