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A review by heamarhar
All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews
4.0
There's a lot to unpack here.
I loved Sneha's growth throughout the book, learning to accept ideas she first brushes off as too radical (I am glad I apprehensively stuck with it after her pronoun and communism rants). I struggled a bit at first with the lack of quotation marks. Besides that, the writing itself is beautiful and smart. I enjoyed the inside jokes and callbacks to previous chapters. Sneha is a flawed character, not completely likable by many standards, but the few moments she lets her friends and family in are quite moving. I think Tig deserved better as far as friendship and character development are concerned. I found myself quite surprised by the scope of topics the characters discuss (either in passing or at length): immigration, deportation, CSA, queerness, race, class, wage theft, poverty, learning disabilities, police brutality, friendships, love, family, identity, intimate partner violence, trauma... Just to name a few. (Don't get me wrong: in no universe would I recommend this book to anyone interested in gaining a nuanced view of social issues, I'm simply saying it was refreshing to read a book with such a diverse cast of characters with so many differing opinions and backgrounds. A good portion of this book centers around Sneha's idealization of whiteness and struggle to come to terms with her own identity - FYI).
Flaws and all, I think this was a lovely, emotional read and I'm glad I picked it. Sorry for the text wall. Might sort that out later, probably won't!
I loved Sneha's growth throughout the book, learning to accept ideas she first brushes off as too radical (I am glad I apprehensively stuck with it after her pronoun and communism rants). I struggled a bit at first with the lack of quotation marks. Besides that, the writing itself is beautiful and smart. I enjoyed the inside jokes and callbacks to previous chapters. Sneha is a flawed character, not completely likable by many standards, but the few moments she lets her friends and family in are quite moving. I think Tig deserved better as far as friendship and character development are concerned. I found myself quite surprised by the scope of topics the characters discuss (either in passing or at length): immigration, deportation, CSA, queerness, race, class, wage theft, poverty, learning disabilities, police brutality, friendships, love, family, identity, intimate partner violence, trauma... Just to name a few. (Don't get me wrong: in no universe would I recommend this book to anyone interested in gaining a nuanced view of social issues, I'm simply saying it was refreshing to read a book with such a diverse cast of characters with so many differing opinions and backgrounds. A good portion of this book centers around Sneha's idealization of whiteness and struggle to come to terms with her own identity - FYI).
Flaws and all, I think this was a lovely, emotional read and I'm glad I picked it. Sorry for the text wall. Might sort that out later, probably won't!