Hello folks! We are officially closing in on ONE WEEK since DUST SETTLES NORTH came out! AHH!

I thought I'd share all of the incredible PR and buzz that Dust Settles North & Deena herself have gotten and also encourage all of you to get out there and REVIEW the book if you've read it already, and SHARE that you're reading it on social media!

Here are some buzzy summaries for sharing:

• Dust Settles North is a lyrical literary fiction that tackles themes of grief, identity, and religious guilt, set across Egypt and America in 2012

• Dust Settles North is a lyrical literary fiction that portrays Arab American characters in all their humanity — the kind of representation that is absolutely necessary in our political climate today

• Dust Settles North is a lyrical literary fiction following two Egyptian-American siblings as they process grief, religious guilt, and struggle with their identities

• Dust Settles North is a book for anyone who is a child of immigrants, has lived between two cultures, or has struggled to reconcile their identity under their parents expectations

• Dust Settles North is a book about coming-of-age even as an adult, dealing with grief, and finding your identity amongst political upheaval

We'll also officially be reading it for the Boundless Book Club for November, so if you're waiting to read it after spooky season then by all means grab a copy now (ily 🫶🏾) and then get ready to read in November, but still please scream from the rooftops about how excited you are for the book—it truly helps ensure that we see continued success for the book.

Please consider leaving reviews on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Goodreads !!

Without further ado—all of the cool buzz!!

ELECTRIC LIT – “48 Books By Women of Color to Read in 2025”

MS MAGAZINE – “Reads for the Rest of Us: The Most Anticipated Feminist Books of 2025”

GOODREADS – “42 New and Upcoming Debut Novels for Your Reading Radars”

BOOKISH – “Debuts to Read in the Second Half of 2025”

THE GLOSS – review, “ElGenaidi masterfully takes you through the stages of grief through siblings Hannah and Zain after the unexpected loss of their mother, Yasmeen…ElGenaidi wraps up the book with a sense of hope and a beautiful message that our loved ones are always with us. She perfectly captured the imperfect and messy journey through grief.”

HARPER’S BAZAAR ARABIA –  "9 Books By Arab Authors To Read This Autumn", "A haunting meditation on memory, exile, and survival, ElGenaidi’s prose drifts between past and present, between the intimacy of family life and the vast expanse of history. Written with lyrical restraint, the novel illuminates the ways in which displacement shapes identity across generations. A perfect read for those seeking something poetic yet piercing."

WRITE OR DIE MAGAZINE – “30 Books We Can’t Wait to Read: September 2025”

MS MAGAZINE – “September 2025 Reads for the Rest of Us”

DEBUTIFUL – “24 debut books to discover in September 2025”

ELECTRIC LITERATURE – interview 

Deena's essay on WRITER'S DIGEST — "Capturing the Full Spectrum of Experiences—Book by Book and Story by Story"

BROOKLYN RAIL — Interview with Nina St. Pierre

MOJEH — https://www.mojeh.com/article/the-mojeh-weekend-bvlgari-huda-beauty/

DUST SETTLES NORTH PLAYLIST — https://largeheartedboy.com/2025/10/06/deena-elgenaidis-book-notes-music-playlist-for-her-novel-dust-settles-north/

PLAYLIST ON SPOTIFY https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1kyn2cUDQXekvSZflXCCLR?si=hqts5obtS2qSW8pSRECzAQ