Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan

15 reviews

jem_carstairs's review against another edition

emotional hopeful sad fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Rape, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Grief, Misogyny, Confinement, and Islamophobia

Minor: Vomit

therainbowshelf's review

emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

Rukhsana Will do just about anything to keep her parents from finding out she’s a lesbian because she knows they will lose it, which creates tension with her girlfriend who just doesn’t understand why she can’t come out to them. A stressful but excellent read. Wasn’t a fan of the privileged/unsupportive girlfriend, and Rhukhsana’s parents suck, but still enjoyable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Outing, Confinement, Racism, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Grief, Hate crime, Death, Abandonment, Lesbophobia, Islamophobia, and Emotional abuse

my_weird_bookish_heart's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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? No

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Lesbophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Blood, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Confinement, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Classism

kp_writ's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• 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? It's complicated

2.75

If you are looking at reviews before deciding to read: PLEASE for the love of god read the content warnings. It's rough. And because drugging and conversion therapy aren't included in Storygraph's list of content warnings, be prepared for those too.

I'll likely have to return to this review after I've digested some more, because dear god does this book give you a lot to digest. It was an easy read in that the writing style was good (if somewhat dialogue and narration-heavy) and each scene was quick and jumped straight into the next (a literal page-turner), but it was so beyond challenging in that the content was super dark. Thankfully this story never lets a plot point go without resolving it near immediately - one of the reasons it was such a page-turner, truly, but that was something that annoyed me quite a bit because it disrupted the tension and anticipation - but it really dragged on when we hit the darkest part of the story. I don't think I'm entirely satisfied with the ending since it feels so unrealistic. It felt as though the author was trying to shove a happy ending in there, but this book felt like it needed a bittersweet ending instead. There was one specific plot point that felt like it only existed for the shock factor, and it never really resolved. One of my biggest gripes with this book is that I kind of hated Rukhsana's Seattle friends and girlfriend. They were supposed to be the anchor point for her, especially during the darkest times, but they fell really flat as characters and as friends. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Lesbophobia, Rape, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Child abuse, Confinement, Gaslighting, Grief, Islamophobia, and Outing

Moderate: Hate crime, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Sexism

cleo_wylde's review against another edition

challenging hopeful inspiring 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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Incest, Sexual violence, and Islamophobia

emilyeehaw's review against another edition

emotional

well that was a JOURNEY. first of all, rukhsana had some shitty ass friends. i think they were able to redeem themselves slightly by the end of the book and were at least willing to understand what she had gone through but DANG. 

also this book was INTENSE for a YA book...made me quite sad. at times i felt like the pacing was too fast but i guess that did help me get through the book at a decent rate. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Lesbophobia

Minor: Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, and Hate crime

gbookly's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Rape, and Sexism

tintinmd's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

I was in a dark place when I started this book. It was a beautiful journey, and helped me channel many feelings. It gave me hope and a very important affirmation that the life that you deserve to live the life you want to live. It's worth fighting for. And your story deserves to be heard as much as anyone else's.

The writing felt a little choppy in the beginning but I loved the story!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Rape

Moderate: Death, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexism, and Stalking

Minor: Islamophobia, Violence, and Vomit

rhaase0509's review against another edition

emotional inspiring slow-paced

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

3.5

This book was a little young for me, as the characters are in high school. It is difficult at times to read the choices they are making when a better alternative seems obvious. However, this is a book about teenagers, and teenagers do not always make good decisions. At one point the main character reads a diary including some intense subject matter that I did not feel like the book did enough to address. The abuse detailed in the diary seemed to be glossed over in favour of the main character's personal development. I do not think such subjects should be handled so lightly. 
Overall, the story was interesting and I enjoyed learning more about Islamic and Bengali culture.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Gaslighting, Hate crime, and Homophobia

Moderate: Death, Islamophobia, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, and Sexual assault

gem114's review against another edition

emotional hopeful 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

5.0

This is one of the best books I have read this year.

Rukhsana is a high school senior, looking forward to heading off to college in California with her girlfriend. The problem is being gay is against her family's Muslim beliefs, and when her parents catch her with her girlfriend, all hell breaks loose.

Rukhsana's story really resonated with me, and I feel like anyone who is has experienced or is anticipating religious backlash when coming out could relate to this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Islamophobia, Confinement, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Rape, and Physical abuse

Minor: Murder and Hate crime