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jebecky's review
Graphic: Torture, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Animal death, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, Racism, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Slavery, Panic attacks/disorders, Confinement, Classism, Death, Cancer, Gun violence, War, Medical content, and Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual content and Pregnancy
I couldn't finish this book due to the content triggers.khaleesimod93's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse and Xenophobia
baileyk123's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Xenophobia, War, Torture, Death, Deportation, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, and Islamophobia
peachani's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Animal death, Blood, Gun violence, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Stalking, and Violence
Moderate: Islamophobia, Terminal illness, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death, Pregnancy, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Alcohol, Torture, and Medical content
rrubin97's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Graphic: Rape, Domestic abuse, Islamophobia, Xenophobia, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Torture
zombiezami's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Islamophobia, Xenophobia, Torture, Rape, Racism, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Murder, Terminal illness, Animal death, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical content, Alcohol, Colonisation, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, and Misogyny
wee_ramekin's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Abandonment
Moderate: Abandonment, Animal death, Islamophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, and Xenophobia
perfect_leaves's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Animal death, Blood, Chronic illness, Cursing, Confinement, Death of parent, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Alcoholism, Genocide, Islamophobia, Xenophobia, Hate crime, and Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Vomit, and Pregnancy
now_booking's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The book tells the story of 2 central characters who are imperfect and broken in different ways. Anwar is an irreverent skeptic from a Muslim family. Born and raised in Pakistan, his clever humorous wit and irreverent questions about matters of faith were already a concern to his religious mother, long before he moved to America. Now a wise-cracking, chronically underachieving adult, he finds himself in Hafeez Bhatti’s rundown building as one of the philanthropists collection of bad Muslims a.k.a broken and imperfect people in need of help. There he meets Azza, an undocumented immigrant who shares his lack of ability to settle and find peace, and a history that is more devastatingly brutal than he can imagine.
It’s incredibly difficult to summarize this book and the intersections of the characters and their story without giving it all away. This book examines themes of love, family and friendship in a way that is beautifully relatable, but also themes of religious faith, resilience, and fear in ways that any person of faith or lack thereof would find compellingly apt. The book is divided into parts which represent different timelines- from the mid 1990s in part 1 to 2016/2017 and the election of Donald Trump into office. This isn’t an especially political book, other than the way politics intersects with life, until the end when clearly during the 2016 election which happens near the end of the book, populist ideologies become a reality for the characters in a way. But even though Islamophobia is a minor theme in this book, this is not a book about that or about us vs them. It’s a book about people. The characters felt incredibly real and that verisimilitude, whilst emotionally engaging when reading Anvar’s sections, becomes almost brutal when reading Azza’s. And yet as emotionally-charged as this novel is, it’s perfectly balanced with Anvar’s dark sense of humor and Azza’s almost fatalistic sense of reality. This book is sad and painful, but you won’t be able to put it down. The language is beyond gorgeous, the insights eminently quoteworthy- I found myself highlighting large swathes of this book and its brilliant takes on faith and brotherhood, injustice and fear. I found Anvar to be an odd mix of bold irreverence and cautious fear.
This book won’t be for everyone. I am a person of faith (Christ follower) and I get not every book that questions faith will be for everyone- we are all at different points in our acceptance that someone questioning our beliefs doesn’t have to be blasphemous or doesn’t have to mean that we question our beliefs. If you’re conservative especially conservative Muslim and you might be offended by a protagonists irreverent journey to come to terms with his faith, this might be one to avoid. For me as a Christian, even though this was clearly a book where Anvar’s (the main character’s) relationship with Islam was explored extensively as a major theme, I found this applicable and relatable as someone who also grew up in the Christian faith as a practicing Christian, having questions and still having faith but also trying to understand my own personal relationship with God not based on my family’s relationship or my Church’s relationship. And I think at its heart, for Anwar, that’s what this story is about. It’s about being a back-slidden person, about being a remedial person of faith, about trying to be better, and from Azza, it’s a book about this world draining the faith out of you but still finding the kernel of hope that perhaps all is not lost and there is still beauty.
I think one of the reasons why I’m so in love with this book is because I love characters that are broken and imperfect, characters that have no reason to believe in anything anymore and yet are on a journey to decide for themselves what they believe. I’m a huge fan of the characters in this book, in my life I’ve known Anvars and Zuhas, maybe only 1 or 2 Azzas, and for that reason it felt like they were getting their story. I didn’t necessarily LOVE any of the characters, but I enjoyed reading them and thinking about them and spending time with them. I think this is a great book for all the black sheep, the questioners, the ones on their own journeys of faith and life, the ones who have been hurt, the ones healing, the families that can’t speak of the love they have for each other.
I am so blown away by this book- I read it in less than 24 hours and literally couldn’t put it down needing to know what would happen next. I adored this but am looking forward to reading more own voices reviews to get other perspectives on this. For me, it was absolutely brilliant! Super grateful to Doubleday Books for a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley.
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Islamophobia and Torture
Minor: Racism, Rape, and Xenophobia