The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue by Zoulfa Katouh
- BookishAdventuresOfP
- Jun 1
- 2 min read
Author : Zoulfa Katouh
/YA,Fantasy/
Publication date : June 2, 2026
Blurb:
Seventeen-year-old Jihad Dabbagh has always seen life with a heightened sense for colors, one of many magical blessings the women in her family possess. But Jihad's gift changes depending on her mood. When depression sets in, the world is a colorless oasis, and in the wake of her mother's sudden death, the world has become a permanent shade of grey.
Broken by tragedy, Jihad's family doesn't believe her color loss. Her father sends her to the elite Braxton Academy to finish her senior year. There, Jihad's name and hijab put a target on her back. Her haven comes in the form of an old sketchbook carved from a tree in her hometown in Syria — a country she only knew through her mother's stories. Jihad hasn't picked up a brush in over a year, but finds herself channeling the colors of her hurt, pain, and grief as she paints the story of her mother's journey in Syria.
When graffiti of that same mural starts magically popping up all over New York, her art goes viral and the world takes notice, the threat of legal consequences is imminent. To reclaim her voice, Jihad will have to paint a new future for herself and Braxton, guided by the resilience of her mother's story.
My thoughts:
An emotional rollercoaster with so many feelings attacking your senses, from laughing to crying and hope. Jihad is a seventeen-year-old girl with a special gift for perceiving colours around her. After her mother's death, she begins to see the world solely in grey, and no one in her family understands or believes her loss. After her father sends her to the elite Braxton Academy to finish her senior year, she encounters even more obstacles due to her name and religion. What I fell in love with was the prose and the way it draws you into the story with a gentle hug, making you reflect on themes like loss, prejudice, and so much more. I absolutely adore how art was used as a way for her to process everything she experienced, and combined with the beautiful prose, it created such a vibrant experience for the reader. It was such a quick and enjoyable read, and I genuinely loved picking up that book 💜.
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