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decklededgess's review
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
trigger warnings: drug addiction, alcoholism, drug abuse, arson, felony charge, abusive and emotionally distant parents, ALS, parent death, manipulation, islamophobia and racism mention
This book was difficult to read primarily because it hinged on a lot of boundary crossing and invasion of privacy for the sake of "protecting family." I guess to an extent that's fine and all but really the lack of accountability at the end really set me off. How are you about to forgive someone stealing pages from a personal journal and contacting an ex despite the affected party asking you to leave things alone??? UGHHHH I was very distressed.
But then again, the reasoning behind a lot of Kiran's (mc) actions were motivated by her need to protect Amira (and also keep her family intact). Same with Deen. Come to think of it, a lot of the early chapters were me begrudgingly siding with Kiran on a lot of the things she was doing because really I would also consider going to these lengths to make sure my sibling wasn't marrying some weirdo who could hurt them.
I found the "server" anonymous conversations between Deen and Kiran to be quite useless to the plot tbh. Sure they were a way for the narrators to interact with each other and show their chemistry devoid of the ongoing conflict but it really felt extraneous. I skimmed a lot of that and was still able to understand the character motivations and inner monologues.
Overall, this book was a bit of a mess. The message is loud and clear but the vibe of the book was just really offputting in general. Make sure mistakes are adequately fixed and not simply forgiven because family is family. Some of the shit done in this book were taken way too casually for how frankly awful they were.
This book was difficult to read primarily because it hinged on a lot of boundary crossing and invasion of privacy for the sake of "protecting family." I guess to an extent that's fine and all but really the lack of accountability at the end really set me off. How are you about to forgive someone stealing pages from a personal journal and contacting an ex despite the affected party asking you to leave things alone??? UGHHHH I was very distressed.
But then again, the reasoning behind a lot of Kiran's (mc) actions were motivated by her need to protect Amira (and also keep her family intact). Same with Deen. Come to think of it, a lot of the early chapters were me begrudgingly siding with Kiran on a lot of the things she was doing because really I would also consider going to these lengths to make sure my sibling wasn't marrying some weirdo who could hurt them.
I found the "server" anonymous conversations between Deen and Kiran to be quite useless to the plot tbh. Sure they were a way for the narrators to interact with each other and show their chemistry devoid of the ongoing conflict but it really felt extraneous. I skimmed a lot of that and was still able to understand the character motivations and inner monologues.
Overall, this book was a bit of a mess. The message is loud and clear but the vibe of the book was just really offputting in general. Make sure mistakes are adequately fixed and not simply forgiven because family is family. Some of the shit done in this book were taken way too casually for how frankly awful they were.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit, Violence, Toxic relationship, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, and Islamophobia
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