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aish_dols's reviews
92 reviews
Broken. Not a halal love story by Fatima Bala
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Broken: not a halal love story, captured what it aimed to. In over 300 pages, the author @aka.fatima.bala wrote about two imperfect young Muslims that are attracted to each other to the detriment of their faith until they cross boundaries and are tested. It goes to show that whatever is haram in our deen is only to protect our hearts in the long run.
A love so maddening with a rush of desires is a madness that its cure is marriage. Interestingly Fa’iza and Ahmad try to outsmart their ways in sneaky, steamy ways out of doing things properly (I knew they’d regret it) but later learn their lesson. I applaud Fatima Bala for making the book revolve around Islam and its injunctions. On one side, there’s the human nature and another side, there’s Allah’s laws. In the end, did they put desires aside and use the Quran to guide their steps or did they sink so deep into haram? Guess you’ll have to find out.
This is good Muslim representation and I enjoyed learning more about the northerners too. Broken should be on your shelves.
A love so maddening with a rush of desires is a madness that its cure is marriage. Interestingly Fa’iza and Ahmad try to outsmart their ways in sneaky, steamy ways out of doing things properly (I knew they’d regret it) but later learn their lesson. I applaud Fatima Bala for making the book revolve around Islam and its injunctions. On one side, there’s the human nature and another side, there’s Allah’s laws. In the end, did they put desires aside and use the Quran to guide their steps or did they sink so deep into haram? Guess you’ll have to find out.
This is good Muslim representation and I enjoyed learning more about the northerners too. Broken should be on your shelves.
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
dark
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Murakami writes well but this didn’t work for me. I mean, Every female character is either depressed and dependent on men or kills herself and sleeps with the main male character(s). The way women were written had me screaming. I was rooting for Toru & Naoko in the beginning because the earlier chapters were so gluing and I thought this was a love story but it just did too much and I didn’t fancy the characters one bit.
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The author is brilliant! How everything came together seamlessly in the end just blows my mind away. That plot twist everyone is talking about is definitely a hit. Everyone should read this book at least once in a lifetime. And the writing style? Ugh perfect.