I have to say, Songbirds by Christy Lefteri has to be one of the most raw, emotional and moving books that I have read in a long time. I already loved her previous book, The Beekeeper of Aleppo, so I was already expecting great things as I began this book but she blew even my greatest expectations out of the water. There is a beautiful metaphor made between the defenceless songbirds which are poached by Yiannis and other poachers and between Lefteri's characters themselves, who are trapped. As Christy Lefteri is the daughter of Cyprion refugees, I really believe you can feel how authentic this story is to her as she crafts it in such a beautiful, almost melodic way. The writing was simply prosaic, poetic to say the least and I was so enamoured by Lefteri's descriptions and imagery. I know I will think about this book for years to come and I would definitely re-read it many times again!