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A review by ihateprozac
When Michael Met Mina by Randa Abdel-Fattah
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)