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A review by whimsicallyreading
The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf
5.0
Taking place during Malaysian Riots and heavily carrying the background of OCD for the main character, I find it to be such a thrilling concept for a Young Adult fiction. Alkaf caught me off guard with her bleak and straightforward description of the situations. As she has warned before in the first pages of the book, each scene blatantly eschews sugarcoating that it may trigger some people with the similar experience. As someone who lives in the neighboring country, I could not help reminiscing my own country's conflicts in history which are eerily comparable to what Melati went through.
Moreover, my favorite part of the book is possibly how Alkaf handles Melati's OCD here. The depiction is a shoutout for those who see OCD only as "liking things organized" or "being a perfectionist" , because it is much more than that. She also elaborates Melati's mental issues with such a traditional and parochial narrative of Djinn, which sadly relates well to the reality of how most of people here view such topics.
The Weight of Our Sky is a devastating and emotionally-draining story that allows us to explore the conflicts of racial prejudice and racism, while reminding us that similar concerns might be still around us.
PS. I just think everyone should read this book for the OCD representation, really. It annoys me when people think that OCD is simply "liking things organized" or "being a perfectionist" .
Moreover, my favorite part of the book is possibly how Alkaf handles Melati's OCD here. The depiction is a shoutout for those who see OCD only as "liking things organized" or "being a perfectionist" , because it is much more than that. She also elaborates Melati's mental issues with such a traditional and parochial narrative of Djinn, which sadly relates well to the reality of how most of people here view such topics.
The Weight of Our Sky is a devastating and emotionally-draining story that allows us to explore the conflicts of racial prejudice and racism, while reminding us that similar concerns might be still around us.
PS. I just think everyone should read this book for the OCD representation, really. It annoys me when people think that OCD is simply "liking things organized" or "being a perfectionist" .