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retiredlibrarylady's review against another edition
3.0
Letters and emails back and forth between Patricia and Alana try to bridge the serious ten-year old rift between mother and daughter. Both are quite exasperated and intransigent at the start and this reader was exasperated with both of them. Over time they manage to achieve acceptance and forgiveness and realize that their relationship is important and worth the effort to work through the major differences. Interesting but not as enlightening as I had hoped.
rachelb36's review against another edition
4.0
The mother seems to think that because her daughter was raised in a Christian family, that automatically made her a Christian. Even referring to her as "my christian daughter who is a Muslim" which doesn't make any sense. She doesn't recognize that one's family or traditions can't make a person a Christian - only a personal surrender to Jesus as Lord can.
The daughter also doesn't understand Christianity, claiming that she "had always been a Christian." She wants her mom to be happy for her trying to follow God and finding peace in Islam, not acknowledging that of course her mom can't be happy, because by her own Christian understanding, her daughter is not following the true God.
They both take things too personally and have unreasonable expectations of one another.
I just wouldn't have reacted the same way in many of the situations they mention and so I couldn't always relate.
Some of the writing was a bit too flowery and "writerly" for my taste.
Overall, though, it was good to read of other perspectives and get a glimpse into their thought processes. There is some personal growth present in both of their lives as the book goes on.
The daughter also doesn't understand Christianity, claiming that she "had always been a Christian." She wants her mom to be happy for her trying to follow God and finding peace in Islam, not acknowledging that of course her mom can't be happy, because by her own Christian understanding, her daughter is not following the true God.
They both take things too personally and have unreasonable expectations of one another.
I just wouldn't have reacted the same way in many of the situations they mention and so I couldn't always relate.
Some of the writing was a bit too flowery and "writerly" for my taste.
Overall, though, it was good to read of other perspectives and get a glimpse into their thought processes. There is some personal growth present in both of their lives as the book goes on.
atlantic_reader_wannabe's review against another edition
3.0
I kind think this book was published a bit prematurely. It feels like Alana and Patricia were only just starting to make any real headway, wordlessly in Patricia's sections where it felt like she was starting to open her mind about Islam. I may not be a Muslim myself but even I can see how big that is. Perhaps a sequel to continue the journey is in order?
*won on GoodReads First Reads*
*won on GoodReads First Reads*
indigodreamer6's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
aazak127's review against another edition
2.0
This was the most frustrating book I've ever read. The title is misleading- they are divided the whole way through. I forced myself to finish and all you really get at the end is a promise to pursue the 'path to peace'. The mother, Patricia, just talks about her charity work all the time and quotes way too many other sources, with randomly interspersed "Jesus"es. She treats her daughter's conversion to Islam as if it is the worst thing to ever happen. She doesn't want her daughter to be happy or make her own decisions: she wants her daughter to be Christian. End of story. She is selfish and makes her daughter's choice about faith all about herself. The only shift in her thinking occurs when she realizes SHE can't convert Alana back to Christianity, but hopefully Jesus can.
The daughter, Alana, is slightly less close-minded but approaches the conflict in the same way- with little actual willingness to change or compromise. I wish Alana's sections contained more about her personal life, which would have really enriched her account. Instead, she goes so far to leave her kids, for example, out of the story that she refers to her youngest child as "the baby" repeatedly. She also never really delves into her decision to convert to Islam (aside from 'God has no partners'), which I would think is a big piece of the puzzle.
To sum up, I think this book was published prematurely. I didn't really gain anything except hearing a mother and daughter argue and quote their own scriptures. I was expecting something more enlightening, and was rather disappointed.
The daughter, Alana, is slightly less close-minded but approaches the conflict in the same way- with little actual willingness to change or compromise. I wish Alana's sections contained more about her personal life, which would have really enriched her account. Instead, she goes so far to leave her kids, for example, out of the story that she refers to her youngest child as "the baby" repeatedly. She also never really delves into her decision to convert to Islam (aside from 'God has no partners'), which I would think is a big piece of the puzzle.
To sum up, I think this book was published prematurely. I didn't really gain anything except hearing a mother and daughter argue and quote their own scriptures. I was expecting something more enlightening, and was rather disappointed.
kevinhendricks's review against another edition
3.0
A Christian mother and her Muslim daughter dialogue about their divisions over religion. It's a little frustrating because they're reflecting back and forth, sharing some of their conversation but mostly their reactions and insights. It's an important conversation to have and it's powerful how it disrupted their family and allowing for dialogue has brought them together, but as a reading experience it felt a little lacking.
mikeebeth's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
I found this an incredibly frustrating read in some places. Patricia's unwillingness for the first two thirds of the book to see what Alana finds in her faith and wanting to argue constantly that Christianity is correct and Islam is not was so frustrating. I didn't understand why she couldn't accept that her daughter had made her decision and was not going to change her mind. I think that's part of the point of this book, though, to try to understand the different perspectives that are presented here. I found myself siding much more with Alana because I felt that Alana was on defense the whole time. It seems that their tension came from a history where Alana had previously been rebellious and disrespectful, so I can understand that Patricia also felt a bit defensive. But in this book I felt that Patricia's reactions to Alana's portions sometimes felt condescending, especially in the beginning. It was interesting to see Patricia especially get to a point to where she could consider her daughter's perspective without getting so frustrated. They didn't end up coming to total reconciliation in the end. By the end of the book Patricia is still hoping that Alana will return to Christianity. In that way the ending didn't feel narratively complete, but this is a snapshot of real life so I can forgive that.
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