YMMV / The Pianist from Syria - A Memoir

• Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Discussed In-Universe with the anime Hello! Sandybell, which is a smash hit in Syria to the point one of Aeham's classmates is named after it.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Early in the novel, the author mentions "a popular manga show" named Hello! Sandybell in his country. Hello! Sandybell is about a little girl Searching for the Lost Relative after her father dies. Later, the author's brother goes missing after his own father dies, and he breaks.
• Heartwarming Moments: Everything about Aeham's dad. He was diagnosed with blindness at the age of eight, but that didn't stop him from becoming a renowned violinist. He's always in his son's corner when he needs it, be it from his Dean Bitterman Principal or when he feels like he should give up the piano.
• Squick: Vladmir Tsarivsky is a schoolteacher who lusts after one of his students, Sandybell, whenever she walks by. Aeham says he was 13 when Tsarivsky was assigned his teacher, and Sandybell "is a little older than him", which means he's likely an ebhibophile.
• Tearjerker: Many scenes, but the worst is when Bashar Al-Assad ensures many Syrians to starve to death.