Reviews with content warning for Islamophobia - Saints and Misfits

Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali

10 reviews

softgalaxy's review against another edition

dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This was a good story overall, but for me, it felt disjointed. I feel like it was rushed overall. I think I would have enjoyed this more if it was longer.

I really liked Sausun as a character. She really shook things up for Janna. Tatiyana was kinda frustrating at times, but I remember being a teenager and being kinda obsessed with romance, so in case she was well written.

I’m really glad Janna got the justice she wanted.

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aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

Didn't love this one but didn't hate it. Loved the diversity in showing Muslims that aren't just Arab- Janna and her brother are ethnically Egyptian and Indian, which is nice as a fellow mixed kid who grew up Muslim. Also liked seeing Janna's growth and her reclaiming her power. It does mention sexual assault and instances of seeing the abuser/being constantly in the same community events/gatherings/spaces. It also mentions the abuser following Janna and taking pictures of her to use against her so be aware of that.
My main thing is I wish there were consequences for the abuser mentioned in the book. It felt like a rushed conclusion.

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aishallnot's review against another edition

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challenging emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

A solid three stars (could be 3.5 but I'm settling on three for now).

Ultimately, this book was okay.

We have our main character Janna, who is a typical Muslim-American teenager with her issues. We see her go through troubles with family, having a crush, and someone from her mosque attempting to sexually assault her. Ali really knows how to bring tough conversations within the Muslim community into a story and I applaud her for that. After reading her other books, it's clear that her characters have a strong sense of justice and speaking up when its right which reflects Ali's beliefs. As someone who was once a teen, I deeply relate to these characters.

What fell short for me at times while reading was the plot. I felt like there were a lot of plot points and to me, there wasn't much of a clear focus of what the story could be about bc a lot happens in the book. Even with the many storylines in the book, there were some, if not all that I thought could have been explored more. For example, her family and how Janna's relationship with her parents and brother have changed since the divorce. I think that might be explored in the second book. I also had issues with the pacing, especially toward the end. The story felt rushed and I didn't feel as though the conflict was fully resolved between Janna and the community member who assaulted her.

Despite my feelings about this book, I do appreciate SK. Ali as an author (Muslim one at that) and how she handles such topics. I have been on a journey of reading Ali's books throughout the year and I've craved to read more Muslim stories, especially in YA. Something about that feeling is a bit nostalgic for some reason bc it reminds me of the beauty of Islam and why I'm Muslim. I know the phrase "I wish I had this book when I was young" is used a lot, but for a good reason. I do want to read the sequel hopefully within the new year.

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prasi's review

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4.0

Saints and Misfits was a unique book. It fills a void in a much needed space and talks about themes that are incredibly important for young adults to be exposed to and talk openly about, particularly within religious communities.

The book follows Janna, a young muslim girl who wears hijab and is struggling with her family situation. Her parents are divorced and her brother just moved back home, putting strain on her family and leaving her feeling displaced when she's asked to give up her room to him.

In this midst of dealing with her parents divorce and her brother coming back home - a lot of change for her to process - she's almost floating and feeling lost and confused. And all of this is happening through the lens of a young girl who was recently sexually assaulted by the wonder boy of their community.

Farooq is the guy who was looked up to in the Masjid and who might be coming into a leadership role soon.

Everyone talks about how amazing he is and Janna is struggling with the decision to talk to anyone about it out of several concerns - ruining her community, not being believed, being viewed as creating drama, having others look down on her for it - all of these things are going through her head and we follow her along as she's processing all of these emotions in real-time.

In the same way that a depression or a death changes the way you look at things and how you process events, Janna is going through the world with this crushing experience she recently had and she's seeing the world in a new way. She's processing friendship struggles, bullies at school, her parents divorce, squabbles with her brother, and her relationship with her hijab through the lens of this other major thing that happened that she hasn't dealt with yet. In the process of this we see her sometimes taking out frustration on unrelated issues and struggling to understand not only where she fits in the world but what kind of person she wants to be.

This book was incredibly heart-breaking and brings to light a lot of issues that aren't often discussed or encouraged to be discussed in religious spaces. I think that this isn't just fiction, S.K. Ali has written a conversation starter with this book. And it's a conversation we desperately need to have.

I really liked this story. I loved Janna and I loved getting to know her. She was kind and even though she was going through all of this in her life she still went out of her way to help people in her community. She was a great role model and an example that having something bad like this happen to you doesn't mean you've done anything wrong or that you're a bad person. She held true to herself and to her values. That was really important to depict and it was done really well.

I also wanted to mention that the narrator for this particular audiobook did a fantastic job! I was engaged the whole way through and she did a great job of capturing the emotion and struggle of the character.

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calamitywindpetal's review

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funny hopeful informative lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.75

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coffeeatthebeachwoodcafe's review

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emotional medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

this book is really good! there were some parts where it personally didn’t feel as developed as i wanted it to and the plot was a little bit confusing in the beginning, but i honestly really loved it.

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