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beyalibooks's review against another edition
I adore this book. Truly. Amal and her friends and her problems are so relatable, and I just love the message this book sends out. This author kicks ass, ladies and gentlemen.
And Adam was adorbs that wasn’t the point ok stop
And Adam was adorbs that wasn’t the point ok stop
violetsbookjar's review against another edition
4.0
A surprisingly good read and very refreshing. :)
brendaclay's review against another edition
3.0
A Meg Cabot-esque novel, set in Australia, about a 16-year-old Muslim girl who decides to start wearing the traditional head covering, and what happens as a result. This book was funny, interesting and touching. I enjoy both real and fictional stories about regular women from other cultures and faiths.
nglofile's review against another edition
4.0
I was impressed. I often enjoy Australian young adult fiction (as well as Australian adult fiction featuring teens), and the reader was simply charming. The tone is upbeat and contemporary, but it isn't afraid to examine difficult issues of culture, faith, and society. Some have complained the social commentary is heavy-handed, but I didn't find that to be true at all. A perfect selection for our Suburban Mosaic program teen pick.
audiobook note: Fun yet sensitive reading by Rebecca Macauley.
first read (audio): November 2010
re-read (print): March 2012
audiobook note: Fun yet sensitive reading by Rebecca Macauley.
first read (audio): November 2010
re-read (print): March 2012
jeanwatts's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
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
2.75
While this novel touched on a lot of great stuff surrounding how white culture views Muslims and the Islamic world (especially right after 9/11), it just fell flat to me. The writing is trying so hard to be teenager like that it feels fake. The body image of another character feels more damaging than productive.
I do think this book is a great starting point for teens trying to learn that you don’t have to explain your identity or beliefs to anyone you don’t want to and instead live the life and identity you want. It was still not the best written or flushed out novel regarding Muslim culture and faith as other books currently published would.
I would instead recommend A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi. This one might also be getting slightly dated but I feel like it covers similar topics in a more impactful and emotional way.
I do think this book is a great starting point for teens trying to learn that you don’t have to explain your identity or beliefs to anyone you don’t want to and instead live the life and identity you want. It was still not the best written or flushed out novel regarding Muslim culture and faith as other books currently published would.
I would instead recommend A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi. This one might also be getting slightly dated but I feel like it covers similar topics in a more impactful and emotional way.
buhrittykuhitty's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
3.0
lawbooks600's review against another edition
3.0
6/10, I was hoping that I would enjoy this interesting novel about an Australian girl trying to live her life despite prejudices but this didn't work out for me. The main character Amal was annoying to read at first due to her shouting at parents sometimes and being irresponsible by skipping school but eventually develops her character by not annoying people anymore and actually being responsible for a 16 year old which I liked however it wasn't enough to keep this story from becoming a slog. Amal starts off the story by transferring to a new school and wearing a hijab and at first she experienced discrimination from her peers but eventually got used to it and I only realised this book was set in 2002 which is 21 years ago now when it mentioned that the 2001 terrorist attacks were a year ago which was interesting. Once that part was done the whole book just didn't know where to go next so it turned into a story about Amal living her life and doing some leisure and other tasks as well as showing me some aspects of Islam that I already knew like the Quran, pilgrimages, rituals and events like Ramadan so that wasn't that enjoyable and I had to push through that part and hoped that it would get better; it did but only by a bit. In the end Amal reaches the end of her school year and she celebrates the end of Ramadan and that was essentially it however I didn't like her dialogue since she constantly made pop culture and religious references that probably wouldn't be said so that was unrealistic. If you like books about Australian culture pick this however there have been other books since that one you can try like Changing Gear by Scot Gardner.
clovetra's review against another edition
3.0
reread!!!!!!!!
i actually enjoyed this book a lot, and was surprised how invested i was. for the first 100 pages or so i was bored cuz there was no tension, and although there was only tension at the end, i still enjoyed this pretty well. i can't point out a lot of positives, i just really enjoyed the writing style. what i CAN do is point out a bunch of things this book flopped at!
1) disordered eating. why oh why is simone's entire character just about the fact shes overweight and hates the way she looks. like i get that it is a big deal for her but... please my girl needed some depth. which also combines with my second point:
2) the outdated language. there's an entire paragraph dedicated to how simone wishes she was anorexic and/or bulimic and im like. oh my god. or the language used at other points was um..... Questionable at best. i get this is from 2006 but yikes
3) the buzzwords. my god does this book sometimes read like a BuzzFeed article. and at some points it hurt so much. So Much.
i kinda enjoyed amal? she has a similar personality to me, but she also is kind of insufferable at times? i didn't have a strong liking to any of the characters other than maybe yasmeen.
i also didn't like how the book paints muslims one way or the other. like either you have leila's family or amals. no in between. like ok the spectrum is like i get this book isn't trying to speak for every single muslim ever but............. WHERE ARE THE LAYERS
overall i enjoyed this book, but honestly i couldn't see myself rereading it. the book was giving millennial's perception of teens core, and esp now that i am finally free from high school i could not give a shit about books that solely revolve around teenage drama.
i actually enjoyed this book a lot, and was surprised how invested i was. for the first 100 pages or so i was bored cuz there was no tension, and although there was only tension at the end, i still enjoyed this pretty well. i can't point out a lot of positives, i just really enjoyed the writing style. what i CAN do is point out a bunch of things this book flopped at!
1) disordered eating. why oh why is simone's entire character just about the fact shes overweight and hates the way she looks. like i get that it is a big deal for her but... please my girl needed some depth. which also combines with my second point:
2) the outdated language. there's an entire paragraph dedicated to how simone wishes she was anorexic and/or bulimic and im like. oh my god. or the language used at other points was um..... Questionable at best. i get this is from 2006 but yikes
3) the buzzwords. my god does this book sometimes read like a BuzzFeed article. and at some points it hurt so much. So Much.
i kinda enjoyed amal? she has a similar personality to me, but she also is kind of insufferable at times? i didn't have a strong liking to any of the characters other than maybe yasmeen.
i also didn't like how the book paints muslims one way or the other. like either you have leila's family or amals. no in between. like ok the spectrum is
Spoiler
either a misogynistic mother & brother who is borderline abusive, or literally the nicest family in the world.......overall i enjoyed this book, but honestly i couldn't see myself rereading it. the book was giving millennial's perception of teens core, and esp now that i am finally free from high school i could not give a shit about books that solely revolve around teenage drama.
laura_storyteller's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
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
2.0