Reviews

Hope Ablaze by Sarah Mughal Rana

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thelibraryskeeper's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

As someone not familiar with the language used in this book, a glossary would have been very helpful in making the book more accessible. I wanted to understand the terms used and found myself flipping to the end of the book to see if there was definitions. When there wasn't I was looking a lot of things up. I understand this is my own lack of exposure and I learned a lot!

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telltalelakej's review against another edition

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keepcalmblogon's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? No

5.0

I don’t actually know where to start with talking about Hope Ablaze. Wow… I guess I can start at the beginning: I’ve not read any Muslim immigrant in America stories before. I have read a few books from South Asian/South Asian immigrant in America lenses, but as with most places in the world, South Asia isn’t only one race/ethnicity/language group, so Nida’s Pakistani Muslim immigrant point of view was wholly new to me. I think this book should be required reading. Period. Having a background in literature, this book would be wildly beneficial to anyone studying postcolonial criticism; I read it as an allegory of colonizers taking indigenous art–without spoiling too much, Nida’s poetry is entered into a contest without her consent. But outside of literary critique, this story is so important for its representation of Muslim American life, especially post 9/11–& yes, while that was over twenty years ago now, its impact is still lasting in everyday American life.

Moving away from the above themes, on a writing level & surface of the story level, Sarah had me hooked from the start–I lately have had a hard time getting into text-based books as I become more addicted to audiobooks & the versatility they provide to my reading schedule. But Hope Ablaze set the stakes so high, the pace so consistent, & the writing so fluid that I had a hard time putting it down & only did when I absolutely had to do something else! Furthermore, the poems interspersed that gave us further insight into Nida’s mind & emotions could stand on their own in a book of poetry, or even as a novel in verse because there are times in the story when the poem before or after a scene actually gave us the plot of a preceding or following event.

I think one of my favorite aspects of this book were the various grey areas & moral ambiguities & the fact that the end doesn’t give us a “clean” solution, as life is truly messy & this story portrays LIFE. Yet, there was also this lovely magical realism subplot that I was not expecting & added a bit of je ne sais quoi that peppered the plot with literal color (iykyk).

This book is the kind of book I want to scream about from rooftops & make everyone read, so yes, 5 stars, easily. Sarah has definitely become a new favorite author of mine, especially when considering her addition to the anthology My Big, Fat Desi Wedding that I also loved!

bookishde's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense 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? No

2.75

I have mixed feelings about this book. The author has a beautiful writing style and a way with describing scenes and characters so that I felt like I was there too (and boy, did this book make me feel hungry at times! I wish I could try Amma's food).

That said, for a book that puts poetry at the centre stage, I felt that the poetry was the weakest link. For example, there was no differentiation between Nida's and her Amma's poetry voice. I would have liked to see something unique and identifable to each character, so that you could clearly twll who penned each piece. Similarly, the blue string, curse, and flashback scenes seemed unnecessary, and rather than add a layer of intrigue, actually drew me out of the book.

I do want to flag this - it was disappointing to mention that a character has ADHD, but has overcome this through willpower alone. Why even mention this?

I'd like to listen to the audiobook for this, and see how the poetry comes across out loud.

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