3) Aimless Lebanon nightlife with an Aussie friend, drugged in Damascus

This promising debut has bald patches. 

For a stretch she travels with an Australian girl crush, and crutch. 

When Maliha relies on the footloose beauty to attract people and opportunity, both the reader and narrator become testy from lack of attention to her stated goals. 

Uneventful weeks spent dancing in Beirut discos are condensed into a few lines, while a date drugging incident in Damascus is weathered lightly as an unconvincing Masood tries to match her Aussie friend’s cool.