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katisfullybooked's review
5.0
My second 5-star read of 2021! And it's only the 11th! I am on a roll.
In all seriousness, this book was so great. It was light, a little romantic, had some mystery. I kept wanting to turn to the next page, I couldn't put it down! The ending was simple, sad, but happy. There was a lot of feminist and female-empowering aspects, POC-empowering aspects, everything. Seriously, stop reading this review and go read this book!
In all seriousness, this book was so great. It was light, a little romantic, had some mystery. I kept wanting to turn to the next page, I couldn't put it down! The ending was simple, sad, but happy. There was a lot of feminist and female-empowering aspects, POC-empowering aspects, everything. Seriously, stop reading this review and go read this book!
rfrockwood's review
4.0
I loved the story, I loved that the 17 year old made mistakes and was human, but was also incredibly mature and understood her own personal worth. A complete delight in my book.
sandlerpage's review
3.0
I totally love what this book was trying to do, and I really wanted to be way into it. But I just wasn’t. I didn’t care about the “mystery”, I wasn’t consumed by the love triangle, I wasn’t transported to the days of yore in the chapters about the 19th century woman... it just didn’t work for me.
sidneyellwood's review
4.0
I'm going to be honest: I went into this knowing next to nothing about it, so imagine my delight when I realized it was about a French-American Muslim girl set in Paris on an art history sleuthing mission mixed with poetry and philosophy. Like, this hit the nail on the head for what I like, and honestly, I was hooked.
I really liked Khayyam. She's an aspiring art historian with a very strong sense of determination, trying to fix the first mishap in her (hopeful) career. Khayyam is very admirable; she has a very strong sense of individuality and morals and I loved that. Alexandre also had me hooked, despite the unbelievability of it all, and I actually really liked their relationship and whole dynamic! Like, I'm not usually into romance, but I was really liking Khayyam and Alexandre together.
One of the things I loved about this book is how it approaches history--Khayyam and Alexandre have discussions on Orientalism, which is. Just. *chef's kiss* Introducing teens to literary and historical theory. Amazing. I love it when books have smart discussions about history and the effects of colonialism on people of colour, but bringing in Edward Said has me absolutely deranged in the best of ways. But also--as a person of colour, and a student of history and English who focuses a lot on the knowledge of Western Europe, I could very much relate to Khayyam's pursuit of history and her conflicts around whose stories to tell, and the difficulties that come with the huge impact that Western Europe and exploitation of people of colour have on our society today. How so many stories of people of colour, of women, and of disabled people and queer people have simply never been told since only the stories of white, straight, rich men have been deemed important.(And there's a bibliography.)
The one aspect that took away from the book for me was the romance, and more specifically the love triangle--about halfway through the book, it really felt like the focus was veering away from Leila and the pursuit of knowledge and truth, and towards the love triangle between Zaid and Alexandre. I wouldn't have hated it if Zaid wasn't a lost cause from the beginning, and honestly, I was actually super into Alexandre as a character AND a love interest.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed reading Mad, Bad, & Dangerous to Know and definitely recommend it. You're in for a fun, sweet, and adventure-filled ride, and there's a lot to this book.
I really liked Khayyam. She's an aspiring art historian with a very strong sense of determination, trying to fix the first mishap in her (hopeful) career. Khayyam is very admirable; she has a very strong sense of individuality and morals and I loved that. Alexandre also had me hooked, despite the unbelievability of it all, and I actually really liked their relationship and whole dynamic! Like, I'm not usually into romance, but I was really liking Khayyam and Alexandre together.
One of the things I loved about this book is how it approaches history--Khayyam and Alexandre have discussions on Orientalism, which is. Just. *chef's kiss* Introducing teens to literary and historical theory. Amazing. I love it when books have smart discussions about history and the effects of colonialism on people of colour, but bringing in Edward Said has me absolutely deranged in the best of ways. But also--as a person of colour, and a student of history and English who focuses a lot on the knowledge of Western Europe, I could very much relate to Khayyam's pursuit of history and her conflicts around whose stories to tell, and the difficulties that come with the huge impact that Western Europe and exploitation of people of colour have on our society today. How so many stories of people of colour, of women, and of disabled people and queer people have simply never been told since only the stories of white, straight, rich men have been deemed important.(And there's a bibliography.)
