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A review by arayofreading
Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali
4.0
TW: sexual assault
This is one of those books that makes me remember why representation is so important.
I’ve never related to a character more than I related to Janna. She is a Muslim teen trying to understand how she fits in a world that so often polarizes her identity as a young girl in western society and as a Muslim. She faces judgement from both sides, and you really feel her anxiety as the people around her pressure her to be what they perceive to be “normal” or “right”, when in all reality she is still trying to figure out who she is. Janna is a character who is flawed, and I wholly appreciate it. She makes some questionable decisions, but so does everyone her age. She is still learning, and I think that is a luxury not often granted to teenagers.
This book delves deeply into relationships and as Janna grows, she learns that some strengthen in adversity, and some crumple. I absolutely adored the new friendships she formed (and can I say Nuah is so cute). And of course, her relationship with mr. ram was so sweet.
What I really appreciate is that there is not just one token Muslim character. So many times in novels may have a single Muslim character that is somehow supposed to represent their entire culture and religion, and that is not realistic given the complexity of human nature. There are bad people in this book, but there are also such wholeheartedly good people, and this diversity is so important in portraying marginalized groups. We need to be able to recognize this diversity in order to truly understand other groups of people.
This book was not without faults. I did not particularly enjoy the writing style and in the beginning it was hard to get through (even though I eventually got used to it and speedily finished it). I also did not enjoy Tats characters, simply because she seemed so ignorant and oblivious at times that it was so annoying. This book also suffered from trying to address too many issues at once without adequate discussion of each. But the parts that succeeded were so important and well done that they outweighed the others flaws.
I’m really glad this book exists, and I hope there are more like it in the future.
This is one of those books that makes me remember why representation is so important.
I’ve never related to a character more than I related to Janna. She is a Muslim teen trying to understand how she fits in a world that so often polarizes her identity as a young girl in western society and as a Muslim. She faces judgement from both sides, and you really feel her anxiety as the people around her pressure her to be what they perceive to be “normal” or “right”, when in all reality she is still trying to figure out who she is. Janna is a character who is flawed, and I wholly appreciate it. She makes some questionable decisions, but so does everyone her age. She is still learning, and I think that is a luxury not often granted to teenagers.
This book delves deeply into relationships and as Janna grows, she learns that some strengthen in adversity, and some crumple. I absolutely adored the new friendships she formed (and can I say Nuah is so cute). And of course, her relationship with mr. ram was so sweet.
What I really appreciate is that there is not just one token Muslim character. So many times in novels may have a single Muslim character that is somehow supposed to represent their entire culture and religion, and that is not realistic given the complexity of human nature. There are bad people in this book, but there are also such wholeheartedly good people, and this diversity is so important in portraying marginalized groups. We need to be able to recognize this diversity in order to truly understand other groups of people.
This book was not without faults. I did not particularly enjoy the writing style and in the beginning it was hard to get through (even though I eventually got used to it and speedily finished it). I also did not enjoy Tats characters, simply because she seemed so ignorant and oblivious at times that it was so annoying. This book also suffered from trying to address too many issues at once without adequate discussion of each. But the parts that succeeded were so important and well done that they outweighed the others flaws.
I’m really glad this book exists, and I hope there are more like it in the future.