Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Hollow Fires by Samira Ahmed

33 reviews

xovonniexo's review

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, and Gaslighting

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

4.0

Really enjoyed it. This made me tear up a little towards the end a few times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Antisemitism, Death, Grief, Islamophobia, Murder, Racism, Car accident, Bullying, Child death, Kidnapping, Medical content, Hate crime, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia

stephanielee's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Such a great book. Check the content warnings but I loved how the author pulled on real life events (names, locations, etc were changed) to really pull you in to how this is happening now. Still. Every day for black, brown and Indigenous folx. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, Racism, Hate crime, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Child death, and Misogyny

Minor: Car accident and War

clawclawclaw's review

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Racism, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Hate crime, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Kidnapping

gabbyjc's review

emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

This book is absolutely amazing. Samira Ahmed’s writing is absolutely beautiful and she was able to perfectly encapsulate the feelings I have as a black girl living in America and the fear and terror that comes with being a minority here. She made me feel things, anger, saddened, relief. But, she also reminded me of the privilege I have of being alive today, because many people like myself weren’t granted that. It reminded me of my purpose and need in life to stand up and speak out for others. I would 10/10 recommend this to any body who wants to learn more about the effects of racism on BIPOC or who just wants a good murder mystery to read.


My main critic is that the story was a bit predictable. Early on, I could see what the twist would be and once I got confirmation, it was kind of hard to get through. But the writing is impeccable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Grief, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia

Minor: Blood, Police brutality, and Toxic relationship

warlocksarecool21's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.0

Hollow Fires was a riveting and profound story about community and justice in the face of an unspeakable tragedy. I thought the format of this story was so interesting since it combined typical narration with articles, phone calls and video transcripts. I also thought the dual pov between Safiya and Jawad was well-done. We got to find out how Jawad’s past intertwined with Safiya’s and allowed readers to gain insight into what happened to Jawad while Safiya investigated. I thought Safiya was a good main character and I enjoyed her determination and sense of justice. I kind of guessed who killed Jawad (an ironic prediction turned out to be true 😭) but I was engaged in finding out how they would be revealed. The resolution of the mystery felt a little quick to me, but I think the overall plot was well-written. This is a powerful story about how fear and hatred can infest a country, and how the strength and resolve of a community can overcome it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Xenophobia, Murder, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Violence and Racial slurs

Minor: Kidnapping

corriejn's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

YA novel about a teen in Chicago dealing with racist and Islamophobic incidents in her community. A bit true crime/mystery, a bit of teen romance, peer drama, struggles at school, etc., and lots of contextualizing situations within both real and fictionalized events in the rise of open right wing and xenophobic sentiments in the U.S. and social media. Some points made a bit "on the nose" but didn't feel too out of place for the genre.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Religious bigotry, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Murder, Toxic friendship, Classism, Xenophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Stalking, Police brutality, Violence, and Gaslighting

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Antisemitism, and Drug use

frog_appreciator's review

4.75

This is not an easy book to read but it’s an important one. Really well written. I enjoyed the inclusion of news articles, interviews, etc throughout the story. Ahmed illustrated real world issues in an accessible way for the fiction reader. Including Jawaad’s POV really tied everything together. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Racism, Islamophobia, Hate crime, and Xenophobia

library_kb's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

This YA thriller/mystery was a slower start for me, but I finished the last 50% in one sitting. It is a hard story to read because you can see how each and every part of it could happen in real life--and every bit of it is so tragic, the way that racism and Islamophobia shows up in large ways and in everyday dismissals of real concerns. So much of it can be connected to current events that it is hard to believe that it has been in production since 2019, which makes it even more tragic that it feels so familiar rather than a story tied to a specific time period. Highly recommend for 8th grade and up as long as students are prepared to confront the tough topics inside. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Murder, Islamophobia, and Racism

Minor: Hate crime, Kidnapping, and Misogyny

winglesswarrior's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Child death, Antisemitism, Classism, Hate crime, Gaslighting, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, and Racism