Scan barcode
A review by aforestofbooks
Hope Ablaze by Sarah Mughal Rana
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I finally caved and requested this book thanks to Gretal (yet again). It's always weird reading a book written by an author you kind of know. Or in this case, you know their twin sister. I was worried I wasn't going to like this book like so many other muslim contemporary books, but I really enjoyed this one.
This book made me laugh, it made me emotional, and it made me angry. The release of this book coinciding with the genocide in Gaza and the world waking up to the terrorism that is zionism and Israel could not have been more perfect. Everything Nida goes through are things we've been experiencing and seeing with our own eyes. The rage she feels felt like our rage at the world right now. And the hope she has inside of her, is the hope many of us have that something will be different this time.
The interview scene was probably my favourite scene in this entire book. It made me so angry I wanted to break something, especially after seeing this exact scene play out on the news the first few weeks of this genocide when Palestinians were being interviewed and asked to condemn Hamas. Watching Nida fight back and say everything I've always wanted to say was so satisfying. I loved seeing her take charge of her story and find her voice, and also realize she doesn't have to write poetry because of her mamou or stop writing poetry because of her mom, but she can write as a way to express herself and her anger and her truth.
Also shoutout to the Shia side character in this book, Rayan. It was so nice to see that seamlessly added to this story, especially considering people forget we exist most of the time.
My few issues with the book were Jawad. He was just so mean to Nida. I'm glad there was no romantic subplot between the two of them, but I think he could have been more understanding of what Nida was going through and realize just because he would do things a certain way, doesn't mean everyone else should.
The magical realism aspect of this book was interesting, though the entire time I thought it was a manifestation of her anxiety, before it was revealed that it's actually a family curse. I wasn't really expecting this in a contemporary book so it did take me out of the story sometimes.
The only other issue I had was some of the dialogue didn't flow super well or feel like an actual conversation between two people, which might have been changed since I read the arc.
Also the arc has horrible formatting for the poems if you read it on the Kindle app which was kind of annoying ðŸ˜
But overall, this was a pretty good read and I'm glad I picked it up!
3.5/5 stars
This book made me laugh, it made me emotional, and it made me angry. The release of this book coinciding with the genocide in Gaza and the world waking up to the terrorism that is zionism and Israel could not have been more perfect. Everything Nida goes through are things we've been experiencing and seeing with our own eyes. The rage she feels felt like our rage at the world right now. And the hope she has inside of her, is the hope many of us have that something will be different this time.
The interview scene was probably my favourite scene in this entire book. It made me so angry I wanted to break something, especially after seeing this exact scene play out on the news the first few weeks of this genocide when Palestinians were being interviewed and asked to condemn Hamas. Watching Nida fight back and say everything I've always wanted to say was so satisfying. I loved seeing her take charge of her story and find her voice, and also realize she doesn't have to write poetry because of her mamou or stop writing poetry because of her mom, but she can write as a way to express herself and her anger and her truth.
Also shoutout to the Shia side character in this book, Rayan. It was so nice to see that seamlessly added to this story, especially considering people forget we exist most of the time.
My few issues with the book were Jawad. He was just so mean to Nida. I'm glad there was no romantic subplot between the two of them, but I think he could have been more understanding of what Nida was going through and realize just because he would do things a certain way, doesn't mean everyone else should.
The magical realism aspect of this book was interesting, though the entire time I thought it was a manifestation of her anxiety, before it was revealed that it's actually a family curse. I wasn't really expecting this in a contemporary book so it did take me out of the story sometimes.
The only other issue I had was some of the dialogue didn't flow super well or feel like an actual conversation between two people, which might have been changed since I read the arc.
Also the arc has horrible formatting for the poems if you read it on the Kindle app which was kind of annoying ðŸ˜
But overall, this was a pretty good read and I'm glad I picked it up!
3.5/5 stars