24carrotgay 's review for:

The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali by Sabina Khan

5.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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I couldn’t say it:m better than the quote on the cover: “This book will break your heart and then piece it back together again.” It’s been a while since I had a good cry while reading.

However, between the heart wrenching stories of Nani and Rakhsana’s mom, the cruelty Rakhsana’s endures, Sohail’s murder, the trials of a queer Muslim Bengali-American teen, and the beautiful and hopeful ending, I was doomed to cry.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Lesbophobia, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia