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alisarae's review
This book was pretty cute. The blurb tells the entire story though (conservative upper class white boy falls in love with Afghani immigrant), so there were zero surprises. A good lesson this book shows is that just because a person is kind or nice does not mean they don't have racist beliefs. Teens realizing that they believe something different then their parents, and how that is okay, is at the heart of this story.
The audiobook is pretty good. The story is set in Australia and the actors have Aussie accents.
PS the Australian edition cover is SO MUCH MORE SUITED to the story. Maybe the cover designer wanted to make a more "masculine" cover for the US edition?? But the US cover doesn't give you a feel for the story at all.
The audiobook is pretty good. The story is set in Australia and the actors have Aussie accents.
PS the Australian edition cover is SO MUCH MORE SUITED to the story. Maybe the cover designer wanted to make a more "masculine" cover for the US edition?? But the US cover doesn't give you a feel for the story at all.
prinreadsabookortwo's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mizzlroy's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. Some of the political stuff went over my head because I know nothing of Australian politics, but the story was well told. The character were well rounded and genuine. I couldn’t help but love Minna, Michael, and Paula. Would definitely recommend this to students.
ihateprozac's review against another edition
5.0
CW: Islamophobia, xenophobia, racism, flashbacks of death, war, and trauma
This book is an absolute gem! On a surface level this appears to be a Romeo + Juliet story (except in lieu of the Montagues and Capulets we have racists + refugees), but in reality it’s far more complex than that. When Michael Met Mina is an impactful story about unpacking and unlearning racist ideologies and admitting that sometimes parents don’t know best.
Mina’s perspective is wonderful and so valuable to read from. She’s angry but incredibly articulate, managing to school her bigoted classmates with some truly micdrop-worthy dialogue. But at the same time she’s got emotional intelligence in droves; she knows when it’s not worth it to perform the emotional labour of educating bigots and when they need to be doing it themselves.
Islamophobia and xenophobia are central themes of this story, so be prepared and take care going into it. Michael’s family are essentially white nationalists and are xenophobic AF (albeit several rungs below Nazi status), and much of their racist discourse is shrouded in “we just want people to assimilate" and "this is free speech!" language. There are also some darker political and violent moments from outlying characters.
This book does a really great job at unpacking the fallacies of these white nationalist beliefs that refugees are "economic refugees", that they're "taking people's jobs", and that they "just need to assimilate". Through Mina's perspective the author shows how irrational and unfounded these beliefs are, shows what refugees bring to our community, and also unpacks the experience of being an immigrant versus being a refugee. There is so much incredible social commentary here.
(Be warned that it’s triggering, but also not as triggering as I’d mentally prepared for. It’s difficult at times, but it's not gratuitously or callously traumatic for Muslim readers)
Technique wise, I love love loved the writing style! It’s so engaging and quick to fall into, and I flew through the story in the better part of three hours. I also thought the budding romance was really cute! It’s a gradual build and at no point is Mina ever treated as a rehabilitation centre for racists. She’s clear about Michael’s toxic views and forces him to rehabilitate himself.
[Insert 800 million clapping emojis here]
I. loved. this. book. Please read it!
Representation: Afghan refugee MC, multiple Muslim and refugee side characters, PTSD, other POC minor characters, possible autism spectrum rep for minor character (undiagnosed/unconfirmed)
This book is an absolute gem! On a surface level this appears to be a Romeo + Juliet story (except in lieu of the Montagues and Capulets we have racists + refugees), but in reality it’s far more complex than that. When Michael Met Mina is an impactful story about unpacking and unlearning racist ideologies and admitting that sometimes parents don’t know best.
Mina’s perspective is wonderful and so valuable to read from. She’s angry but incredibly articulate, managing to school her bigoted classmates with some truly micdrop-worthy dialogue. But at the same time she’s got emotional intelligence in droves; she knows when it’s not worth it to perform the emotional labour of educating bigots and when they need to be doing it themselves.
Islamophobia and xenophobia are central themes of this story, so be prepared and take care going into it. Michael’s family are essentially white nationalists and are xenophobic AF (albeit several rungs below Nazi status), and much of their racist discourse is shrouded in “we just want people to assimilate" and "this is free speech!" language. There are also some darker political and violent moments from outlying characters.
This book does a really great job at unpacking the fallacies of these white nationalist beliefs that refugees are "economic refugees", that they're "taking people's jobs", and that they "just need to assimilate". Through Mina's perspective the author shows how irrational and unfounded these beliefs are, shows what refugees bring to our community, and also unpacks the experience of being an immigrant versus being a refugee. There is so much incredible social commentary here.
(Be warned that it’s triggering, but also not as triggering as I’d mentally prepared for. It’s difficult at times, but it's not gratuitously or callously traumatic for Muslim readers)
Technique wise, I love love loved the writing style! It’s so engaging and quick to fall into, and I flew through the story in the better part of three hours. I also thought the budding romance was really cute! It’s a gradual build and at no point is Mina ever treated as a rehabilitation centre for racists. She’s clear about Michael’s toxic views and forces him to rehabilitate himself.
[Insert 800 million clapping emojis here]
I. loved. this. book. Please read it!
Representation: Afghan refugee MC, multiple Muslim and refugee side characters, PTSD, other POC minor characters, possible autism spectrum rep for minor character (undiagnosed/unconfirmed)
arayofreading's review against another edition
4.0
**4 Stars**
CW: Islamophobia, xenophobia
This book follows two teenagers from vastly different backgrounds: Mina is a Muslim refugee from Afghanistan, and Michael is the son of the leaders of a growing anti-immigrant group in Australia. When Mina moves to Michael's school, he's instantly attracted to her, but he also grapples with the ideologies that he's grown up with that antagonize people like her. Mina, on the other hand, is trying to come to terms with her past trauma and navigate her sense of belonging as a refugee.
