Monthly Archives: June 2018

Book Review: Love, Hate, and Other Filters

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love hate and other filtersLove, Hate, and Other Filters
by Samira Ahmed
Young Adult Contemporary Fiction
280 pages
Published January 2018

This book made a big splash when it came out in January, and rightly so, as I’ve finally discovered for myself! Written by an Indian-American, Love, Hate, and Other Filters follows Maya Aziz, a seventeen-year-old born in America to Indian immigrant parents. She’s the only Muslim girl at her school, and while she feels like she sticks out, she doesn’t feel discriminated against until a terrorist attack happens in her state. She had -just- gotten most of her issues worked out before the attack, but in the aftermath of the attack, and the community’s response to it, her parents clamp down on her freedom, and she struggles to get her life back.

I really loved Maya in this book; I can understand her parents’ fears, but also her rebellion when they take away the freedom she values. I think my favorite character, though, was the side character Kareem. I kind of hope Ahmed writes another book and tells us his story. He was just so NICE.

I loved the writing and the characters overall, but there were a few sentences that made me pause and repeat them in my head because they were just outstanding.

“The vows are simple, the same kind of pledges I’ve heard at weddings of every faith. Except at the end, there is no kiss. I close in for the money shot anyway, hoping for a moment of rebellion from Ayesha and Saleem. But no. No public kissing allowed. Full stop. The no kissing is anticlimactic, but some taboos cross oceans, packed tightly into the corners of immigrant baggage, tucked away with packets of masala and memories of home.”

And also, about arranged marriages and being a good Indian daughter:

“And the Muslim? The Indian? That girl, she doesn’t even get the dream of the football captain. She gets a lifetime of being stopped by the FAA for random bag searches every time she flies. She gets the nice boy, the sensible boy, the one her parents approve of and who she will grow to love over years and children and necessity.”

Maya is a whip-smart young girl who wants to be a film maker, and she spends most of her time behind a camera, observing. Her observations are really what make this book shine, and her snark had me laughing throughout the book.

I really loved this book, if you couldn’t tell! I love minority-driven YA, and this one reminds me quite a lot of Saints and Misfits. Given how much I loved both of these, I really need to read When Dimple Met Rishi!

From the cover of Love, Hate, and Other Filters:

American-born seventeen-year-old Maya Aziz is torn between worlds. There’s the proper one her parents expect for their good Indian daughter: attending a college close to their suburban Chicago home, and being paired off with an older Muslim boy her mom deems “suitable.” And then there is the world of her dreams: going to film school and living in New York City – and maybe (just maybe) pursuing a boy she’s known from afar since grade school, a boy who’s finally falling into her orbit at school.

There’s also the real world, beyond Maya’s control. In the aftermath of a horrific crime perpetrated hundreds of miles away, her life is turned upside down. The community she’s known since birth becomes unrecognizable; neighbors and classmates alike are consumed with fear, bigotry, and hatred. Ultimately, Maya must find the strength within to determine where she truly belongs.

Library Loot Wednesday!

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invisibleThe book I’m most excited about getting this week is Invisible: How Young Women with Serious Health Issues Navigate Work, Relationships, and the Pressure to Seem Just Fine, by Michele Lent Hirsch. I have two autoimmune diseases (plus migraines) myself, so this book seems to be written FOR ME. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis in my late twenties, and this books speaks straight to my experiences.

love hate and other filtersI also picked up Love, Hate, and other Filters, which made a big splash a while back but I just haven’t gotten to until now. Figured since it’s Ramadan, I should fit in a Muslim-centered book along with all my Pride reading. The review will be up later today, since I’ve read it already!

persepolis 1On the topic of Muslim-centered books, I checked out the first volume of Persepolis, a graphic novel about a girl growing up in Iran. The second volume is requested but hasn’t come in yet.

Dread Nation finally made its way to me, there was a long wait list. I was really excited about this book before it came out, but the author is apparently a little ignorant of Native American issues, calling the schools where they indoctrinated Native children “well meaning” instead of racist. A Twitter thread about Dread Nation. So I’m a little wary of it now.

The last library book I got this week is Well, That Escalated Quickly – Memoirs and Mistakes of an Accidental Activist, by Franchesca Ramsey. Ramsey is a Youtuber who apparently went unexpectedly viral and decided to use her platform for activism. It looks funny.

