2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss Finding Nouf, the first book in the Nayir Sharqi & Katya Hijazi series by Zoë Ferraris.

Pages: 305 pages

Length: 1 month (June)

Participants: SarahKat, Beth, D.L.

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

Here are some questions to help get the conversation started! Feel free to look up discussion questions specific to this book or come up with your own. Just make sure any questions that contain spoilers are under spoiler tags.
Discussion questions are not required but may be a fun way to talk about the book and get to know each other!

Prior to starting:
What prompted you to join this buddy read?
Have you read this author before? What do you think of their other books?

Mid-read:
What character or ideas do you relate to the most and why?
Do you have any favorite quotes or scenes?

After reading:
What was enjoyable or not-so-enjoyable about this book?
Did this book change your perception about anything, either within the book (character development) or in real life?

I'm staring today! I've never read this author before. I decided to read it when I saw it suggested for this Buddy Read. I love mysteries, and the synopsis sounded intriguing. I've never read a book set in Saudi Arabia before, so I'm looking forward to this on a lot of levels.

It will be a few weeks before I start on this one probably. My June reading is going painfully slow. This is on KU so I'm trying to get my library books done first!

I hear you, Sarah! I always prioritize my library books, which means I rarely get to books I actually own!

I really, really enjoyed this one. The mystery itself was intriguing and well played out, and being set in Saudi Arabia added a lot to the story. Fascinating to read about life there... the heat in particular. (Her soles melted as she was waiting for her ride, and they had to stop and buy new shoes on the way to their destination!) I found it challenging to read about how women are viewed and expected to behave in that culture. A few days ago I finished The Woman They Could Not Silence, and much of the attitude toward women in Nouf felt very similar to that.

(view spoiler)[I like watching Nayir and Katya become more and more comfortable as the story progresses. I'm really interested to see their friendship continue. (hide spoiler)]

Anyone interested in continuing the series? There are two books left:
Book 2: City of Veils
Book 3: Kingdom of Strangers

I'd be good for July and August, but later in the year would work, too.

Thanks to whomever suggested this book!

Finally started this and will finish in the next few days. I like the setting like you said Beth. The culture is very different than anything I am used to for sure. I wish the mystery was a little more at the forefront. It seems like just something that's happening in the background right now.

Unfortunately, I can't find the second 2 books for free anywhere so I won't be able to join for them!

Finished! Pasting my review.

This was a pretty good mystery book set in Saudi Arabia. The setting was definitely very different from anything I had read before. The absolute crazy heat (shoes melting off your feet while walking in them!) is one thing, but also the way women are treated and how the characters actually feel about that aspect of their culture. This was a big part of the book, with Nayir being very uncomfortable around women, especially when they aren't as meek and modest as he would expect them to be. I liked the women who had strength and personality to them while still maintaining the laws and customs of the country. Not a full-on rebellion but little ones here and there.

(view spoiler)[I did not see the killer coming, even though someone says earlier in the book that women murder people too so there should be female investigators for those cases. I was pretty sure Othman had done it the whole time. Turns out, he and his sister (Nouf) were involved. Nouf wanted to move away to get away from him and live her life, but she was also pregnant with his kid. Her sister murdered her because she was jealous of her betrothed. (hide spoiler)]