Let's start with Michael. His family's values are the epitome of "I'm not racist, but I just want people of color to assimilate," and honestly it was uncomfortable to read about since it reflected a lot of what we see online and in real life (that's a testament to the author's portrayal thought!). Despite me being on the opposite "side" of his family, it was easy to understand where Michael came from. When you're young, you tend to idolize your parents and think they can do no wrong. Michael's parents are also extremely well-spoken and convey their ideas clearly, and so Michael had no reason to believe they were wrong. That is, until he meets Mina. I loved Mina; she is strong, independent, and hardworking. She stands up for her friends and doesn't let people get away for being assholes. And I LOVED her relationship with Michael, because she never lets him off easy. In the beginning, Michael just kind of views her as an "exception" to his (or rather his parents') beliefs, and she doesn't take that. She forces him to confront his privilege and really understand her side of the story, and God I loved it. If you're not a fan of YA romances you might be turned off by this, but if you are, this was SO CUTE.
I was so close to giving this 5 stars, but the ending fell a little flat. Everything that happened was realistic and made sense, it just happened too quickly in my opinion. Particularly, Michael's story was wrapped up too quickly and, considering some of the things that happened, I felt that there needed to be more time spent dealing with the consequences and how it affected his life afterwards. Moreover, the writing for the most part was straightforward and simple, which is not inherently bad, but sometimes the novel veered on telling rather than showing.
Overall, if you want a contemporary that deals with tough topics but also has an extremely cute romance, this is one for you!
CW: Islamophobia, xenophobia
This book follows two teenagers from vastly different backgrounds: Mina is a Muslim refugee from Afghanistan, and Michael is the son of the leaders of a growing anti-immigrant group in Australia. When Mina moves to Michael's school, he's instantly attracted to her, but he also grapples with the ideologies that he's grown up with that antagonize people like her. Mina, on the other hand, is trying to come to terms with her past trauma and navigate her sense of belonging as a refugee.
Let's start with Michael. His family's values are the epitome of "I'm not racist, but I just want people of color to assimilate," and honestly it was uncomfortable to read about since it reflected a lot of what we see online and in real life (that's a testament to the author's portrayal thought!). Despite me being on the opposite "side" of his family, it was easy to understand where Michael came from. When you're young, you tend to idolize your parents and think they can do no wrong. Michael's parents are also extremely well-spoken and convey their ideas clearly, and so Michael had no reason to believe they were wrong. That is, until he meets Mina. I loved Mina; she is strong, independent, and hardworking. She stands up for her friends and doesn't let people get away for being assholes. And I LOVED her relationship with Michael, because she never lets him off easy. In the beginning, Michael just kind of views her as an "exception" to his (or rather his parents') beliefs, and she doesn't take that. She forces him to confront his privilege and really understand her side of the story, and God I loved it. If you're not a fan of YA romances you might be turned off by this, but if you are, this was SO CUTE.
I was so close to giving this 5 stars, but the ending fell a little flat. Everything that happened was realistic and made sense, it just happened too quickly in my opinion. Particularly, Michael's story was wrapped up too quickly and, considering some of the things that happened, I felt that there needed to be more time spent dealing with the consequences and how it affected his life afterwards. Moreover, the writing for the most part was straightforward and simple, which is not inherently bad, but sometimes the novel veered on telling rather than showing.
Overall, if you want a contemporary that deals with tough topics but also has an extremely cute romance, this is one for you!
carly_jean's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-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? Yes
3.0
lara_bookish_turtle's review against another edition
4.0
It's so much easier to live in a world where everything is black and white.
Really enjoyed this one! Cute and relevant; what more could you want?
Likes:
- Characterisation was great and diverse
~ Mina was such a brilliant protagonist
- Michael was complicated and his development was very well done
~ Dealt with the topic of refugees, showing both sides of the argument
- Racism was dealt with; A very important theme which there is never enough rep. for
~ Romance was cute and not rushed which was nice
- Friendships were good, with a mix of the complicated ones and the solid best friend (for Mina at least)
~ A very character focussed novel
Dislikes:
- Some sections were drawn out
~ Dialogue was very weak and usually felt forced
- Plot was predictable
~ Aussie values: They seemed to exist just to show the other side of the coin, but they had no solid points or motivations for what they were doing.
- Michael's friends are losers and I don't know why he didn't ditch them before
It was a good book and I definitely recommend.
littlepepperguy's review against another edition
The vibes are RANCID! It's obviously a YA romance and the male romantic lead is blatantly racist and xenophobic from jump. It seems like it's a "but will he stop being racist once he's attracted to a brown girl?" vibes. And I hate that shit big time.
It's not her job to "rehabilitate" him. I'm not joking, that's a straight quote from one of the B characters to the MC.
I can just tell this romance is not for me, it's giving neo ned. When the romantic conflict is one of the partners being racist, you can count my big ass out.
It's not her job to "rehabilitate" him. I'm not joking, that's a straight quote from one of the B characters to the MC.
I can just tell this romance is not for me, it's giving neo ned. When the romantic conflict is one of the partners being racist, you can count my big ass out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Hate crime, Racism, Sexism, Islamophobia, Toxic friendship, and Classism