The one aspect that took away from the book for me was the romance, and more specifically the love triangle--about halfway through the book, it really felt like the focus was veering away from Leila and the pursuit of knowledge and truth, and towards the love triangle between Zaid and Alexandre. I wouldn't have hated it if Zaid wasn't a lost cause from the beginning, and honestly, I was actually super into Alexandre as a character AND a love interest.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed reading Mad, Bad, & Dangerous to Know and definitely recommend it. You're in for a fun, sweet, and adventure-filled ride, and there's a lot to this book.
annetjeberg's review
3.0
Cute story, a fast read, but definitely NOT very probable story line. The setting in Paris was a nice touch, though I found it a bit weird that it didn't touch on Islamophobia at all, while that is a huge issue for Muslims living, and even visiting France.
I enjoyed it, though, for what it was. A fast, relaxing read, with an unsurprising ending.
There is nothing wrong with that.
I enjoyed it, though, for what it was. A fast, relaxing read, with an unsurprising ending.
There is nothing wrong with that.
eliseofsoleanna's review
2.0
Most of this just didn't work for me unfortunately. I found Khayyam to be really annoying with how over-the-top she was (girl you are like 17 you're not having a mid-life crisis yet) and when the love triangle got dramatic I just lost interest. I skimmed to the end and I am glad that she didn't end up with either of them because they were both shitty, but so was she. Leila's story was so intriguing but the supernatural element kinda took me out of it and most of her PoVs were so short.
manaledi's review
3.0
I'm always a fan of explicitly feminist books that center women's stories and this one makes no bones about its #writeherstory theme. That said, it all felt too easy to me where they'd just magically easily find the exact right clue or piece of information and things all fell into place. I wanted more depth in places, but this was easy and entertaining.
leticiahana's review
This book was exactly what I needed. It's political and advocates for women in history who are erased but is also an engaging mystery and romance. Although at times I would have been interested in less of Khayyam's romantic dillemma's, I think she was a pretty authentic reflection of what I was like at that age.
The most exciting part of the story was having a protagonist who looks like me. The description of Khayyam in the first chapter won me over completely, "The people who can't guess what I am think I'm 'exotic'. Some people say I'm lucky to be an ethnomorph- a person whose brown skin, brown hair and brown eyes make it seem like I could be from half the countries in the world. But I'm not a passport that everyone gets to stamp with a label of their choosing."
The most exciting part of the story was having a protagonist who looks like me. The description of Khayyam in the first chapter won me over completely, "The people who can't guess what I am think I'm 'exotic'. Some people say I'm lucky to be an ethnomorph- a person whose brown skin, brown hair and brown eyes make it seem like I could be from half the countries in the world. But I'm not a passport that everyone gets to stamp with a label of their choosing."
eliseofsoleana's review
2.0
Most of this just didn't work for me unfortunately. I found Khayyam to be really annoying with how over-the-top she was (girl you are like 17 you're not having a mid-life crisis yet) and when the love triangle got dramatic I just lost interest. I skimmed to the end and I am glad that she didn't end up with either of them because they were both shitty, but so was she. Leila's story was so intriguing but the supernatural element kinda took me out of it and most of her PoVs were so short.
kellypigeon's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 rounded up because of the message. It's very YA and going to check almost all of your YA boxes: love triangles, a girl with free reign of a foreign city, summer in Paris, past and present intertwining, famous artists, cute boys, and struggling with finding your place in the world. You're not going to miss the author's message because it's clearly and directly stated, repeatedly, by multiple characters... But it's an important one, one you'll want the young women in your life to read.
Disclosure: I won a copy of this book through a Goodreads Giveaway.
Disclosure: I won a copy of this book through a Goodreads Giveaway.