Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Zara Hossain Is Here by Sabina Khan

5 reviews

queerafictionado's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.0

 This was an amazing story that covers some pretty heavy and intense topics in a (for the most part) delicate way, without too much sugar coating or downplaying - racism, xenophobia, immigration, and gun violence to name the big ones. It’s the story of Zara, a bisexual, Muslim, Pakistani immigrant in Texas, as she navigates being a teen and growing up while being othered and dehumanized, all while she and her family deal with immigration red tape bureaucracy and the fate of their ability to stay in the country hangs in the balance. 

With all the intense topics that this story touches on, including homophobia, I love that Zara’s parents are not one of the sources. They are supportive and love and defend her and it made my heart so happy to see that. Zara has a close relationship with her parents as well as her two best friends and with all the bad things that were happening to Zara and her family, it was great to have so much love and support and goodness written into the story through these relationships. And I of course have to mention the adorable rescue dog, Zoro! 

At times it felt like Khan tried to pack too much into the book, and some parts felt rushed and too easily resolved. But overall it was an enjoyable story and I recommend checking it out. The narrator, Richa Moorjani, did a great job bringing this story to life! 

While this story did have a sapphic romance subplot, it is not a romance. This story is a coming of age novel about family and friendship, standing strong and remaining hopeful in the face of hatred.

🏳️‍🌈Rep: MC is a Bisexual, Muslim, Pakistani immigrant; LI is a white lesbian; several POC and queer SCs

📝Tropes/Themes: Young Adult, High School, Friendship, Family Relationships, Catholic School, Immigration, Coming of Age, Racism, Social Justice, Cute Rescue Dog

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Medical trauma, Racism, Xenophobia, Bullying, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, and Injury/Injury detail

zombiezami's review

3.75

What I most liked about this book were Zara as a character and her loving and mutually supportive relationship with her parents. I really loved how they were written. I also especially enjoy books where I can't predict what's going to happen next, and that was definitely the case with this one.

As far as my critiques, most of the characters did not feel especially developed. What activities does Priya enjoy? Why does Zara like Claire other than that Zara finds her pretty and they are both queer? At the end of the book, I didn't have a clear idea of how to answer those questions. Even with Zara, we open the book with her training in martial arts, but that barely gets brought up again after that first scene, despite the fact that she's been involved with it for most of her life.

Moreover, there were some plot points that were introduced but never really went anywhere. For example,

what happened with Maria after Zara intervened in the bullying and intimidation that was happening? It's implied that she might talk to the principal about how she was bullied, but we never hear about her after that incident. I was thinking she might become friends with Zara and her crew

. The ending felt rather abrupt, too.

There were also several instances where the characters acted as mouthpieces for the author's beliefs, sounding like they were reading Wikipedia pages about the DREAM Act and immigration reform. Although I agreed with what they were saying (fuck borders), I imagine there could have been a more organic way to present these ideas in the characters' own voices. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Racism, Lesbophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Grief, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, Islamophobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Homophobia, and Biphobia

Moderate: Gun violence, Vomit, Death, and Outing

Minor: Death of parent, Cursing, Deportation, Colonisation, and Car accident

susanknights's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Deportation, Violence, War, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and Biphobia

clakyn's review

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Biphobia, Xenophobia, Bullying, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, and Religious bigotry

venetiana's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This was so good. I especially love how it didn't latch onto the "easiest" solution. The purpose of this book is definitely not to assuage white guilt, and I really appreciate that. 
Also, very lovable characters, great writing, and funny too.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence and Racism

Moderate: Biphobia, Hate crime, Medical content, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Xenophobia, Vomit, Bullying, Death, Grief, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Outing, and Violence