Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Hana Khan Carries On

Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin

43 reviews

daniellekat's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

2.5

This is hard to rate. While I enjoyed the fluffiness and the representation, the plot was meh and there were a lot of eye-roll inducing conveniences. And don’t get me started on the ridiculousness of the whole

long lost mother thing 🙄

I’m notoriously picky on how authors write about Toronto, but this was fair and only a little over done. Honestly, I think I’m probably rating this more generously since I read it on vacation and it certainly fits as a light beach read.

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matmatmatty's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring tense medium-paced

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? It's complicated

3.0

Okay, got a lot to say on this.

Summary:
If you want to read about a realistic experience as a Muslim and daughter of immigrants, and that's not your lived experience, you might really enjoy this and get a lot out of it.

Things I liked:

I loved Rashid and Kawkab Khala - easily best characters.
I did like the representation - it's good to hear stories about Muslims like this so I do applaud that.
Loved Hana standing up to Marissa and putting her foot down on the show. It's important that we understand that we should not be tokenised and to refuse participation if we think that we are

Other thoughts:

I don't understand Hana's character. She's 24 but spent a fair amount of time acting like a teenager (being petty and vindictive).
I don't understand how she could phone in a false complaint and then immediately feel bad about it, but then a few days later make a bunch of accounts to spread rumours and on general make Aydin seem bad, and again feel bad about it! Just don't do it!
I did enjoy her relationship with her family, especially her father and seeing her with her father showed her mature side but sometimes she acted like she was 10 years younger and I don't get it
The twist/mystery was too obvious imo.
I guessed that Aydin was Stanley P as soon as I met him and I honestly don't know if I was supposed to know or if I was supposed to find out when Hana did but it just seemed so obvious and was kinda annoying that neither of them realised until much later. I also guessed Afsana was Aydin's mum as soon as we met her - Hana literally says she reminds her of him and I was like "oh is that his mum?" It just felt a little too obvious again and felt like I was just waiting for characters to figure out what I had already pieced together.
I am not sure who this story is for - I love the representation but I don't think this is written with brown girls in mind. The messages were a little too on the nose (like I know racism exists and I know what it's like and this just felt too exaggerated for me to enjoy it). I think this is written for white/non-Muslims to read to learn and understand the experience and I do not fit into either of those categories. I also think this read too YA than adult, partly because of Hana's actions.
Should add, I am not Canadian, I have never been to Canada. I am Muslim and not white, but I don't wear hijab so I do not know what someone like Hana feels and experiences. That bring said, that actual discrimination that Hana experienced was way too over the top.
It went from 0 to 100 on the city centre with the fight and just felt almost cartoonish. Same with what happened at the festival - I've experienced similar shit to things I've organised but it was just way too unrealistic. Overall I think the issue is that it came out of nowhere - she had never spoken about racism before and suddenly this happens and it's an assault. Yes that can happen of course but normally you hear comments first. You have side glances. People following you on the shop etc. Not straight to hate crime. She ran a podcast that was about being brown and never mentioned racist comments on it - they should've started here at least.
That being said, i do think that for those not used to having those conversations, it would be very useful to read something like that and is a good thing to address.

Not a bad book but I think not for me.

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gellyreads's review

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emotional funny 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

4.0

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cassielaj's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.25

A great read!! I think the characters are by far the strongest piece of this story — Hana is complex and layered and an excellent narrator/protagonist. I enjoyed the story and I found it unlike a lot of other contemporary/romance I’ve read. It tackled some serious subjects with intention and grace, which I really appreciated. At times, there was so much going on that I felt certain threads got dropped, but everything resolved well and I liked the ending.

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sarahbythebook's review against another edition

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4.0

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evelikesbooks's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring

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

4.0

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wanderlust_romance's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative 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? No

3.75

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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bookdragonkatie's review

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.5

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danlmaoo5_'s review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing 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? Yes

4.25

First I would like to say how much emotion this book brought me. It was tense, emotional, funny, heartwarming. I think one of the things that stood out to me was the amount of community the book was surrounded around. I haven’t read in a longggg time, or rather I haven’t finished a book since I was 15 maybe. I’ve recently gotten in reading now that I’m 21, and I think this book was perfect to get me into reading again. Loved it so much, I found it my local library. Loved it so much.

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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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