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A review by floatinthevoid
Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
It feels unfair to give a rating to someone's life story. So my rating is not for the substance, but more like the technicality of the way the story is written.
I am waiting for this release excitedly, because I want to hear a story from people like me. A queer and a muslim. I was very engaged in the first few chapters. How isolating loneliness is. How crushing it is having to face so many layers of discrimination, again and again. Continuously trying to prove yourself to be seen as worthy. I can't imagine to be Lamya, one time people respect your religion but they're racist, people respect your race but they're Islamophobic, people accept your race and religion but they're homophobic. That's a lot. She's braver than I.
But the thing is, the way that she tried to intersect stories from Quran, stories about the Prophets, instead of connected, I feel disconnected. I don't know why. Like I can see how you try to relate yourself with stories from the Quran, but some times it just feels reaching too far.
I have my own disagreements on how she interpret the stories, but that's really the least of my problem with this book.
I don't think it's wrong of me to find the come out stories kinda "eh", right? I know she tried to show how she have to prove herself and try to be accepted, but maybe for me i see that a bit too often in this. It's a bit odd feeling for me who see coming out as an action that I don't have the privilege to do.
Maybe what I expected to see more in this book is, how she confronts and fighting people who has discriminated her, not by telling, but by showing.
I'm having massive mixed feelings about this book. It's just that I expect this book to be more encouraging?? Like I'm not even sure what message she was trying to conveyed, I don't know. That's just my thoughts and how I feel about this book.
I am waiting for this release excitedly, because I want to hear a story from people like me. A queer and a muslim. I was very engaged in the first few chapters. How isolating loneliness is. How crushing it is having to face so many layers of discrimination, again and again. Continuously trying to prove yourself to be seen as worthy. I can't imagine to be Lamya, one time people respect your religion but they're racist, people respect your race but they're Islamophobic, people accept your race and religion but they're homophobic. That's a lot. She's braver than I.
But the thing is, the way that she tried to intersect stories from Quran, stories about the Prophets, instead of connected, I feel disconnected. I don't know why. Like I can see how you try to relate yourself with stories from the Quran, but some times it just feels reaching too far.
I have my own disagreements on how she interpret the stories, but that's really the least of my problem with this book.
I don't think it's wrong of me to find the come out stories kinda "eh", right? I know she tried to show how she have to prove herself and try to be accepted, but maybe for me i see that a bit too often in this. It's a bit odd feeling for me who see coming out as an action that I don't have the privilege to do.
Maybe what I expected to see more in this book is, how she confronts and fighting people who has discriminated her, not by telling, but by showing.
I'm having massive mixed feelings about this book. It's just that I expect this book to be more encouraging?? Like I'm not even sure what message she was trying to conveyed, I don't know. That's just my thoughts and how I feel about this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Islamophobia, Racism, and Homophobia
Moderate: Cursing