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A review by missprint_
A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena
4.0
At sixteen, Zarin Wadia's reputation already precedes her. She is an orphan, the daughter of a gangster, the product of a scandalous marriage. She is a smoker, she is reckless, she has left a trail of boyfriends in her wake despite the constant need to dodge the Religious Police. She is the subject of endless rumors at her school in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Everyone knows that no one would want to get involved with a girl like that.
Which is why it's so shocking when Zarin dies in a car crash with eighteen-year-old Porus Dumasia--her childhood friend and, by all counts, a boy with a good head on his shoulders.
Everyone thought they knew Zarin but as her story and the circumstances of the crash come together, it's very clear that Zarin was always more than the rumors would have you believe in A Girl Like That (2018) by Tanaz Bhatena.
A Girl Like That is Bhatena’s debut novel. The story unfolds from multiple viewpoints with Zarin and Porus observing the aftermath of the car crash and flashbacks from both Zarin and Porus as well as other characters in Zarin's life. Through these multiple first person viewpoints the novel explores both the events leading up to the crash and its fallout.
Zarin is a strongly feminist heroine who pushes against the limits placed on her by both her family and her surroundings in the conservative city of Jeddah. Through Zarin and her classmate Mishal's narratives, Bhatena expertly explores themes of feminism and agency as both girls find their worlds unfairly narrowed because of little more than their gender.
A Girl Like That is a poignant and bittersweet story and perception versus reality, rumors, and truth. A quiet meditation on all of the ways society as well as friends and family can fail young people trying to make their way through a world that is often far from gentle. Highly recommended.
Possible Pairings: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, Saints and Misfits by S. K. Ali, Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson and Emily Carroll, Life By Committee by Corey Ann Haydu, The First Part Last by Angela Johnson, Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart, Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu, Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed, The List by Siobhan Vivian, Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
Everyone knows that no one would want to get involved with a girl like that.
Which is why it's so shocking when Zarin dies in a car crash with eighteen-year-old Porus Dumasia--her childhood friend and, by all counts, a boy with a good head on his shoulders.
Everyone thought they knew Zarin but as her story and the circumstances of the crash come together, it's very clear that Zarin was always more than the rumors would have you believe in A Girl Like That (2018) by Tanaz Bhatena.
A Girl Like That is Bhatena’s debut novel. The story unfolds from multiple viewpoints with Zarin and Porus observing the aftermath of the car crash and flashbacks from both Zarin and Porus as well as other characters in Zarin's life. Through these multiple first person viewpoints the novel explores both the events leading up to the crash and its fallout.
Zarin is a strongly feminist heroine who pushes against the limits placed on her by both her family and her surroundings in the conservative city of Jeddah. Through Zarin and her classmate Mishal's narratives, Bhatena expertly explores themes of feminism and agency as both girls find their worlds unfairly narrowed because of little more than their gender.
A Girl Like That is a poignant and bittersweet story and perception versus reality, rumors, and truth. A quiet meditation on all of the ways society as well as friends and family can fail young people trying to make their way through a world that is often far from gentle. Highly recommended.
Possible Pairings: The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo, Saints and Misfits by S. K. Ali, Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson and Emily Carroll, Life By Committee by Corey Ann Haydu, The First Part Last by Angela Johnson, Genuine Fraud by E. Lockhart, Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu, Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed, The List by Siobhan Vivian, Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin