I hate the Portals in Exit West. They are stopping me from fully enjoying what is an otherwise amazing story. I understand why they are in the book. They provide a way out for our protagonists to escape and allow the militants to cause havoc on a global scale. But still, it just doesn’t sit right with me. This book is supposed to be a love story in a war-like setting, not a love story with war and fantasy. I would have much rather had Saeed and Nadia escape their situation through conventional means; not by being bailed out by a magic door. They should have to hop in the back of a van and hope that they don’t get caught; not hope that their trip to Narnia doesn’t end badly.  This story is so amazing and really helps you understand what it is like to be a civilian in a violent war. So why did Hamid decide to ruin that with elements of fantasy?

On top of feeling out of place, the portals seem lazy as well. I feel like Hamid didn’t want to write an escape sequence and instead chose to do something that would have taken much less work. The same goes for the issues the militants are causing in places like Vienna. Instead of having them push into other countries and grow in influence, he chose to have the militants go through portals and kill people.  It all just seems odd and goofy, which sucks because the story is amazing in almost every other way.

With this being said, I am only halfway through chapter 6 so there is a chance for my opinion to change. But with how vehemently I dislike the portals, my opinion will likely stay the same.