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ohlovehandles's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The concept of the book is great, but I honestly took a long time to get through it. There were points where I loved the writing and enjoyed where it was going. Then other parts where it dragged on and made it difficult to enjoy.
It's a beautiful love story and I'm glad that we're finally getting to a point where halal romance books could be a mainstream thing that a lot of Muslims could just walk in a bookstore and get. I still would've liked for more care to have gone into the structure and writing.
Overall I think someone who's 13 would enjoy this a bit more and not necessarily be too critical on the writing. The thing is, it's a romance following characters who are 18+ and touching on a lot of dense and dark topics, it should have aimed to be written with the standard of readers within that age range and maturity in mind.
It's a beautiful love story and I'm glad that we're finally getting to a point where halal romance books could be a mainstream thing that a lot of Muslims could just walk in a bookstore and get. I still would've liked for more care to have gone into the structure and writing.
Overall I think someone who's 13 would enjoy this a bit more and not necessarily be too critical on the writing. The thing is, it's a romance following characters who are 18+ and touching on a lot of dense and dark topics, it should have aimed to be written with the standard of readers within that age range and maturity in mind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Hate crime, Racism, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Cursing, Violence, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Car accident
ashes2003's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
You, I like you. A daily dose of controversial cheesy romance that I completely stuffed my face with.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Cultural appropriation
maya_ahmed's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Islamophobia, and Grief
Moderate: Medical content and Death of parent
Minor: Cursing and Cultural appropriation
moonchildshine's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
One thing that makes me want to read this book is the amount of people who are crazy about Adam Chen. The soft-spoken artsy mualaf guy. So, naturally, Im curious about him.
And after finished the book, well, turned out that everyone isn't wrong about him. He's THAT lovable (and I associate him with peace). That's why Zayneb is such a great fit for him, in my opinion. A slytherin-gryffindor girl who's loud and brave.
Reading this remind me of how I love my religion and how grateful I am to be muslim :") and there's alot of Harry Potter and ATLA reference here, i love it alot haha.
PS. NOEMI IS THE FREAKING MVP SHE'S FREAKING HOT. PLS MARRY ME.
And after finished the book, well, turned out that everyone isn't wrong about him. He's THAT lovable (and I associate him with peace). That's why Zayneb is such a great fit for him, in my opinion. A slytherin-gryffindor girl who's loud and brave.
Reading this remind me of how I love my religion and how grateful I am to be muslim :") and there's alot of Harry Potter and ATLA reference here, i love it alot haha.
PS. NOEMI IS THE FREAKING MVP SHE'S FREAKING HOT. PLS MARRY ME.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Islamophobia, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Cultural appropriation and War
bookcaptivated's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Islamophobia, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Hate crime, Medical content, Murder, Cultural appropriation, and War
snikhtha's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
This was a cute story and Adam and Zainab are wonderful, vibrant characters. I especially connected with Adam, which surprised me. I also loved the portrayal of a Muslim relationship with coming-of-age characters and thought it was really well done. The pacing is great, and the weird third-person narration that comes in sometimes is also super cute.
On the other hand, being Muslim, some parts where they speak on their identity just didn't fully connect with me. Which makes sense- people don't all have the same experience. I also thought that the hurdles standing in the way of their relationship were pretty unsubstantial, especially on Zainab's part. I think if it focused more on her inner conflict with the relationship rather than the outside problems stopping her, I would've understood it more, as I did with Adam's problems.
I also would've liked more scenes of Adam and Zainab just talking and connecting. The scenes we did get were some of my favorites, so I wish there were more of those just sprinkled throughout the book. Enjoyable overall!
On the other hand, being Muslim, some parts where they speak on their identity just didn't fully connect with me. Which makes sense- people don't all have the same experience. I also thought that the hurdles standing in the way of their relationship were pretty unsubstantial, especially on Zainab's part. I think if it focused more on her inner conflict with the relationship rather than the outside problems stopping her, I would've understood it more, as I did with Adam's problems.
I also would've liked more scenes of Adam and Zainab just talking and connecting. The scenes we did get were some of my favorites, so I wish there were more of those just sprinkled throughout the book. Enjoyable overall!
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Cultural appropriation, and War
rhm04's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Grief
Moderate: Cultural appropriation and War
dalmavatai's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Ah, this book. The first half worked for me just fine, but it kind of lost me in the second half. I thought there was just way too much telling and not enough showing, which meant we didn't really get to know any of the side characters and their relationships with the main characters. It also meant that I often felt disconnected from what was happening as well as from our main characters' emotions.
Basically, I enjoyed Adam's storyline because his struggle with MS was something I've never read about and his internal conflict about telling his father definitely made me feel for him. I even teared up at the end of one chapter when he recounted the french fries story about his mom, which was honestly so beautiful and touching.
Unfortunately I had a harder time connecting with Zeyneb because her main struggle was with this Islamophobic teacher at school, and I just didn't feel there was enough internal conflict or complexity involved for me to feel invested. Basically she and her friends are trying to hold this teacher accountable for his Islamophobic comments, but nothing interesting really happens, like there's no deeper conversation about why someone might be Islamophobic, or exploring the structural and systemic dimensions, etc. There were so many things I would've enjoyed reading about if the author had explored it. That said, Zeyneb's story is a very important one and I'm sure it reflects so many people's lived experience which is awesome and very needed, especially because Muslims are a marginalized and deeply stigmatized community in 'Western' countries.
The romance was very slow-burn, we don't get much dialogue between these two and we don't really understand why they're even falling for each other. For this reason, I didn't even get to enjoy Adam's chapters in the second half of the book.
Overall, I thought the concept and the emotional and social dimensions explored were super interesting, but there was so much telling without showing that made me disconnect from the characters, and I felt that there was no growth/direction in Zeyneb's storyline.
Basically, I enjoyed Adam's storyline because his struggle with MS was something I've never read about and his internal conflict about telling his father definitely made me feel for him. I even teared up at the end of one chapter when he recounted the french fries story about his mom, which was honestly so beautiful and touching.
Unfortunately I had a harder time connecting with Zeyneb because her main struggle was with this Islamophobic teacher at school, and I just didn't feel there was enough internal conflict or complexity involved for me to feel invested. Basically she and her friends are trying to hold this teacher accountable for his Islamophobic comments, but nothing interesting really happens, like there's no deeper conversation about why someone might be Islamophobic, or exploring the structural and systemic dimensions, etc. There were so many things I would've enjoyed reading about if the author had explored it. That said, Zeyneb's story is a very important one and I'm sure it reflects so many people's lived experience which is awesome and very needed, especially because Muslims are a marginalized and deeply stigmatized community in 'Western' countries.
The romance was very slow-burn, we don't get much dialogue between these two and we don't really understand why they're even falling for each other. For this reason, I didn't even get to enjoy Adam's chapters in the second half of the book.
Overall, I thought the concept and the emotional and social dimensions explored were super interesting, but there was so much telling without showing that made me disconnect from the characters, and I felt that there was no growth/direction in Zeyneb's storyline.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Islamophobia, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Racism, Medical content, Cultural appropriation, and War
lunagirl_alice's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Medical content, and Cultural appropriation
thebankofbooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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
5.0
This beautiful book shone a light on MS, Islamophobia, and finding love in between.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Racism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent
Moderate: Death, Grief, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting