Reviews tagging 'Medical content'

Zara Hossain Is Here by Sabina Khan

7 reviews

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. 

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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

sarah984's review against another edition

emotional informative medium-paced

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

3.0

This book touches on a lot of important topics and I did like parts of it but overall it felt a little bland and superficial, more like a summary than its own novel. A lot of things happen really quickly and kind of get glossed over (the romance is SO fast) and the side characters don't have a lot of personality. I liked the way the book spotlighted problems with the immigration system that aren't as commonly addressed. However a lot of issues got solved way too easily -

the love interest’s homophobic Christian parents go to one therapy session and then they're okay with her Muslim girlfriend coming over for dinner, the way going to Canada is presented as an answer to every problem as if there are no racists here.

The food descriptions are great though, and I loved Zara’s relationship with her family.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Homophobia, Medical content, Xenophobia, and Racism

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, and Death of parent

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.

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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

starryorbit12's review against another edition

emotional informative tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Zara Hossain is Here in a short, fast-paced novel filled with intention on every page. The struggle and injustice that Zara and her family go through are core of this novel showing how government processes can often further victimize already hurt and marginalized people. It shows just how much immigrants have to fight no mater how many years they have been in the country and how fight rarely every ends.Zara, her friends, and family shine and the book never shies away from the ugly true of what they have been through and continue to go through waiting 14 years for their green cards to finish processing. The social commentary is spot on, and this a short read that could be finished in one to two sitting making it work the read if your on the fence. I do appreciate the optimistic but not perfect ending as well. It felt realistic without use realistic as way to be overly grim-dark or angsty.

 This is also F/F romance with a bisexual lead and lesbian love interest. While the representation is great, the conversation on homophobia is a little shallow in places.

The novel focus more on Chloe, the love interests, homophobic Christian family than the implication of what could happen to Zara if she moves back to Pakistan and is outed. I do like the Zara family was supportive though. Not even Zara thinks about to as debates going with her family, she thinks more on not being with Chloe than the implication of what being with women could mean for her there. It only briefly touched on that although her parents may miss their family that they may lose by them anyways if they find out Zara is bisexual.

In comparison to the other themes, the homophobia and romance felt tacked on. Zara and Chloe were cute, and I love the way they are able to communicate and be each other's rocks when bad things happen. It just the harder LGBTQ+ topics the book approached fell flat.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Islamophobia, Medical content, Racism, and Violence

Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Religious bigotry

Zara locker is defaced with racist slurs. When the student who did it faces consequences, they defaced more islamophobic slurs on her house. Her father goes to report the behavior to the student father. The father shoots him, and he ends up in the hospital with internal bleeding and brain swelling that force the hospital to put him into an induced coma. Chloe parents are homophobic, and the use their religion to justify their rejection of her lesbianism. In addition, Zara faces racist comments and aggressions throughout.

citymouse's review

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Hate crime, Medical content, Medical trauma, Racism, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Biphobia and Violence

mfieldshalva's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Islamophobia, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Hate crime, Gun violence, Bullying, and Medical content

Moderate: Biphobia

heytherekaity's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Xenophobia