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A review by mnboyer
The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan
5.0
PopSugar 2023 reading challenge #22
This book is absolutely amazing if you're looking for an LGBT YA story with a BIPOC lead. Rukhsana knows she's a lesbian but cannot find a way to tell her parents. When her mother catches her with her girlfriend, Ariana, everything spirals out of control. Not only do the parents not understand, their culture keeps them even attempting to understand. They're more concerned with how others will look upon the family than their own daughter's happiness.
They go as far as to take Rukhsana back to Bangladesh and try to marry her off to eligible bachelor's, lock her away in her room, and try to get a quack to remove a jinn from her body. Yikes! Just... yikes. Rukhsana finds many allies along the way (there's even some attempted bearding going on) and finds herself back in the US. But will this family ever be able to accept one another for who they are?
Strong, poignant, and a YA book that we should all be reading!
This book is absolutely amazing if you're looking for an LGBT YA story with a BIPOC lead. Rukhsana knows she's a lesbian but cannot find a way to tell her parents. When her mother catches her with her girlfriend, Ariana, everything spirals out of control. Not only do the parents not understand, their culture keeps them even attempting to understand. They're more concerned with how others will look upon the family than their own daughter's happiness.
They go as far as to take Rukhsana back to Bangladesh and try to marry her off to eligible bachelor's, lock her away in her room, and try to get a quack to remove a jinn from her body. Yikes! Just... yikes. Rukhsana finds many allies along the way (there's even some attempted bearding going on) and finds herself back in the US. But will this family ever be able to accept one another for who they are?
Strong, poignant, and a YA book that we should all be reading!