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mdevlin923's review against another edition
2.0
Rukhsana Ali lives in America with her parents (who moved to the States from Bangladesh) and her brother. Even though they live in America during the 21st century, Rukhsana's parents (and the Bangladeshi-American community) still holds onto Muslim beliefs of heteronormative relationships, arranged marriages, and women who are raised to be wives. But Rukhsana defies many of these by pursuing a degree in physics and secretly dating her girlfriend, Ariana. When her parents find out about her relationship, they take her to Bangladesh and begin arranging suitors to visit her. Rukhsana has to make it back to America to continue working towards her dreams, but it becomes increasingly more difficult.
I understand that this book was supposed to show the extreme difficulties that people in the LGBTQ community have to go through, especially in different countries...but I couldn't help but focus on what terrible friends Rukhsana had. Despite the fact that she continually told her friends that her culture did not accept homosexuality, her girlfriend constantly made Rukhsana feel guilty for not telling her family that she was a lesbian. The same for her other two friends.
I want to like it...but I just couldn't.
I understand that this book was supposed to show the extreme difficulties that people in the LGBTQ community have to go through, especially in different countries...but I couldn't help but focus on what terrible friends Rukhsana had. Despite the fact that she continually told her friends that her culture did not accept homosexuality, her girlfriend constantly made Rukhsana feel guilty for not telling her family that she was a lesbian. The same for her other two friends.
I want to like it...but I just couldn't.
stayathomereader0405's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
24carrotgay's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Rape, Sexual violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Murder, Physical abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Child abuse and Pedophilia
daizie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
I think this book did a lot of things right, but the ending just didn't seem realistic or merited to me, and it definitely brought down my reading experience as a whole. It didn't feel like we went deep enough into the MANY heavy topics that the author brought up.
I couldn't help comparing this to The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes. They both deal with similar themes, settings, character tropes, etc - but I think Reyes's novel works with those elements on a deeper, more realistic level. If this didn't hit for you (or if it did!), I highly recommend trying out Reyes's book!
I couldn't help comparing this to The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes. They both deal with similar themes, settings, character tropes, etc - but I think Reyes's novel works with those elements on a deeper, more realistic level. If this didn't hit for you (or if it did!), I highly recommend trying out Reyes's book!
bettielovesbooks's review
5.0
Such a heartbreaking book, the stuff she went through because she was gay, nobody should have gone through that.
I really liked how well it was portrayed how alone she felt, not just by being gay, but misunderstood among her friends about her culture and how even when they loved her they couldn’t really understand, not even believe how it was for her and how they thought she was exaggerating.
I don’t want to spoil anything but even it has a happy ending what happened to her friend was really hard to read, but still worth it.
I really liked how well it was portrayed how alone she felt, not just by being gay, but misunderstood among her friends about her culture and how even when they loved her they couldn’t really understand, not even believe how it was for her and how they thought she was exaggerating.
I don’t want to spoil anything but even it has a happy ending what happened to her friend was really hard to read, but still worth it.
maxithebookgeek's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This is a worthwhile coming of age story of a girl who wants to be accepted for who she is.
chocobro's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
odurant8's review against another edition
3.0
This book is definitely needed. I’m not a huge fan of the writing, but I liked the characters and it was engaging.
bibliobrandie's review against another edition
2.0
This started out strong for me, especially with the f/f relationship. But the writing did not hold me, so much dialog, and the story takes some very dark and twisted turns that I wasn't prepared for. The parents are very against their daughter dating a girl and basically kidnap her to Bangladesh and force her into an arranged marriage and then they completely come around a few weeks later and are all loving and welcoming to her girlfriend and the ending is tied up with a nice bow. I didn't buy it. Other heavy themes include rape, incest, physical abuse, sexism, homophobia, murder of a gay man *by machetes.* It was just a lot to squeeze into one novel and all the elements didn't really work for me.