Note: this review was written in March 2024, but I refrained from posting it at the time due to the SMP boycott.
I was really excited to read this book when I first heard about it. I still think it's important that this book exists to challenge Islamophobia, and to give voice to so many Muslim teens out there, who feel voiceless and powerless. I appreciated the Muslim representation, specifically Nida's attachment to her hijab.
But this book has a lot of issues as well.
Look, I'm a fairly logical reader. It's not that I set out to poke holes into every story, but sometimes they're so blatant that I can't not notice them, and that was sadly the case here. Throughout the book, regular chapters are interspersed with some of Nida's poetry about the things that are happening to her. I thought it was too much poetry, but that's my personal preference, and not something I count against the book. A big part of the plot is how Nida loses the ability to write poetry, and thereby loses her voice. But the poetry continues. And it's not old poems, because they're all relevant to where the plot is at that point. But Nida can't write them.
There's also a kind of weird magical realism element, which honestly wasn't necessary, but also not really an issue, until the author uses it to conveniently allow Nida to see the past, give us a history lesson, show her exactly what happened to her family before she was born, so she could then use this information to talk to her mother.
I think the part that annoyed me the most was how the author chose to wrap this up, and the message that they will still vote for the Islamophobic politician, because the other choice is worse! And I don't think that's the lesson I want teenagers to learn, because there are other options. I am not American, but I asked an American friend a few questions about how elections work, and granted, it's a complicated system. I don't remember what state this takes place in, and even if I did, I wouldn't know what laws apply in this state. But there could have been an independent candidate as a third option. There could have been a write-in campaign as a show of protest. There could have literally been any other message to teenagers, in 2024, when we are seeing a live genocide, than "vote for the bad guy anyway because the other guy is worse"....more
Tropes:(view spoiler)[hate to love, first time, misunderstandings, she's his brother's ex-fiancé, third act breakup, small town romance (hide spoilerTropes:(view spoiler)[hate to love, first time, misunderstandings, she's his brother's ex-fiancé, third act breakup, small town romance (hide spoiler)] CWs:(view spoiler)[grief, depression, suicidal thoughts (hide spoiler)] Steam level:...more
Ali Hazelwood probably works better for me in the YA sphere. I usually enjoy her writing, but I noticed that it suits younger characters better in general. I think this is my favourite book of hers so far, but you do need to read this with some suspension of disbelief. I'm not familiar with how the chess world operates, but I'm 99% sure it's not like this.
It didn't really matter, though. It's easy to root for Mallory as she fights against her own complicated feelings when it comes to chess, and then the misogyny that's so rampant within that world. I loved watching her win match after match, climbing steadily higher. All the chess parts were fun to read, and I breezed through them.
The romance is pretty good, too, until it isn't. I wish we hadn't gotten another iteration of Adam Driver, but overall I liked Nolan, even though he doesn't feel fully fleshed out as a character. This probably has to do with the book being first person POV from Mallory's perspective, which means we get to see a lot more of her, her family, and her friends—all of which helps to paint a full picture of her. That said, the parts of Nolan we got to see were all good. I liked that he didn't care that Mallory was better than him, and that he wanted to support her instead. The way their relationship progressed was solid, until the ridiculous third act breakup (which, I guess, is another Ali Hazelwood staple at this point). The ending was also pretty abrupt—I wish we'd been able to see the match play out, because there sure was a lot of buildup towards it....more
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
* The art is really cute! * Really liked the unlikely friendship between the 2 main chaARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
* The art is really cute! * Really liked the unlikely friendship between the 2 main characters. * The shenanigans are genuinely funny. * Robotics club looks so cool it makes me envious that my school never had anything like that.
This is a cute, heartwarming, wintery read, and I definitely waited to write this review until it was almost Christmas because that's the season (I did not, in fact, wait for Christmas, I'm just a massive procrastinator). The writing of both authors blended really well. I liked all the relationships that developed over the course of the story, the small town setting, and Maryam's family shenanigans. But I do have some gripes. For one, while I like Anna's arc in general, I think that Nick was written in a way that was totally over the top so that it would be easy to portray him as a not great guy, and Anna as still a good person in the end. It lacked all subtlety, and I think it could've been handled better. But this is a minor complaint—the next one mattered more to me.
