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fandomsandfiction's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
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? No
4.25
[I literally gave an extra quarter star rating for the brilliant & inspiring author's note at the end of the book, I love that Storygraph has this option]
I may have waited a little too long to write this review seeing as I completed reading this book a few days ago, but I'll try to recall as many of my initial thoughts and reactions as I can.
Firstly let me say: I loved this book. I knew I was going to love it from the beginning.
The book starts off expressing Khayyam's identity struggles as a biracial child of interfaith, immigrant parents. While I do not share the exact same struggles or story as Khayyam, my identity battles are similarly rooted. I know what it means to feel like you "live between spaces" and perhaps my entire perception of this story is, at least partially, influenced by the great impact *this* particular overarching theme has had on me.
“I’m a bunch of disparate parts that aren’t enough to make a whole. But I’m trying to stop caring about what everyone else thinks about me. I am enough.”
Before you pick up this book you may be wondering what to expect? What are the tropes and main idea? Who are the characters? And how is it shelved historical fiction AND ya contemporary?
Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know is told in alternating POVs told across centuries. Khayyam, a 17 year old in the 21st century, is trying to get her life back together after likely ruining her attempts at getting into her dream art college, being ghosted my her maybe-ex-boyfriend and fighting her own inner identity battles. Leila, a Haseki in the 19th century, is a young woman given favoured status in the Pasha's harem who hides a secret love affair and a great desire to escape her bejewelled cage. Their lives intertwine when Khayyam's regular family trip to Paris sets her on an art history mystery that allows her to unravel the hidden story of Leila's life covered beneath the stories and art of the men who knew her.
An artfully told light academia story with the thrill and suspense of a mystery novel, the romantic touch of the City of Love and the unwavering strength of strong female characters that continues to linger long after you've stopped reading.
“Being a feminist means you believe that a woman’s life and her choices are her own. It means you believe in equality and that you’ll fight for it.”
While Khayyam was a character I could relate to in terms of identity crises and passion for justice (and clumsiness), we have such different personalities that it made it difficult for me to relate to or understand most of her thoughts and actions. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading her story (I attributed most of her ill-attempts and rather questionable decisions to her age. I mean she's only 17 and she does have a sort of hot-headed, but innocent naivety to her? I was probably the same at 17 😅). But Leila? OH I ADORED LEILA! The way she spoke, the way she fought, the way she hurt, the she healed, the way she loved, the way she longed, the way she lived. I couldn't relate to her at all, but I was still so fascinated by her character (and so was every other person in the story lol).
To be completely honest, I didn't care much for the romance (particularly Khayyam's messy love ? life that had me shaking my head at these kids), but I DEVOURED everything else.
the
art
architecture
history
poetry
literature
language
culture
religion
feminism
scooby doo sleuthing (+ references)
and the FOOD! trust a book to make me crave french sweets and pastries I've never heard of before.
also things I learnt in this book:
- an ethnomorph is someone whose physical appearance makes it seem like “they could be from half the countries in the world.”
- a dilettante is a person who cultivates an area of interest, such as the arts, without real commitment or knowledge.
- that light two-cheek kiss that the french do when greeting is called la bise
Overall this book was a good read and I'm interested in exploring the rest of Samira Ahmed's work :)
I may have waited a little too long to write this review seeing as I completed reading this book a few days ago, but I'll try to recall as many of my initial thoughts and reactions as I can.
Firstly let me say: I loved this book. I knew I was going to love it from the beginning.
The book starts off expressing Khayyam's identity struggles as a biracial child of interfaith, immigrant parents. While I do not share the exact same struggles or story as Khayyam, my identity battles are similarly rooted. I know what it means to feel like you "live between spaces" and perhaps my entire perception of this story is, at least partially, influenced by the great impact *this* particular overarching theme has had on me.
“I’m a bunch of disparate parts that aren’t enough to make a whole. But I’m trying to stop caring about what everyone else thinks about me. I am enough.”
Before you pick up this book you may be wondering what to expect? What are the tropes and main idea? Who are the characters? And how is it shelved historical fiction AND ya contemporary?
Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know is told in alternating POVs told across centuries. Khayyam, a 17 year old in the 21st century, is trying to get her life back together after likely ruining her attempts at getting into her dream art college, being ghosted my her maybe-ex-boyfriend and fighting her own inner identity battles. Leila, a Haseki in the 19th century, is a young woman given favoured status in the Pasha's harem who hides a secret love affair and a great desire to escape her bejewelled cage. Their lives intertwine when Khayyam's regular family trip to Paris sets her on an art history mystery that allows her to unravel the hidden story of Leila's life covered beneath the stories and art of the men who knew her.
An artfully told light academia story with the thrill and suspense of a mystery novel, the romantic touch of the City of Love and the unwavering strength of strong female characters that continues to linger long after you've stopped reading.
“Being a feminist means you believe that a woman’s life and her choices are her own. It means you believe in equality and that you’ll fight for it.”
While Khayyam was a character I could relate to in terms of identity crises and passion for justice (and clumsiness), we have such different personalities that it made it difficult for me to relate to or understand most of her thoughts and actions. Nevertheless, I enjoyed reading her story (I attributed most of her ill-attempts and rather questionable decisions to her age. I mean she's only 17 and she does have a sort of hot-headed, but innocent naivety to her? I was probably the same at 17 😅). But Leila? OH I ADORED LEILA! The way she spoke, the way she fought, the way she hurt, the she healed, the way she loved, the way she longed, the way she lived. I couldn't relate to her at all, but I was still so fascinated by her character (and so was every other person in the story lol).
To be completely honest, I didn't care much for the romance (particularly Khayyam's messy love ? life that had me shaking my head at these kids), but I DEVOURED everything else.
the
art
architecture
history
poetry
literature
language
culture
religion
feminism
scooby doo sleuthing (+ references)
and the FOOD! trust a book to make me crave french sweets and pastries I've never heard of before.
also things I learnt in this book:
- an ethnomorph is someone whose physical appearance makes it seem like “they could be from half the countries in the world.”
- a dilettante is a person who cultivates an area of interest, such as the arts, without real commitment or knowledge.
- that light two-cheek kiss that the french do when greeting is called la bise
Overall this book was a good read and I'm interested in exploring the rest of Samira Ahmed's work :)
Content Warnings
Minor: Slavery, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Grief, Misogyny, and Sexism
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