Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - Hana Khan Carries On

Expectation: if you want to get ahead, you have to play by “their” rules. Hana Khan wants to catch a break in the competitive (and very white) world of radio. But she also wants to support her family: with a disabled father, overworked mother, pregnant (and on bed rest) sister, and facing the closure of the family restaurant. At the heart of this story is having the courage to tell your own story on your own terms, even in the face of violent threats and Islamophobia. This story takes on the challenge of combating harmful Islamophobic narratives in media (vis a vis a “well intentioned” YT woman who is Hana’s boss) and acts of physical violence against both individuals and communities. Hana makes mistakes, she tries to take on too much, she learns to ask for help, and ultimately to trust in her own moral judgment.

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amberinpieces's review

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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? Yes

4.0

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achay91's review

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challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

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

3.75

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kollieollie's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.75

I’m a sucker for a good rom com and You’ve Got Mail is one of my favorites. This book does a great job telling a similar story from the view of a Canadian Muslim woman. It has loveable characters while not shying away from difficult topics like Islamophobia. At points that part of the story feels almost too stereotypical - it’s a lot easier to hate people when they are as awful as the individuals written in this book. Either way, it’s an important story to tell and I really enjoyed the read.

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kaleys23's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

4.5

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bookworm_ohsea's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective

4.5

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michelle_my_belle's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective 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? Yes

3.75

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sweetsxrrxw's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

3.75

this book had so much potential but i'm afraid it could not fully be delievered. don't get me wrong, it is entertaining and you can have a good time reading it. however, i feel like the author tried to include way too many storylines and i don't think that works with a 350 page novel.

firstly, i don't think it should be labelled as romance because, while there's some soft and cute moments, the title itself says it: this book revolves around hana, and we get to see how she deals with several situations.
i think that these said situations were easy to relate to. and even if you can't fully relate, you can easily emphatize with them: islamophobia, being a perfectionist, doing your best to help your family, being kinda afraid to chase your dreams, the struggles of feeling like you don't belong anywhere...

i loved to read about her character delevopment and how she decided uncertainty is better than being mistreated and doing things you don't really love

i feel like maybe the book's main plot is family. despite everything, i think this was one of the best nuanced topics. i actually think i loved everyone in hana's family. but of course my favorite characters are kawkab (because we love sexy mysterious women) and rashid (supportive side characters who are there for comedic relief own my heart)
i also like the fact that the book portrays different kind of families and/or relationships. there's the imam wearing hawaiian shirts just to make his wife laugh, yusuf and lily's complicated relationship, the way juneid's temper affected his family...

aydin was kind of relatable at some points, you know, the whole needing reassurance thing and not wanting to let his dad down, although he knows he's not a great person.

but i am just kind of confused about him and hana. like, okay, maybe by the end of the book they're not kind of an official couple and they're just in the process of finally getting to know each other better, after so many conversations online and after their banter irl. but, i feel like the way they started liking each other was a bit insta-lovey :/ also, i thought he knew about anabgr's identity and was just playing dumb? but he did not know? that's confusing, specially since he should have recognized hana's voice after a while, but anyways

but as i said, i think the romance was more of a subplot in this book.

oh, also it took me a while to get over the first 20% of the book. i guess i felt like nothing at all was happening? if this problem and the multiple storylines one would have been fixed, maybe i could round this to 4 stars. but yeah, i don't think i can't give it that rating knowing i was about to dnf it at the beginning.

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