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A review by verypeculiarpages
Jasmine Zumideh Needs a Win by Susan Azim Boyer
3.0
2.5 rounded up. Firstly, thank you to Wednesday Books for the finished copy!
I really appreciate the focus of this book on Jasmine, a half-Iranian, half-American high school senior in the late 1970s. This book provided some insight into Iranian culture and history (which I’ll admit is lacking in my reading), so I was interested to read and learn about the Iranian Hostage Crisis. I think Jasmine was a great character to write about this topic through and the school election really helped drive home the narrative.
The author does a great job showing the conflict Jasmine has with reconciling her two heritages, especially when faced with constant belittling and racism from her classmates. And while it’s understandable for Jasmine, a high schooler under immense pressure, to make some questionable choices, I found that I could never fully warm to her. Most of her decisions frustrated me and felt selfish and immature. Her friends and classmates were all fairly unlikable and Jasmine’s relationships with them made me like her less, which impacted my enjoyment of the book as a whole.
It was redeemed a little by the ending. I’m glad that Jasmine came clean and I liked her better by the end. Though I was disappointed with other characters’ endings, most notably Gerald, who after spouting racist remarks throughout his entire campaign, still got elected class president?? Huh? Many of the other characters saw no consequences for their gross remarks, but I guess the author was going for a more realistic approach? There was also little resolution with Jasmine’s family and brother, though I did like how her relationship with her aunt shaped up. Overall, I applaud what this book was trying to do and love the push for more Iranian main characters but I just didn’t love this one.
I really appreciate the focus of this book on Jasmine, a half-Iranian, half-American high school senior in the late 1970s. This book provided some insight into Iranian culture and history (which I’ll admit is lacking in my reading), so I was interested to read and learn about the Iranian Hostage Crisis. I think Jasmine was a great character to write about this topic through and the school election really helped drive home the narrative.
The author does a great job showing the conflict Jasmine has with reconciling her two heritages, especially when faced with constant belittling and racism from her classmates. And while it’s understandable for Jasmine, a high schooler under immense pressure, to make some questionable choices, I found that I could never fully warm to her. Most of her decisions frustrated me and felt selfish and immature. Her friends and classmates were all fairly unlikable and Jasmine’s relationships with them made me like her less, which impacted my enjoyment of the book as a whole.
It was redeemed a little by the ending. I’m glad that Jasmine came clean and I liked her better by the end. Though I was disappointed with other characters’ endings, most notably Gerald, who after spouting racist remarks throughout his entire campaign, still got elected class president?? Huh? Many of the other characters saw no consequences for their gross remarks, but I guess the author was going for a more realistic approach? There was also little resolution with Jasmine’s family and brother, though I did like how her relationship with her aunt shaped up. Overall, I applaud what this book was trying to do and love the push for more Iranian main characters but I just didn’t love this one.