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Reviews tagging 'Racism'
Four Eids and a Funeral by Adiba Jaigirdar, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
8 reviews
nickel_books's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Grief, Child death, Racism, and Car accident
Moderate: Cancer and Islamophobia
aromanticreadsromance's review against another edition
- 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
This book is full of Muslim joy and pride! Said and Tiwa are both Muslims from different ethnic backgrounds (like the authors!). Said is Bangladeshi-American, and Tiwa is Nigerian-American. Ironically, Tiwa is much more involved in their faith but gets treated as an outsider by the aunties in their community because she's Black. They don't recognize her as Muslim (it's weird that some of the aunties don't even recognize her from the mosque, considering the Muslim community in their town is small and tight-knit). As a South Asian, Said's Muslim identity is never questioned (which is ironic since he's less involved than Tiwa). I wish the book hadn't glossed over the commentary on anti-Black racism in Muslim communities. Since the issue was raised, I feel it shouldn't have been brushed off or rushed through and should have gone beyond the surface level.
I almost feel like this book suffered from trying to do TOO much that some of the threads were lost. I wanted MORE on so many topics, like Ms. Barnes (the librarian), Timi (Tiwa's little brother), and Tiwa's dad, to name a few. But especially Timi.
My favorite character was Tiwa's best friend/Said's sister Safiyah (we support women's rights AND wrongs). She's so funny AND gay (and you can't tell me those two things aren't related, LOL).
Overall, I liked this book, but I didn't LOVE it. It kinda reminded me of Lark and Kasim Start a Revolution by Kacen Callender (ex-best friends explore their feelings for each other, plus a sprinkle of activism), so if you liked that, you'll probably also like this!
A big thanks to Macmillan for the advanced copy of this book! All thoughts are my own.
Moderate: Racism, Grief, and Child death
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
skye_era_books's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury and Racism
Moderate: Car accident, Child death, Death, and Toxic friendship
bookishspicy's review
- 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
⚜
This was a beautiful, comforting read about two friends falling in love, a shared custody of an orange cat named Ladoo and a whole lot of forgiveness.
This book was so easy to read, I loved every second of it. All the characters were so loveable and understandable (everyone except the mayor). I loved the sister-like bond between Niwa and Safiyah. The way the town was portrayed was beautiful with all its murals, especially now with Saids mural.
Niwa and Said’s banter made me smile many times. I loved watching them rebuild their friendship while trying to save their towns Islamic centre. The scene in the restaurant together was adorable.
As someone who isn’t familiar with Islamic traditions, I felt it was all explained fairly well for me to understand, although I did sometimes have to look up things like the clothes or food.
The romance was very slow, Niwa and Said only started becoming friends about halfway through the book. I didn’t think we got enough thoughts from them about their hidden love for each other, there's a few times they catch each other's eye, or they get butterflies, but we never get much of their thoughts until the love confession at the end.
I wish we had more about how Tiwa and Said grieved for the loss of their mentor, I felt like it was forgotten about after the funeral at the very beginning. She was very important to both characters, so this part of the story didn’t feel right. I also thought that Timi (Tiwa’s younger brother) wasn’t spoken about enough considering he died only 2 years ago.
I felt that forgiveness was far too easily given at the end of the book, for something that had ruined a very good friendship. I wish there had been more explanation and a little more conflict before it was resolved.
Thank you so much to @NetGalley and @UsborneYA for the eARC of Four Eids and a Funeral by @dibs_j and @Faridahlikestea
Minor: Racism
zluvsreading's review
- 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
5.0
Gosh, where do I even start???? I know I say this with almost every book, but
The way grief was written in this packed a punch. My heart feels so heavy for her whole family. The way she deals with the hostility and racism from others just because she is Black and Muslim made me want to give her a hug so badly. Tiwa deserves the world and I will fight anyone who doesn’t think so. Her and Said? I have words! I HAVE WORDS!!! I loved her sister/friendship bond with Safiyah. They are almost like polar opposites, but they mesh together really well. It was funny to see how Tiwa set herself up to becoming a future lawyer with everything that went down in this (no spoilers!).
Graphic: Child death and Grief
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Racism, and Cursing
bloodmaarked's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
✧ full review on my tumblr ✧
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Animal death, Child death, and Cursing
Minor: Car accident, Grief, and Racism
onthesamepage's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Just a heads up that even though both main characters are Muslim, this is not a halal romance.
I really appreciated the ease of the Muslim representation. There are frequent mentions of praying, or asking Allah for help, in that casual way that Muslims perform these regular acts of worship. It was also really easy to read, with POVs from both main characters. Both of them are compelling people to follow, but the romance felt lackluster to me. When we first meet Said and Tiwa, we find out that they used to be friends but aren't anymore, and of course it takes a while before we find out why. It's not that the reason doesn't make sense, it's how it came about that left me scratching my head. This next part is full on spoilers for the eventual reveal of the origin of their conflict: (view spoiler)
There was a moment in this book where I thought I'd be getting some very important commentary on racism within Muslim communities. Tiwa is going door to door to gather signatures for a petition, and came in contact with people she recognized from the Islamic center, but who didn't recognize her. Her being Muslim is called into question, and there's an implication that it's because she's Black. But the book falls short of really digging into this topic, which is a shame in my opinion.
Graphic: Racism
lprongs's review
- 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
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Car accident, Racism, and Child death