Reviews - Hijab Butch Blues

4.2k reviews for:

Hijab Butch Blues

Lamya H.

4.59 AVERAGE

avmaris's review against another edition

4.75

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Absolutely beautiful. The pacing and imagery kept me so invested. I felt so seen by and related to Lamya so much, as I was also raised very religious. Seeing these ancient stories applied and explained in such a loving way felt so nice. If you have ever felt like an outsider, even with your friends, I definitely recommend this book.

els2307's review against another edition

5.0

During her 14th year, Lamya feels very little perspective in the life as she is given, in a family valuing traditional gender and relationship norms. A few years after being born somewhere in Asia, amidst a warm muslim community, her parents moved to a more stable, Arabic country where her mother is not allowed to drive nor work. Highly aware of the unspoken, high expectations that are being cherished for her (as the 'good and intelligent child'), Lamya's mood only sinks further into highly depressive thoughts. Until one day in Quran class, she reads of Maryam, a woman who actually screams she wants to die, and seems to live somewhat outside the rules Lamya is given.

Thanks to her intelligence, the support of family in the USA, and some luck, she moves towards the other side of the globe, where the world of higher education sets her on a path of de- and reconstructing her identity as a muslim, a queer woman and an immigrant. Balancing her given and chosen family, the sequence of experiences with inviting others into her new, queer life, is full of small and big choices. Written in a witty, highly intelligent and inquisitive style, the author succeeds in weaving together stories from islamic sources with Lamya's search for love, recognition and self-acceptance.