So far, I've read every book that Uzma Jalaluddin has written. I love the fact that she writes halal romances, because it's still rare to find books like that. But this didn't quite hit the mark. Unlike with her other books, there were moments where Saif and Maryam leaned against each other, hugged, and while it doesn't say so in so many words, there is even a moment that feels like the prelude to a kiss. It felt jarring to read those moments because I wasn't expecting to find them between Saif and Maryam, and I will admit that it lowered my enjoyment overall, because that is not what I pick up Jalaluddin's books for....more
If you're a Muslim reader, and you get to that one point in the book that makes you go, "wait, WHAT?!", trust the author and keep reading.
Persuasion is one of my favourite Austen novels, and one of the few instances where I appreciated and rooted for a second chance romance. That's a lot to live up to, but Nada and Baz delivered. The yearning and the angst were all there. I also really liked that we got to see both of them at different stages of their lives, because it showcased their growth and gave us a lot of context for how their relationship developed. Neither of them dealt with things particularly well the first time around, which makes sense considering their age and relative maturity. While we don't get to see any changes in Baz, since the book is from Nada's perspective, we do see the impact it has had on her. In the flashbacks, Nada is a spitfire, but in the present day, she's much more timid and reserved—until she runs into Baz, and regains some of the energy she used to have. She has a lot of baggage to deal with, but she does so admirably, and I really appreciated her entire journey.
I will say that I wanted to see more of Baz and Nada's interactions, especially with regard to rekindling their romance, and their journey towards forgiving each other. I feel like a lot of it happened behind the scenes so to speak, which made this feel a little bit more general fiction than romance, in my opinion.
As usual, the author really focuses on what it means to be a practicing Muslim with a SE Asian heritage. She normalizes things like families living within the same house instead of the children moving out at a certain age, but also acknowledges the very real challenges young Muslims, who are born in diaspora, face when it comes to the clashing of their parents' ideals and culture with their own. I continue to be impressed by the way she handles these themes....more
I don't think Ashley Schumacher can write a fluffy book, but I guess this is as close as it'll get. Compared to her other two books, this has less angst and trauma. Madeline is dealing with the grief of losing her mom, but even though it's an important part of the story, I didn't feel like it completely overwhelmed the narrative.
I thought the way the author dealt with Madeline being fat was a bit uneven. Madeline seemed to start off by saying that she had no body image issues, but then we're constantly being told that she feels awkward in certain clothes and walks around sucking in her stomach because she worries what people might think. I appreciate the representation, but it wasn't what I was expecting based on what Maddie said at the beginning.
This book is mostly about the romance between Maddie and Arthur, which was pretty cute, but overall I would say it's not very memorable. Still a fun read, though, especially if you like renaissance fairs....more
I started reading romance books when I was a teenager, borrowing the ones my mom owned. Most of those were from Harlequin, but the characters never looked anything like me. It honestly blows my mind a little bit to find a Harlequin romance with a hijabi character featured prominently on the cover.
I really enjoyed this. Like most Harlequin romances, this had more telling than showing, but the romance was a sweet, slow build. The plot is pretty much exactly what you'd guess based on the title, so nothing that happened really surprised me. The story takes place in Uganda rather than somewhere in the US/Canada, which was also refreshing.
I liked the Muslim representation for the most part, and that both characters were Somali. I'm not sure how religious Bashir is, there were some off-hand mentions about dating, not going to the mosque often, and having experience with sex that made me wonder about that. Yusra prays frequently, is described as wearing modest clothes, and wears a hijab, so we get to see more of her practicing. I like this kind of portrayal, though, because it's the small details sprinkled throughout the book that made me truly feel that I was reading about Muslim characters....more
My only previous experience with The Princess Diaries is the movie adaptation, and I think I prefer it.
While the characters are the right age for thisMy only previous experience with The Princess Diaries is the movie adaptation, and I think I prefer it.
While the characters are the right age for this to be considered YA, it reads very young. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this to its intended audience. It's a fun read, and Mia is a fun character to follow as she navigates being a teenager who suddenly finds out she is, in fact, royalty. There's definitely a lot of appropriate teenage drama when it comes to her family but also her friends, and I think the portrayal of the relationships, and how people can argue but still find their way back to each other, will be relatable. Mia is also someone who thinks protecting the environment is important. I can think of worse role models in books.