In related news, BOOK MAIL! 

I got my Book of the Month package early last week, which contained The Book of Essie (excellent and already reviewed), When Katie Met Cassidy (excellent, review coming next week), and The Kiss Quotient. (Haven’t read yet.) I also received some Goodreads Giveaways – Prisoner 155 – Simon Radowitzky, an unexpectedly large graphic novel, and How I Resist: Activism and Hope for the Next Generation. That last one I won all the way back in March, and was really excited to get the ARC, but they had some printing problem with the ARCs, and then it was backordered from so many pre-orders, so I actually didn’t get it until the second printing, AFTER it released! A little disappointing, but I’m glad to finally have it.

TTT – Books That Awaken the Travel Bug In Me

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IMG_20180323_234037_500.jpgTop Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is “Books That Awaken the Travel Bug In Me!” To be honest, I’m not much of a traveler. I’d rather curl up at home. So I only have five books today.

The Astonishing Color of After – This book brought Taiwan to glorious, colorful, glittering, magical life in my brain. I’ve never been – have not been very interested in Asian and South Asian countries at all, in fact, but this makes me want to visit.

queens of geekQueens of Geek – I’ve always wanted to go to Comicon, and seeing the characters in this book go to a fictional Con based on it has me itching to do so even more!

fireandfuryFire and Fury – Fire and Fury doesn’t make me want to go someplace in particular so much as it makes me want to get the hell out of the US! My government is ripping itself to pieces and instead of the first female president we have this orange hate-cheeto blowhard who is trying to use our Constitution to wipe his ass.

places in betweenThe Places In Between – Since my husband joined the Marines and went to Afghanistan back in 2011, I’ve been fascinated by Iraq and Afghanistan. I wanted to learn all I could about the place my husband would be spending months working in. Rory Stewart’s walk across Afghanistan was an amazing tour.

gentleman's guide to vice and virtueThe Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue – The characters in this book go on a tour across Europe, and THAT is my idea of travel. Balls and parties and interesting food in different countries. (At least for the first part of their trip. I could pass on getting held up by highwaymen or kidnapped by pirates, though!)

That’s all I could come up with this week – I’m just not much of a traveler, I guess!

 

 

Book Review: Island of Exiles

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island of exilesIsland of Exiles
by Erica Cameron
Fantasy
402 pages
Published 2017

This is a great read for Pride Month! Khya’s society has three genders – male, female, and ebet. They’re all equal, though ebet aren’t capable of having children. The ebets’ pronouns are ey/eir/em. No one cares what gender anyone else is, and soul bonds, which seem to be the only form of long term bonding, can be made between any two people who love and trust each other enough, whether that’s romantic or not. Siblings can form a soul bond if they wish, it doesn’t imply a sexual relationship. The main plot line follows Khya, Tessen (the man who loves her), and Sanii, Khya’s brother’s ebet lover, as they try to rescue Khya’s brother. In the process, they learn things about their society that only the ruling class knows, and have to make some hard decisions.

Khya’s home, Itagami, is separated by castes: The Miriseh, ten immortal rulers, the Kaigo, the Council below them, the Nyshin, or warriors (anyone with strong magic), the Ahdo, or city guards (anyone with weak magic), and the Yonin, who don’t have any magic and are little more than drudges. Yonin aren’t really allowed to associate with the higher classes and are kept out of most places by magic. The only movement between castes is the few Nyshin who get elected to the Kaigo. I generally dislike societies that are so rigidly separated by castes, but that makes it all the more satisfying when people rebel, I suppose.

I enjoyed the world building and magic system – Khya, in particular, is a Warding Mage, and can shield people from things like projectiles, lightning strikes, and even from water, giving them air to breathe underwater. Khya’s a little prickly for a main character, but she comes around eventually.

The book was a finalist in the Speculative Fiction category of the Bisexual Book Awards, but did not win. (Full list of finalists and winners in the link above, as well as previous years’ lists – Fair Warning, my To-Read listed exploded.)

I thought this was a great book and will be looking up the sequel, Sea of Strangers.

From the cover of Island of Exiles:

In Khya’s world, every breath is a battle.

On the isolated desert island of Shiara, dying young is inevitable. The clan comes before self, and protecting her home means Khya is a warrior above all else.

But when following the clan and obeying their leaders could cost her brother his life, Khya’s home becomes a deadly trap. The only person who can help is Tessen, her lifelong rival and the boy who challenges her at every turn. The council she hoped to join has betrayed her, and their secrets, hundreds of years deep, reach around a world she’s never seen.

To save her brother’s life and her island home, her only choice is to trust Tessen, turn against her clan, and go on the run―a betrayal and a death sentence.

It’s Ramadan!

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persepolis 1So many things going on this month, I almost forgot it’s also Ramadan! You can read all about it at that link, but basically it’s a month of fasting between sunup and sunset to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad.

love hate and other filtersI’m not Muslim, but I like to link my reading to current events and holidays, so for Ramadan this year I’m reading the graphic novel Persepolis, about a young girl growing up in Iran, and Love, Hate, and Other Filters, a YA novel about a Muslim teen growing up in Chicago.

I’ve read a few novels in the past on the same topics:

City of Brass

Saints and Misfits

The Clothesline Swing

An American Family

A Hundred Veils

Happy Ramadan, if you celebrate it!

Book Review: The Book of Essie

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book of essieThe Book of Essie
by Meghan Maclean Weir
Contemporary Fiction
319 pages
Releases June 12, 2018

It’s so hard to decide where to start with this book. First: it’s amazing. Second: Content Warning. For a number of reasons. Rape. Incest. Gay Conversion Therapy. Suicide. Nothing extremely graphic; the most graphic concerns the conversion therapy, which is where the suicide occurs. That section was hard to read. A lot of sections were hard to read. But the book was SO GOOD. It’s about Essie and Roarke’s escape from all that, so ultimately it focuses on the future, and it’s a hopeful, light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel kind of book. But daaaaang these topics.

I loved so many of the characters here. Essie and Roarke, Roarke’s best friend Blake, Liberty, the reporter, her boyfriend and her camerawoman. They’re all amazing. Essie’s determination, Roarke’s courage, Blake’s understanding – every character has something to offer in this book. The way Liberty’s history entwines with Essie’s, so she knows where she’s coming from and can offer advice from experience, and how Liberty flashes back to her childhood so the reader understands her conflicts – it’s all just so amazing.

I identify pretty closely with a lot of this book myself; I was raised very conservative Christian, though at least not in a crazy cult like Liberty was. But the way Liberty talks about her boyfriend challenging her beliefs and waking her up from them hit very close to home. It was weird to see it on the page.

“I had been home as well, a painful few months during which I began to see my parents, our family, and our church as Mike might see them, as anyone who was not us would see them. I still loved my parents, very much, but I was also deeply ashamed. I began to wonder what would have happened if I’d seen it earlier….I decided that I would not go home again.”

I was cheering for Essie as she broke free of her bigoted family. Every step of the way. And Roarke – oh, Roarke, who my heart broke for, who stepped up to the plate and loved Essie in his own way, and gave Essie what she needed. It helped that Essie offered him precisely what he needed, too, but I didn’t expect how their relationship evolved.

I loved this book, start to finish. This is definitely one of my favorites of 2018.

I received this book a little early, through the Book of the Month club. It releases this Tuesday, June 12.

From the cover of The Book of Essie:

Esther Anne Hicks – Essie – is the youngest child on Six for Hicks, a reality television phenomenon. She’s grown up in the spotlight, both idolized and despised for her family’s fire-and-brimstone brand of faith. When Essie’s mother, Celia, discovers that Essie is pregnant, she arranges an emergency meeting with the show’s producers: Should they sneak Essie out of the country for an abortion? Pass the child off as Celia’s? Or try to arrange a marriage – and a ratings-blockbuster wedding? Meanwhile, Essie seeks her salvation in Roarke Richards, a senior at her high school with a secret of his own to protect, and Liberty Bell, an infamously conservative reporter. 

As Essie attempts to win the faith of Roarke and Liberty, she has to ask herself the most difficult of questions: What was the real reason her older sister left home? Who can she trust with the truth about her family? And how much is she willing to sacrifice to win her own freedom?

Written with blistering intelligence and a deep, stirring empathy, The Book of Essie brilliantly explores our darkest cultural obsessions: celebrity, class, bigotry, and the media.