Reviews

Four Eids and a Funeral by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Adiba Jaigirdar

amelie_k5's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted 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? No

4.0

lucinda_lesbrarian's review against another edition

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

dinma_reads's review against another edition

Got bored/just wasn’t feeling it 

author2223's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective 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? Yes

4.5

ellenannmary's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

axel_p's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I smiled almost the entire time reading.

thecozyarchivist's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

2.0

As much as I wanted to like this book, all these two needed to do was have a 5 minute conversation and everything could have been worked out on page 1. Instead we get them being passive aggressive towards each other for 8 hours.

Another issue for me was that there were just too many stories trying to be told at once. We kept jumping around and it was hard to keep up with everything.

My final complaint is that the adults in this book were acting dumb the whole time. Like they let two kids take charge of trying to save the Islamic Center while they all just ignored everything that was happening. I get that parents are often absent in YA books, but this actually felt unreal.

I do think the duel narrators did a good job on the audiobook and that the core of the story was sweet. I just wanted more from it all.

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the audiobook copy to review. #MacAudio2024 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, Islamophobia, and Grief

sodachampagne's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

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

3.0

teyn's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

3.0

anagrace18's review against another edition

3.0

I went into this book with high expectations, having loved previous works from both of these authors.  However, this story didn’t end up completely working for me for a number of reasons. Most notably, many parts of the plot felt forced or underdeveloped. For instance, the funeral that sets the story into action doesn’t really come up again, and the characters barely exhibit any grief about the death of their mentor. Both Tiwa and Said have an aspect of their lives that they explore and deal with throughout the story, with Tiwa grappling with the loss of her brother and Said considering a future in the arts. While compelling in theory, neither of these backstories generate any poignancy and they both feel so dry. Even the plotline with saving the Islamic center felt so one note after a while, ending in a truly unsatisfying resolution. Also, the situation keeping Said and Tiwa apart over the years turned out to be quite bizarre and not something that made sense from any of the involved characters given their personalities. However, I did appreciate the book’s portrayal of the growth that Said and Tiwa exhibited, both with each other and in their relationships with friends and family. The frequent presence of a cat in the story was another bonus.  Overall, this story wasn’t as strong as I hoped it would be, but I would still recommend it to YA readers and fans of both authors.