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oneyoyo 's review for:
If You Could Be Mine
by Sara Farizan
Unfortunately, as excited as I was to read this book, I feel that it fell short in so many ways. I don't want to go in on it too hard because I understand the message, but I think a lot more could have been done to develop not only the characters but the overall story. It needed more. I do like it when books get right to the nitty-gritty, but this was moving a little too fast and didn't take the time to properly develop real feelings or growth with the characters. I think the only part that really made me feel something was when Sahar yelled at her father as he was trying to cook for her. This is another point, too; there was so much else going on plotwise outside of just Sahar & Nasrin that there really should have been more! If you're going to include several topics and messages in a story, at least take the time to carefully address each of them.
The relationship between Sahar and Nasrin didn't develop well either. I understand they are both teenagers, but even just the way it was written was a bit choppy and didn't make sense. I have no issues with how the book ended, necessarily; a book doesn't need a "happy" ending for it to be a good book, but the way the topics were handled felt very loose, quick, and a little unorganized (especially the transgender characters). I don't want to say that anything was portrayed as super wrong or inaccurate because I do think the point was to show us what that kind of life is like. Showing Sahar's (and other characters) own internalized prejudices is important for the setting and message. However, I think it should have been handled with more care, patience, and perhaps more research. The way the ending was written was also very abrupt! It didn't feel like a proper ending to a book, just the end of a chapter with more to come. Maybe the point was to have it as an open ending, but I don't think I like that for this kind of story.
Overall, I think the message was important and I could see what the author was doing; I don't think it is necessarily a bad book. But with some more consideration and care, I feel like it could have been something a lot greater.
The relationship between Sahar and Nasrin didn't develop well either. I understand they are both teenagers, but even just the way it was written was a bit choppy and didn't make sense. I have no issues with how the book ended, necessarily; a book doesn't need a "happy" ending for it to be a good book, but the way the topics were handled felt very loose, quick, and a little unorganized (especially the transgender characters). I don't want to say that anything was portrayed as super wrong or inaccurate because I do think the point was to show us what that kind of life is like. Showing Sahar's (and other characters) own internalized prejudices is important for the setting and message. However, I think it should have been handled with more care, patience, and perhaps more research. The way the ending was written was also very abrupt! It didn't feel like a proper ending to a book, just the end of a chapter with more to come. Maybe the point was to have it as an open ending, but I don't think I like that for this kind of story.
Overall, I think the message was important and I could see what the author was doing; I don't think it is necessarily a bad book. But with some more consideration and care, I feel like it could have been something a lot greater.