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A review by panda_incognito
Love From A to Z by S.K. Ali
3.0
I picked this book for the Muslim-American Experience category in my Materials for Adolescents class because my best friend read it a while ago and recommended it. I enjoyed the love story, the realistic representation of religious Muslims, the chronic illness representation, and some of the plot points, but I didn't connect with the book as much as I had hoped. Part of this is because I strongly disagreed with a main character's way of interacting with people.
I had a hard time reading about Zayneb's behavior towards people she disagreed with, because her automatic response was to engage in harsh verbal confrontation. I know what it feels like to be an angry person who feels strongly about certain social issues, but I would never shout at, berate, or publicly shame people the way that Zayneb does. During the final quarter of the book, she experiences character development and becomes a gentler person, but it was difficult for me to deal with her harsh, punitive reactions to people. The book also never addresses how greatly her behavior would repel others. People don't change their minds or their lives based on harsh, condemning words and public shaming, but based on invitational, persuasive opportunities to see something from someone else's perspective.
The other main character, Adam, is a much gentler and more relaxed person by nature, and I preferred reading the parts from his perspective. I appreciated the chronic illness representation related to his mother's death from MS and his distress over a recent MS diagnosis. I also liked reading about his family dynamics, and thought that he was a very interesting, well-rounded character. I don't think that the book adequately explained MS for people who aren't familiar with it, especially in terms of more recent treatment options, but his emotional and relational experiences related to chronic illness were very realistic and relatable.
I ended up skimming some through this book, because it includes a lot of unnecessary side characters and side plots that are peripheral to the story or never come up again. I think this book would be much stronger if the author had pared down the cast of characters, events, and vast number of heavy themes to focus more deeply on less. Nonetheless, I would recommend this to readers who are looking for books about Muslim characters or are interested in clean, sweet love stories.
I had a hard time reading about Zayneb's behavior towards people she disagreed with, because her automatic response was to engage in harsh verbal confrontation. I know what it feels like to be an angry person who feels strongly about certain social issues, but I would never shout at, berate, or publicly shame people the way that Zayneb does. During the final quarter of the book, she experiences character development and becomes a gentler person, but it was difficult for me to deal with her harsh, punitive reactions to people. The book also never addresses how greatly her behavior would repel others. People don't change their minds or their lives based on harsh, condemning words and public shaming, but based on invitational, persuasive opportunities to see something from someone else's perspective.
The other main character, Adam, is a much gentler and more relaxed person by nature, and I preferred reading the parts from his perspective. I appreciated the chronic illness representation related to his mother's death from MS and his distress over a recent MS diagnosis. I also liked reading about his family dynamics, and thought that he was a very interesting, well-rounded character. I don't think that the book adequately explained MS for people who aren't familiar with it, especially in terms of more recent treatment options, but his emotional and relational experiences related to chronic illness were very realistic and relatable.
I ended up skimming some through this book, because it includes a lot of unnecessary side characters and side plots that are peripheral to the story or never come up again. I think this book would be much stronger if the author had pared down the cast of characters, events, and vast number of heavy themes to focus more deeply on less. Nonetheless, I would recommend this to readers who are looking for books about Muslim characters or are interested in clean, sweet love stories.