Title: The Boat People

Author: Sharon Bala

Publisher: Penguin Random House Canada

Published: January 2018

Cups of Tea:

It took me awhile to get really invested into this book. About a quarter of the way through I got more interested and invested; it began to capture my attention. The way that Bala intertwined the three character’s stories with each other made the read more pleasurable. I would read this book again in order to catch the little details that I may have missed during the first read-through.  I found this book to be extremely relevant today with the refugees seeking asylum, even though this book was written and published in 2018. This allowed me to see the different perspectives of the three people while they were seeking refuge, and helping those that are seeking refugee from Sri Lanka. I found it very enlightening to learn more about the refugee process and the process of claiming refugee status within Canada. Overall I enjoyed this book.  The character development was lacking, and I couldn’t get invested in the character’s stories and how they came to Canada as well as their role with helping the refugees. Overall it was an enjoyable read and I found it to be very informative. I would give it a 4/5 cups of tea, and it should be enjoyed with some tea. I believe I was drinking earl grey throughout reading this novel.