After seeing it on so many great listicles of diverse books, I jumped at the chance to read SAINTS AND MISFITS when I saw my local library had a copy. Overall, the book was a treat.

SAINTS AND MISFITS felt like living through snapshots of a Muslim American girl's high school life. As a person unfamiliar with Islam, I learned a lot about day-to-day faithful family life and mosque community. The theme of saints, misfits, and monsters was an interesting thread to follow, and I liked how the concept started out as simple and then became more and more complicated. Cyberbullying, sexual assault, and "weakness of character" were also explored, but not as much as I would've liked. Janna's character was masterfully done, how she lost and gained my sympathy by turns. Sometimes I wanted to shake her. Most of the time I wanted to hug her and help her battle monsters.

I'm unsure if there was a problem with the writing or just me, but I found myself frequently lost in the text and having to re-read sections, unsure how the characters moved or arrived places. As I went through the book, this missed plot beat kept happening more than normal.

However! All the awesomeness contained in the book outweighed my annoyance, and I still look forward to S.K. Ali's next novel. Cross my fingers that it's out soon!