Goddess of Battle

I have very mixed feelings about Gwendolyn Rachel Ackerman's novel about the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, Goddess of Battle.

Tyra, daughter of civil rights activists Nancy and Paul, is running away from a bad relationship. She's the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors which play in a little bit not to Tyra's actions but to the way she feels her family will perceive her actions. Tyra is always very concerned about who will or will not approve of what she's doing.

Tyra is trying to think of how she can get out of a terrible relationship with Lamar when she literally bumps into a group of young Israelis in New York for a visit. She connects with them and when Tal needs to unexpectedly rush back to Israel, Tyra offers to go with her to give her moral support.

Noureen is a Palestinian whose parents had arranged a marriage for her with an older man. She was disappointed so as a sort of compromise the parents sent her to Berkley to learn English prior to settling down with her husband.

Eventually Tyra, Tal, and Noureen come together in an attempt to start a dialogue about ways to achieve peace.

First the pros.

• This book was recommended for our Jewish book club and I think it will lead to a great discussion. The topic remains very relevant today.
• The novel attempts to show the differences and similarities between what the Palestinians are experiencing in Israel and Black Lives Matter. That really did give me something to think about. 
• I also liked the friendships that the characters in the novel developed with each other.
• The character of Noureen, her husband, and Tal's mother, Michal, were by far the most authentic characters.

Now for the cons.

• The book was poorly edited which at times drove me crazy.
• The main character, Tyra, was so weak. She did more running away from things than running to things, and she was persuaded to join the Israeli army by her new roommate for very silly reasons. She felt neglected by her parents, loved by her parents, and loved by Anita. The relationships were not well-developed.

Would I recommend this book? I'm not really sure. If it wasn't for a book club discussion, I'm not sure I would have stuck with it. (Oh, who am I kidding? I'm sure I would have finished this one!) It gave me a lot to think about. That can never be bad.