Reviews with content warning for Islamophobia - Honor

This book felt so important and balanced. The comparison between both leading ladies and how they dealt with love—with men and India—was done so well. One thing Smita and Meena had in common was they both were risk takers, punishment be damned. But I was gettin real annoyed with Ammi being so rude! She couldn’t get over

the loss of her son

Meena could! Very selfish even if it was rooted in valid emotions.

I think it said A LOT about herd mentality esp among men. The amount of ppl that witnessed or participated in the violence was ridiculous. Only to wanna cower down years later and be sympathetic. The damage was done! And for Meena’s village to be ruled by Rupal was ridiculous. No one man should have all that pull over people. The fact that he said he had a phone with a direct line to God should have made these people wake up! He was taking advantage of their culture so bad.

Despite the terribleness, the tender moments of Meena/Abdul and Smita/Mohan were so so good. Both really encapsulated the point of this book to me. In spite of the darkness their home brought there was a spark of light. In a twisted way Meena

might’ve been better off reunited with Abdul instead of with their daughter bc she didn’t have the resources or privilege to protect everybody. But her final stand was really sad

It wasn’t a main focus but it does bring up a good point of when involvement teeters past education and dips towards trauma porn. These are real people not a story that’ll get you front page headlines and awards.

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alexxis88's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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isabellew27's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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aziziansahar's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

In the beginning it was tough to read the way Smita described India, obviously it had to do with her experiences when she was young but it felt disdainful but at a very surface level. Almost as if the author was only trying to relate the flaws of India with the stereotypes that white audiences would easily grasp. As someone from the Middle East/ South Asia crossroads, I understand the complicated and nuanced feelings that come with being from there while raised in the West, and a lot of times felt like I could relate to how Smita felt but a lot of her criticisms really pushed a western centric narrative… which I guess was the point. I just think Smita’s perspective was a little unrealistic of someone who was an Indian American. While I was reading what she had to say about India towards the beginning of the book it just read as a white girl who doesn’t understand the culture, but Smita is Indian and spent her childhood and a bit of her teenage life there. You can dislike and hate your country of origin but I just think it would come with less of an ignorant attitude towards it.

I was very interested with Meena’s story as well which I applaud the author for. Dual perspective stories tend to fall flat on one perspective for me so I’m typically impressed when all parts of the story keep me intrigued. I know the events that happened in the story happen more often than we think and they deserve more attention. I’m happy to read books with diverse characters and ones that I felt connected to myself as a POC.

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