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alp_books's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Terminal illness, Islamophobia, Colonisation, and Classism
waybeyondblue's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Colonisation
Moderate: Ableism, Death, Hate crime, Slavery, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pregnancy
laurao's review
Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexism, Police brutality, Colonisation, Classism, and Deportation
Minor: Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Pregnancy
The content warnings are all relevant to the story either as part of history or part of culture.cecereads__'s review against another edition
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Colonisation
Minor: Alcohol
remytherat's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
This was an incredibly well-written story about identity, the nature of family, and the intergenerational effects of colonialism. The first half took a bit of time to get started, but the lyrical prose and characters who felt human made up for it.
The characters were really well written; Sameer's arc is well paced and has a realistic end. Sameer is a better person by the end of the book, but he isn't perfect.
While his arc is good, I ended up liking some of the side characters more than I liked Sameer; this, however, isn't really a bad thing. Annoying dudes™️ and bad people can still be really compelling characters, and Sameer really was. Zayyan's understanding of people felt really tangible the entire time I was reading.
The last third of the book is almost entirely dedicated to Sameer starting his juice start-up; I don't care about Business™️ at all, so that ended up being a bit of a slog to get through. Disappointingly, we learned very little about the actual juices.
Graphic: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Colonisation, and Deportation
Moderate: Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, War, and Classism
Minor: Domestic abuse and Classism
whatannikareads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
good stuff:
- the descriptions of uganda, especially in hasan's letters were gorgeous! i wish the book was overall written in the style of hasan's letters
- the novel tackled a lot of different cultures, relationships, and history, so it kept me hooked wanting to figure out what happened next
- the alternating storylines of the letters from the 20th century to Sameer's present day life was an interesting concept; it felt like it was all coming down to one point, the climax that would reveal how these two were intertwined
- i'm not religious, but the descriptions of sameer's reignited faith was very beautiful and hopeful. it was refreshing to read about practicing muslim in a positive light
not so good stuff:
- because hasan's letters were so beautifully written, i was confused why sameer's narrative style was so different. his chapters were so tell not show. i understand he's like a 20-30 something year old straight man, so i guess it's meant to reflect that?
- that being said, hasan's letters also didn't feel realistically written, as in one would not write a love letter 10 pages long with descriptions of miniscule actions, but that's one of the smaller bones to pick
- sameer and maryam's romance did feel a bit underdeveloped and rushed
- also i had a problem/was confused with sameer's fixation on black people's skin color? like idk why the author chose to describe characters' skin like that...sameer wants to shame his grandfather for racist remarks but he's talking about how shiny and nice his black friend's skin is??? i was just really confused
- the ending was so abrupt, i literally turned the page and was like, "...that's it?" i don't necessarilly have a problem with open endings but it just felt so jolted and the pacing was interrupted
overall i would read another one of this author's works! it's a really impressive piece of fiction for a debut novel.
Moderate: Bullying, Death, Hate crime, Racism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Colonisation, War, and Deportation
qqjj's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
poetskings's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, and Colonisation
alexhaydon's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, and Colonisation