Niko reviewed in Maisonneuve

In Dimitri Nasrallah’s Niko (Véhicule Press), a young boy from war-ravaged Lebanon navigates Montreal—a city of isolation and stifling rules—after being sent to Canada to escape the violence in his home country. Nasrallah’s tone shifts skilfully as his titular protagonist grows from a confused six-year-old to a young man in search of a job, weed, a lover and a solitary refuge from his over-bearing aunt and uncle. The novel takes a surreal turn when Niko’s estranged father emerges with no memory of his past; although such fairytale moments seem unbelievable, Nasrallah mostly circumvents rehashed, pedantic tales of immigration and childhood. His prose catapults the eager reader into Niko’s conflicted world.
—Caitlin Manicom