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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
This is such a beautiful coming-of-age story that follows Razia, a girl growing up in a Pakistani-American community in Queens during the 1980s. It's poignantly written and touches on the main conflict of Razia's identity to herself, her family and Pakistani community, and the American culture around her. As she gets older and into her teen years she is tugged in many different directions regarding who she wants to be vs. who her parents expect her to be. I love that it's written almost like a memoir and touches on many important topics from LGBTQIA acceptance, American hybrid identities, and stories of immigrant families. I really enjoyed the audiobook, especially since it was read by the author, but I feel like it could be enjoyed in paper format too! It's very enlightening as a non-Muslim reader as well and I loved the way Rehman explained everything about Muslim culture while also weaving a simple, yet heartfelt tale. Would definitely recommend this!
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the early copy in exchange for an honest review!
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the early copy in exchange for an honest review!
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
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
Content Warnings
Minor: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Murder
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A beautifully written book about tradition and what happens when it clashes with a new generation's expectations. The author explored the contradictions without diminishing the values of the community that raised Razia.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I bought this a few years ago during one of the 50% off hardcover sales at Barnes and Noble. And, naturally, it has sat, unread, on my bookshelf...until now. Slowly but surely, working through my backlist. :-)
In Roses, in the Mouth of a Lion, Razia narrates her own coming of age, late elementary through mid high school, growing up under the watchful eye of her Pakistani family and community in Corona, Queens, NYC. Each chapter is a little snippet, a glimpse of a day or a memory as Razia is growing up - sort of litke a collection of separate but related vignettes (though as the story progresses and Razia gets older, the plot-flow connection between the chapters does get stronger). To be clear though, this is very much a slower-paced, character development novel. While there is a light plotline, the beauty is in the characters and their relationships. I mean, these female friendships though!!! OMG. The strength, the support - it's flawed but it's so pure. And Rehman does a wonderful job painting the complex reality that is the tension between family and tradition and cultural/religious loyalty and one's individual growth and personal identity and the future. The pull is excruciating to watch Razia struggle with internally. And also low key inspiring, to see her work through it for herself.
And the writing! It is gorgeous. Flowing and poetic, but not flowery (which is a win, for me). The many places in Razia's world where everyday items and images and people turn into plants/animals/nature, in her imagination, are charming and whimsical. It all did a wonderful job demonstrating how a change in the light (or perspective) can make a situation and an experience and a life totally different that what you thought it was…it’s the small things that make everything what it is/what it could be. I also particularly loved the many ways the title - roses and lions - were worked in, both literal and metaphorical, throughout the novel. It's all about setting a place and a feeling and a time period and character growth and Rehman creates that with aplomb. Razia's sweet and innocent (sheltered) growing up in the 80s music and book vibes are so endearing. And at the same time, for all her naivete, she still faces the myriad coming of age identity struggles that are universal to adolescence, and then specific to queerness (a word here on the false narrative of queer "indoctrination," since Razia had no exposure to gay people/culture at all, self professed, and still knew she liked girls/was a lesbian, thank you very much) and Islam. And that ending. The culminating discovery and escape and open-ended/unanswered future, was the exact right way to close this chapter of Razia's story. It's unknown, so it's naturally scary. But it's also now within Razia’s own power to shape. It isn’t happy, but also isn’t tragic. There’s so much room for growth and self/discovery and that's something to hold onto tightly.
What a rhythmic and beautiful, but subtly haunting, extraordinary in its "normal"-ness, queer coming of age story.
“It was always this way with our fathers. They made stories of cruelty seem so funny.”
“It was always this way with our fathers. They made stories of cruelty seem so funny.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Racism, Xenophobia
Minor: Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, Sexual harassment
4.7 stars. beautifully written. god i felt queens all over this book. a nice slow burn. i want more ending though!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated