Scan barcode
A review by crystal_reading
Bestest. Ramadan. Ever. by Medeia Sharif
I saw this on the shelf at the library and realized I had never heard of this one so I picked it up. Ugh. I am not Muslim, but by this time have read quite a few books by and about Muslims. This one is not the one I'd recommend if someone wants a book about Ramadan or a book with a Muslim main character. Before even dealing with the Muslim representation, the writing seems very forced and contrived. This includes the dialogue, but the writing also is fairly simplistic and the plot is very predictable throughout.
Next, the weight issue. Almira complains about her weight and this is a huge deal for her and yay - Ramadan is helping her lose weight. What? Let's just say body positivity is not a part of this book.
Also, the characters are very flat. Her best friend is boy obsessed and academically unintelligent. That's really all we know. Her grandfather is more nuanced, but not by much. He calls any annoying woman a prostitute. He's cantankerous, more conservative religiously than her parents and smacks his car into trash cans & mailboxes. All we know about her mom is that she is more forward thinking than her parent's generation, she super attractive to men & she exercises pretty much all day.
Finally, I know there are many ways to live life as a Muslim, but there is not much here that would lead anyone to believe that there is a good reason to be Muslim. Of all the characters in the book, I'm not sure if any of them made it seem like Islam was a good thing except the one mosque experience. I'm not sure how to explain this better. I was bothered by many things in the book and had these thoughts before writing my review, but scrolling through Goodreads reviews, it seems this book maybe went over better with people unfamiliar with Islam and many reviews only confirmed what I had felt while reading.
Books that do it better: The Lines We Cross & Love from A to Z
Next, the weight issue. Almira complains about her weight and this is a huge deal for her and yay - Ramadan is helping her lose weight. What? Let's just say body positivity is not a part of this book.
Also, the characters are very flat. Her best friend is boy obsessed and academically unintelligent. That's really all we know. Her grandfather is more nuanced, but not by much. He calls any annoying woman a prostitute. He's cantankerous, more conservative religiously than her parents and smacks his car into trash cans & mailboxes. All we know about her mom is that she is more forward thinking than her parent's generation, she super attractive to men & she exercises pretty much all day.
Finally, I know there are many ways to live life as a Muslim, but there is not much here that would lead anyone to believe that there is a good reason to be Muslim. Of all the characters in the book, I'm not sure if any of them made it seem like Islam was a good thing except the one mosque experience. I'm not sure how to explain this better. I was bothered by many things in the book and had these thoughts before writing my review, but scrolling through Goodreads reviews, it seems this book maybe went over better with people unfamiliar with Islam and many reviews only confirmed what I had felt while reading.
Books that do it better: The Lines We Cross & Love from A to Z