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emily_mh's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was such a hopeful book! Omar, the MC, faces a multitude of challenges when he starts his new school, and the book handles each one with care, with morals that are greatly instructive and useful for the target audience.
The story delves into the pressure that schools put on students to do well, the sacrifices kids have to make to get good grades. It stresses the need for balance between work, play, and sleep for students. Along the same lines, the novel expounds that it is okay to ask for help. It’s okay to lean on friends and family for emotional support, and teachers for academic support.
I appreciated the nuance Saeed brought to the conversation on luckiness. She builds the narrative so that it clearly sends the message that while you can be lucky for some things in your life, that doesn’t mean you can’t be unlucky in others and should put up with terrible situations. Omar may be lucky that he got into Ghalib, but that doesn’t mean he should put up with classism, and speaking out against this oppression doesn’t mean he is ungrateful for what he does have.
Perhaps the most important theme was the power of collective action and solidarity. I think it will be inspiring and affirming for middle-graders to see kids coming together and enacting change - it sure was for me.
The boarding school setting was a great fit for this story. It’s always a setting I enjoy, although here I especially appreciated how Saeed used it to illustrate the aforementioned themes of academic pressure, classism, and community.
I didn’t realise this book was a companion to Amal Unbound (ideally read after it, whoops), so I’m keen to pick it up and read more about Amal, who was a great SC in this story!
As a final note, this was my favourite quote: “I know that no matter what galaxy I get spun into, I will rise to face the challenge. I will be okay.”
Rep: Pakistani MC, Pakistani SCs
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism
Minor: Death of parent, Sexism, Bullying, Misogyny, and Death
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