That said, I think I had certain expectations that were set by the movie adaptation. The way Mia's grandmother is portrayed here is vastly different, and I miss the kinder version portrayed by Julie Andrews, even though I can recognize that the book's version is more amusing. The book only tackles about the first third or half of the movie, so there isn't really much of a romance going on yet.
There are a couple of Arab characters whose names, as an Arab myself, made me wince a bit. Also saw a few of mentions of Israel that were completely unnecessary....more
If you read and enjoyed The Twisted Ones by T. Kingfisher, I found this to be very reminiscent of that. The two books have a lot of similarities: * In both books, the protagonist returns to the house of a deceased grandmother. * Said grandmother was not a nice person. * Cell reception is bad, so they go to a coffee shop to contact family members. Both books have a goth barista as well. * The protagonist is a middle-aged woman. During the course of the book, she realizes that something that she has said or done is insensitive and that she was being an asshole.
If I hadn't read The Twisted Ones two months before reading this book, I doubt I would've noticed most of these similarities, but it's one of those, once you see it you can't un-see it things.
Did reading this make me worried enough about crawlies in my bed that I did a couple of extensive searches? Definitely. But as far as horror goes, this is more creepy than outright scary. The protagonist has a sense of humor which added some lightness to the story, although I did find that the jokes were often recycled and became repetitive after a while. I liked the family dynamics with her mom. The pacing was very slow for the first half, but really picked up after that. It ended up being a wild ride, which I enjoyed....more
Books with women in STEM always draw me in because I'm part of that group, and it's rare to see that repreCWs:(view spoiler)[misogyny (hide spoiler)]
Books with women in STEM always draw me in because I'm part of that group, and it's rare to see that represented in fiction. On that level, this was a very satisfying read. I really enjoyed all the focus on building robots for competitions, because I am a nerd and I like reading about other nerds doing nerdy things. It helps that I liked the characters as well. Bel has a real talent for engineering, even though she doesn't see it that way. She is encouraged to try out for the robotics club by one of her teachers, and I actually really liked the dynamic between them. Bel finds herself turning to Ms. Voss more than once when she has doubts or needs advice, and I liked that the author gave that relationship room to breathe within the story.
Teo is a natural leader, to the point where everyone seems to be completely dependent on him. But he doesn't deal well with criticism, and faces a lot of pressure from his father, who expects him to devote all of his time to becoming the best at everything. Of course, Bel throws a wrench into his plans by pointing out flaws in his design, which forces Teo to come to terms with some of his more problematic behavior, including how he dismisses Neelam, the only other female member of the robotics team.
“Do you think anyone has ever asked Ravi if he needs his numbers checked?” she hisses to me. “Or Teo?” “I have literally no idea,” I grumble, stung, though even when I say it, I know I’m lying.
The misogyny within STEM is a pretty big theme within the book. From the way other robotics teams talk to Bel and Neelam when they compete, to the dismissive attitude of their own team and the way the team's mentor, Mac, easily sidelines them, it paints a pretty frustrating picture of what STEM can be like for someone who doesn't identify as male. I actually really felt for Neelam; she's less likeable than Bel, and because of that her talent gets consistently overlooked just because she refuses to play nice.
“If you really want to be an engineer, then get ready,” she says with a glare at me. “Get ready to hear no. Get ready to hear you can’t. Get ready for I just don’t like her or she’s not likable. Sure, you’re lucky, you’re pretty and bubbly and people like you,” she adds with another look of annoyance, “but you’re even worse off than I am for that, because they won’t take you seriously. This team? This team only takes you seriously because Teo Luna did, and lucky you.” She practically spits it at me. “Lucky you, because he doesn’t take me seriously, and thanks to him nobody on our team ever will.”
The relationship between Teo and Bel develops at a pretty good pace. Their interactions and inside jokes are cute, and I even thought the third act conflict was reasonable considering their situations. I do think I was just missing a bit of that swooning that I want to feel when I read a romance. I also think that Bel had a much better growth arc than Teo—by the end, she really learned something about herself as a person, and made choices that both reflected that new insight and even pushed it further. Teo, on the other hand, was forced out of his comfort zone by something out of his control. He doesn't actually make a choice to rely on his team instead of doing everything himself. He also doesn't deal with his relationship with his father, even though we've seen the impact it has on him and on Bel. It's just never spoken of again.
I did like the way this ended, although I wish the epilogue had been a bit longer and less open to interpretation, because Bel would totally win in a robot fight and we all know it. ...more
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