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A review by mariahistryingtoread
Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
2.0
This book initially was a bit tedious to get through. It takes a little over fifty pages before the inciting incident described in the synopsis actually happens. I'm not against a slow burn, however, I felt the universe and its players had been established twice over by this point.
Once the main plot kicks in it gets better, though not especially so. I've read a few books in this vein before and this one is pretty par for the course outside of the fact that Amal is an unwilling servant in the household rather than an unwilling wife.
Amal is a sympathetic character albeit not a compelling one. I felt for her situation because I'd feel for anybody in the same situation rather than a concern for her welfare specifically. It's not like she has to prove to me that she's interesting enough to be worthy of my regard - like she's a kid trapped in indentured servitude, obviously I'm going to care about her to some degree no matter what - I'm only saying that I wasn’t able to immerse myself in the story due to her lack of depth.
Without a captivating main character this was a rather average story. Amal is grappling with how patriarchal, antiquated values oppress young women. Amal is heavily in support of education for all young women. Amal must make an important, dangerous choice to the possible detriment of her own wellbeing. These themes are present in some form in basically all of the books I've read where it takes place in a Middle Eastern, Greater Middle Eastern, or South Asian country. Part of this is, of course, me not reading a lot of books about or by authors who are from these regions. Therefore, my sample size is small. Obviously there are more kinds of stories out there. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure this is a genre and as such it has characteristics that are inherent to it so it's only natural the same thematic elements would show up.
All this to say that I've read this before in some capacity. This did nothing new to differentiate itself.
While it is awful that Amal has basically been kidnapped, her life is pretty easy. She's generally treated exactly the same as the paying servants. She has a coveted position in the house from the beginning. Her immediate boss is conveniently super kind. All but one of the other servants welcomes her warmly. Heck, towards the end she's even allowed to attend school again. It's a self-serving decision as part of a political campaign, but that doesn't erase that it's transpicous manipulation in Amal's favor to push the narrative in a certain direction. It's an adult literacy center that they desperately need at least one person to attend. And they choose Amal to go who is not only a child but a girl and again, is just barely a notch above a slave in this household. It just doesn't make any sense for the world that was presented originally.
I'm not saying I wanted to see this girl mistreated or anything nor do I mean to be dismissive of Amal's suffering or girls who may be in conditions like Amal's, but in terms of narrative it kind of undermines the whole concept of being forced into a warlords' home when there's so little misbehavior going on , even for other characters. The authors note at the end at least acknowledges that for most girls the circumstances are exceedingly more difficult, however, I feel that there were ways to convey the hardship Amal was facing that would not have involved going on extreme measures the author clearly did not intend to take.
I think more events in general is what I'm looking for. It takes around 50 ish pages for the plot to kick off. From there the next phase of the story does not begin until a little over 200 pages. The rest of that time is Amal just working at the house. The characters with the exception of her younger sister Seema are all one dimensional so I didn't much care about her interactions with them. These interactions are also limited making me doubly disinterested. Amal's lack of personality hinders the story as she does absolutely nothing of significance the entire time she's in the house. She's clearly intended to be a forgiving, considerate character but I often felt like her level of piety was unrealistic for a girl her age. She barely gets mad, is supposed to be someone who speaks out against injustice except she only does this at pivotal plot moments never at a time when it would not directly move the story along, and she seems to have no hobbies outside of education. She felt like an adults idea of a commendable child rather than a multi faceted person. I'm not saying these traits aren't also admirable to and for kids, but altogether coupled with the other weaknesses it did not make me particularly invested in the bulk of the novel.
All in all, not a bad book. At the very least, I was never bored. I'd recommend it if you're looking to be put through the wringer emotionally but don't want to be too upset. The message is strong, and I appreciate the intent of the author. I think that this book could be a great comfort to kids who are or have gone through similar experiences. I just wasn't wowed.
Once the main plot kicks in it gets better, though not especially so. I've read a few books in this vein before and this one is pretty par for the course outside of the fact that Amal is an unwilling servant in the household rather than an unwilling wife.
Amal is a sympathetic character albeit not a compelling one. I felt for her situation because I'd feel for anybody in the same situation rather than a concern for her welfare specifically. It's not like she has to prove to me that she's interesting enough to be worthy of my regard - like she's a kid trapped in indentured servitude, obviously I'm going to care about her to some degree no matter what - I'm only saying that I wasn’t able to immerse myself in the story due to her lack of depth.
Without a captivating main character this was a rather average story. Amal is grappling with how patriarchal, antiquated values oppress young women. Amal is heavily in support of education for all young women. Amal must make an important, dangerous choice to the possible detriment of her own wellbeing. These themes are present in some form in basically all of the books I've read where it takes place in a Middle Eastern, Greater Middle Eastern, or South Asian country. Part of this is, of course, me not reading a lot of books about or by authors who are from these regions. Therefore, my sample size is small. Obviously there are more kinds of stories out there. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure this is a genre and as such it has characteristics that are inherent to it so it's only natural the same thematic elements would show up.
All this to say that I've read this before in some capacity. This did nothing new to differentiate itself.
While it is awful that Amal has basically been kidnapped, her life is pretty easy. She's generally treated exactly the same as the paying servants. She has a coveted position in the house from the beginning. Her immediate boss is conveniently super kind. All but one of the other servants welcomes her warmly. Heck, towards the end she's even allowed to attend school again. It's a self-serving decision as part of a political campaign, but that doesn't erase that it's transpicous manipulation in Amal's favor to push the narrative in a certain direction. It's an adult literacy center that they desperately need at least one person to attend. And they choose Amal to go who is not only a child but a girl and again, is just barely a notch above a slave in this household. It just doesn't make any sense for the world that was presented originally.
I'm not saying I wanted to see this girl mistreated or anything nor do I mean to be dismissive of Amal's suffering or girls who may be in conditions like Amal's, but in terms of narrative it kind of undermines the whole concept of being forced into a warlords' home when there's so little misbehavior going on , even for other characters. The authors note at the end at least acknowledges that for most girls the circumstances are exceedingly more difficult, however, I feel that there were ways to convey the hardship Amal was facing that would not have involved going on extreme measures the author clearly did not intend to take.
I think more events in general is what I'm looking for. It takes around 50 ish pages for the plot to kick off. From there the next phase of the story does not begin until a little over 200 pages. The rest of that time is Amal just working at the house. The characters with the exception of her younger sister Seema are all one dimensional so I didn't much care about her interactions with them. These interactions are also limited making me doubly disinterested. Amal's lack of personality hinders the story as she does absolutely nothing of significance the entire time she's in the house. She's clearly intended to be a forgiving, considerate character but I often felt like her level of piety was unrealistic for a girl her age. She barely gets mad, is supposed to be someone who speaks out against injustice except she only does this at pivotal plot moments never at a time when it would not directly move the story along, and she seems to have no hobbies outside of education. She felt like an adults idea of a commendable child rather than a multi faceted person. I'm not saying these traits aren't also admirable to and for kids, but altogether coupled with the other weaknesses it did not make me particularly invested in the bulk of the novel.
All in all, not a bad book. At the very least, I was never bored. I'd recommend it if you're looking to be put through the wringer emotionally but don't want to be too upset. The message is strong, and I appreciate the intent of the author. I think that this book could be a great comfort to kids who are or have gone through similar experiences. I just wasn't wowed.