Reviews

So...I'm conflicted as to how I should rate this book.

It's a very good portrayal of a modern Muslim South-Asian young adult woman, it really is. Hana is sweet and intelligent and has faith and loves her family. In terms of representation this book is 5 stars. The characters are cool, especially Hana's Machiavellian cousin Rashid. However, I don't feel you get to know all of them well and this is mostly evident with Aydin. You understand his motivations, his feelings, but not particularly in-depth.

It doesn't live up story-wise for me, that's why I am giving 3 stars. It's more of a day-to-day portrayal (which, again, is the highlight of the book) but if you're looking for a love story (and maybe that's my fault, I went in expecting that), you're not getting exactly that. Don't get me wrong, Aydin and Hana do have an ongoing narrative and develop feelings for each other but the focus is so off the romance , it's more on the themes of family/business/future/society/prejudice.

It's a cool book, an enjoyable read and very well written. I can't comment on whether or not the portrayal of Hana's experiences were accurate or not, but it felt genuine and well-told.

melissa_bookworm's review against another edition

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4.0

TW: Islamophobia, illness of a parent
I really loved Ayesha at Last so I was excited to see what this one would be like. Similar to Ayesha, it seemingly retold a story that is familiar (in this case, it was You've Got Mail vibes) but with a more diverse perspective. Knowing the type of narrative, I knew who StanleyP who Hana was messaging must have been but I thought it was a fun book all the same. I think it has a fair bit to say about how racism impacts families like Hana's - it's sad that it is a reality but I hope it becomes a thing of the past soon enough. Can't wait to see what this author does next.

kdaedwards's review against another edition

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funny inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.5

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.

Content Warnings

coffeenbooks74's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

Hana refuses to let a new halal restaurant in the neighborhood take business away from her mother's restaurant. She's also busy trying to get her own show at the radio station where she interns. When there's a hate motivated attack on her neighborhood, she realizes she must work with and accept help from someone she thought was her enemy.

wherethewidlies's review against another edition

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5.0

AHHH ONE OF MY FAVES NOW YOU CAN'T CHANGE MY MIND

linnlivesinbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

Amazing!
but i could have done without him dancing at the end

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