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A review by ribs
The Loophole by Naz Kutub
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
the loophole takes on a coming of age narrative about a 17 year-old sayyed “sy” nizam who, after being accidentally outed as gay and got kicked out of a conventionally toxic asian household, traveled the world to find his missing ex-boyfriend (farouk) with nothing but an alcoholic djinn, reggie, as his company.
the groundbreaker of this book, aside from its modern-day aladdin plot, is the orpheus and eurydice parallels that kept going back and forth between reggie’s backstory and sy’s enthralling journey.
it was a fun ride reading this because i liked naz kutub’s storytelling but it’s too fast-paced for my liking; the characters, especially reggie, had inconsistencies—it was very hard to put my finger on her because her attitude kept going on opposites in every chapter. the chapters are short and even though the direction of where the story is going is well-paced, the destination is stale compared to the build up.
this book passably discussed the struggles felt by muslims and brown people. i did not like the fact that this book made it seem like its main brown character couldn’t care less about those struggles just because he had been sheltered by his parents from the conflicts his own people experience—not to mention, he had visible experiences of said struggles. there’s a scene, however, where he briefly acknowledged his privilege, but it was brushed off and the story focused on finding farouk again.
i felt like the ending bit was rushed and it could have been more detailed. i felt that this book had a shortage of putting enough details in a scene, which made them lack solidity and felt hollowed out when read.
overall, i did like the premise of this book. it was fine for a debut but the progression could’ve been better.
the groundbreaker of this book, aside from its modern-day aladdin plot, is the orpheus and eurydice parallels that kept going back and forth between reggie’s backstory and sy’s enthralling journey.
it was a fun ride reading this because i liked naz kutub’s storytelling but it’s too fast-paced for my liking; the characters, especially reggie, had inconsistencies—it was very hard to put my finger on her because her attitude kept going on opposites in every chapter. the chapters are short and even though the direction of where the story is going is well-paced, the destination is stale compared to the build up.
this book passably discussed the struggles felt by muslims and brown people. i did not like the fact that this book made it seem like its main brown character couldn’t care less about those struggles just because he had been sheltered by his parents from the conflicts his own people experience—not to mention, he had visible experiences of said struggles. there’s a scene, however, where he briefly acknowledged his privilege, but it was brushed off and the story focused on finding farouk again.
i felt like the ending bit was rushed and it could have been more detailed. i felt that this book had a shortage of putting enough details in a scene, which made them lack solidity and felt hollowed out when read.
overall, i did like the premise of this book. it was fine for a debut but the progression could’ve been better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Islamophobia, Racism, Alcoholism, Child abuse, and Homophobia
Moderate: Outing