Reviews with content warning for Eating disorder - Does My Head Look Big in This?

This book was really enjoyable! Its tone was brisk, fresh, and funny, but not overly preachy. It tells a lot of interesting (and, for non-Muslims, educational) things about being a hijabi Muslim teenager in the 21st century: it describes the prejudices Amal faces and her resulting anxiety & insecurity, explains how fasting for Ramadan makes her feel closer to God (but hilariously and relatably describes her pig-outs after sunset), and makes very clear that there’s a difference between normal people like Amal who follow the tenets of Islam and radical extremists who commit heinous crimes that have nothing to do with anything in the Quran. But the book is also not just a preachy educational treatise—it’s also, y’know, an actual novel, with hilarious quips and Aussie slang throughout.

I found Amal a compelling character—one of my favorite aspects of the novel was her coming to terms with her "hyphenated" identity (as an Aussie-Muslim-Palestinian), which I can definitely relate to.* I liked the way she was written because the novel emphasizes that she's just like any other teenager—she reads girly magazines, fights with her parents, and worries about exams—but never negates her strong faith and Muslim identity, while at the same time not making her religion her sole personality trait. (As easy as this balance should be to strike successfully—it's basically just the way to write actual, human characters—a lot of books fail to do it!) One interesting way all of these came together was with her crush on Adam, wherein she acknowledged that she liked him (after a bit of prodding...) but at the same time didn't give up her belief that physical intimacy should be reserved for marriage, which Adam misinterpreted as her leading him on. Amal is spunky and outspoken, which is sometimes a strength, sometimes a weakness, and always a lot of fun to read about. I also liked the plotlines of the supporting characters—Simone and her bodily insecurity; Leila's conflict with her stifling, matchmaking mother and her rebellious golden-child brother; and old, cantankerous, lonely Mrs. Vaselli—and how they all ultimately conveyed the book's main message of needing to empathize with others and see things through their eyes.

Although some of the characters, like Eileen, fell a little flat for me, and I felt that the first few chapters had a bit of an exposition dump that made the plot take a little while to get going, I really liked the book overall. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a quick, light read with a lot of laughs and heart.

*Funnily enough, one of the novels I'm reading for college right now—No-No Boy by John Okada—also deals with a crisis of hyphenated identity, although with a much darker bent.

Content Warnings

lourek's review against another edition

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

3.75

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