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booksojwhi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Child abuse and Outing
Minor: Homophobia
alexture's review
Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Alcoholism, Islamophobia, and Alcohol
booksgamesvinyl's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.5
Have I read a completely different book than everyone else?
Genuinely, I can't think of a single thing about this book that was good. It's poorly written, the plot is unbelievable nonsense, the characters don't speak or act like people do in real life, and it feels as though the author has tried to make the book fast-paced, but by doing so has not allowed the characters to react to some of the heavy issues that they have to deal with.
This book is full of racism, islamophobia and homophobia. The MC (Sy) is subjected to violent abuse by his father (and this is on page) and has been so for years. After being subjected to a horrible beating and then being made homeless, Sy then travels to London and is detained during airport security, subjected to questioning and is about to be subjected to a strip search. He's 17. Seriously wtf. It basically seems to be blamed on Brexit and because of the colour of his skin but there's a brief conversation once he's released and then it's completely glossed over and never brought up again. He goes through so much trauma in this book that he just doesn't seem to process or even given the chance to address what has happened to him. Almost everyone except Sy's best friend (who's barely in the book) is homophobic, and Sy himself is a gay stereotype which honestly just felt a little bit sad.
Sy also goes to a bathhouse for a naked massage provided by another teen which is just very sketchy in multiple ways.
Plot wise, the entire book takes place over about a week. In this time, the MC
The romance as well just didn't feel convincing to me. We're given insight into this through flashbacks that show random moments in their relationship but it didn't give enough context as to why Sy was willing to go across the world to find Farouk. I didn't see the chemistry between them and didn't believe in their love. The conflict between them as well didn't make sense to me either.
I was just left wondering why this was even written in the first place. I don't know what the message or the purpose of the story was because it ends pretty abruptly and we don't really spend time with Sy after he's done what he thinks he needs to do (or at all throughout the book). I can't believe I'm saying this but it felt too plot heavy and there wasn't any room on the page for the characters to grow or be heard, it just felt like a sequence of events that they went through.
There is the potential for a decent book here but some major tweaks would have been needed for that book to actually be the one that was written.
And sorry, but a white(?) woman calling a gay Indian teen 'little curry puff' just really does not sit right with me.
Graphic: Racism, Miscarriage, Child abuse, Hate crime, Alcohol, Classism, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Islamophobia, and Homophobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, War, Violence, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Car accident, Injury/Injury detail, and Stalking
Minor: Death and Sexual content
delz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Islamophobia, Child abuse, Infidelity, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Medical trauma and Miscarriage
baylan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry
tahsintries's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, and Islamophobia
noyastan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Islamophobia, Homophobia, Alcoholism, and Addiction
Moderate: Xenophobia, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Outing
Minor: Car accident
berodatheelf's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Islamophobia, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Racism
ribs's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
the groundbreaker of this book, aside from its modern-day aladdin plot, is the orpheus and eurydice parallels that kept going back and forth between reggie’s backstory and sy’s enthralling journey.
it was a fun ride reading this because i liked naz kutub’s storytelling but it’s too fast-paced for my liking; the characters, especially reggie, had inconsistencies—it was very hard to put my finger on her because her attitude kept going on opposites in every chapter. the chapters are short and even though the direction of where the story is going is well-paced, the destination is stale compared to the build up.
this book passably discussed the struggles felt by muslims and brown people. i did not like the fact that this book made it seem like its main brown character couldn’t care less about those struggles just because he had been sheltered by his parents from the conflicts his own people experience—not to mention, he had visible experiences of said struggles. there’s a scene, however, where he briefly acknowledged his privilege, but it was brushed off and the story focused on finding farouk again.
i felt like the ending bit was rushed and it could have been more detailed. i felt that this book had a shortage of putting enough details in a scene, which made them lack solidity and felt hollowed out when read.
overall, i did like the premise of this book. it was fine for a debut but the progression could’ve been better.
Graphic: Islamophobia, Racism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Homophobia
Moderate: Outing
lettuce_read's review
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Homophobia, Islamophobia, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Racism and Outing