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calamitywindpetal's review
emotional
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Racism, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and War
Minor: Animal cruelty, Blood, and Alcohol
goldenelegy's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Islamophobia
101jazzy's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Islamophobia
momentum262's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Racism, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Death of parent
Minor: Murder and War
deluna's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Terminal illness, Islamophobia, and Death of parent
rhm04's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Grief
Moderate: Cultural appropriation and War
nitya's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.0
Read for MLIS elective
Content warning: Islamophobia, racism, death of a loved one, chronic illness (specifically multiple sclerosis), Harry Potter references (this was written in 2019 but I'll note it)
Content warning: Islamophobia, racism, death of a loved one, chronic illness (specifically multiple sclerosis), Harry Potter references (this was written in 2019 but I'll note it)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Racism, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Death, Medical content, Grief, and Death of parent
max_vampire's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
rkapur8's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book is
Beautiful and
Pure and
Heart wrenching and
Filled with love and
Eye opening and
Angering and
Thought provoking and
EVERYTHING that should be in a good book
Beautiful and
Pure and
Heart wrenching and
Filled with love and
Eye opening and
Angering and
Thought provoking and
EVERYTHING that should be in a good book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Islamophobia
Moderate: Hate crime, Racial slurs, and Racism
dalmavatai's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- 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
2.5
Ah, this book. The first half worked for me just fine, but it kind of lost me in the second half. I thought there was just way too much telling and not enough showing, which meant we didn't really get to know any of the side characters and their relationships with the main characters. It also meant that I often felt disconnected from what was happening as well as from our main characters' emotions.
Basically, I enjoyed Adam's storyline because his struggle with MS was something I've never read about and his internal conflict about telling his father definitely made me feel for him. I even teared up at the end of one chapter when he recounted the french fries story about his mom, which was honestly so beautiful and touching.
Unfortunately I had a harder time connecting with Zeyneb because her main struggle was with this Islamophobic teacher at school, and I just didn't feel there was enough internal conflict or complexity involved for me to feel invested. Basically she and her friends are trying to hold this teacher accountable for his Islamophobic comments, but nothing interesting really happens, like there's no deeper conversation about why someone might be Islamophobic, or exploring the structural and systemic dimensions, etc. There were so many things I would've enjoyed reading about if the author had explored it. That said, Zeyneb's story is a very important one and I'm sure it reflects so many people's lived experience which is awesome and very needed, especially because Muslims are a marginalized and deeply stigmatized community in 'Western' countries.
The romance was very slow-burn, we don't get much dialogue between these two and we don't really understand why they're even falling for each other. For this reason, I didn't even get to enjoy Adam's chapters in the second half of the book.
Overall, I thought the concept and the emotional and social dimensions explored were super interesting, but there was so much telling without showing that made me disconnect from the characters, and I felt that there was no growth/direction in Zeyneb's storyline.
Basically, I enjoyed Adam's storyline because his struggle with MS was something I've never read about and his internal conflict about telling his father definitely made me feel for him. I even teared up at the end of one chapter when he recounted the french fries story about his mom, which was honestly so beautiful and touching.
Unfortunately I had a harder time connecting with Zeyneb because her main struggle was with this Islamophobic teacher at school, and I just didn't feel there was enough internal conflict or complexity involved for me to feel invested. Basically she and her friends are trying to hold this teacher accountable for his Islamophobic comments, but nothing interesting really happens, like there's no deeper conversation about why someone might be Islamophobic, or exploring the structural and systemic dimensions, etc. There were so many things I would've enjoyed reading about if the author had explored it. That said, Zeyneb's story is a very important one and I'm sure it reflects so many people's lived experience which is awesome and very needed, especially because Muslims are a marginalized and deeply stigmatized community in 'Western' countries.
The romance was very slow-burn, we don't get much dialogue between these two and we don't really understand why they're even falling for each other. For this reason, I didn't even get to enjoy Adam's chapters in the second half of the book.
Overall, I thought the concept and the emotional and social dimensions explored were super interesting, but there was so much telling without showing that made me disconnect from the characters, and I felt that there was no growth/direction in Zeyneb's storyline.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Islamophobia, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Racism, Medical content, Cultural appropriation, and War