A review by popthebutterfly
The Beauty of Your Face by Sahar Mustafah

4.0

 

Disclaimer: I received this book from my local library. Go check out a book today! All opinions are my own. 

 

Book: The Beauty of Your Face 

 

Author: Sahar Mustafah 

 

Book Series: Standalone 

 

Rating: 4/5 

 

Diversity: Palestinian American MC and characters, Palestinian characters, 

 

Recommended For...: Contemporary readers, fiction, religion 

 

Publication Date: April 7, 2020 

 

Genre: Contemporary 

 

Age Relevance: 16+ (abuse (emotional and physical), attempted suicide, racism, islamaphobia, gun violence, violence, alcoholism mentioned, school shooting, anxiety attacks, religion (Islam), alt-right propaganda) 

 

Explanation of Above: There are showings and mentions of emotional and physical abuse, gun violence, and violence in general. A school shooting is involved in the prominent plot of the book. There is an attempted suicide detailed. Racism and especially islamaphobia is mentioned and shown. There are anxiety attacks on page. The Islamic religion is proudly shown throughout the book and the book does focus some on the wrestling faith of the MC’s religion. There are mentions of alt-right propaganda that leads to the school shooting in the book as well. 

 

Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company 

 

Pages: 312 

 

Synopsis: A Palestinian American woman wrestles with faith, loss, and identity before coming face-to-face with a school shooter in this searing debut. A uniquely American story told in powerful, evocative prose, The Beauty of Your Face navigates a country growing ever more divided. Afaf Rahman, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants, is the principal of Nurrideen School for Girls, a Muslim school in the Chicago suburbs. One morning, a shooter—radicalized by the online alt-right—attacks the school. As Afaf listens to his terrifying progress, we are swept back through her memories: the bigotry she faced as a child, her mother’s dreams of returning to Palestine, and the devastating disappearance of her older sister that tore her family apart. Still, there is the sweetness of the music from her father’s oud, and the hope and community Afaf finally finds in Islam. The Beauty of Your Face is a profound and poignant exploration of one woman’s life in a nation at odds with its ideals. 

 

Review: I absolutely loved this book. I thought it was a very powerful story about the resilience of the MC (and in turn many people in the MC’s shoes) in the face of very hard things a child and person in general shouldn’t have to go through, such as a school shooting and bigotry. The book did well to bring in discussion about immigration and xenophobia, as well as general racism and Islamaphobia. The book also discussed mental-health struggles, grief, and addiction that are all intermingled in the pain of moving to America from their old home. The book kind of had a back and forth manner, going between the MC’s life of when her family were fresh in America and when she’s at the school shooting. It did kind of feel like two different stories in one book, but I liked how the author blended them into this tale. I really thought this book was very well written and well done in general. 

 

The only thing I would say that I didn’t like about the book is the way the book was wrote. I’m not a big prose person, so it was a bit of a challenge for me to overcome, but I did like the book regardless. 

 

Verdict: I highly recommend it.