For awhile A Place For Us was all over Instagram; the hype was huge. When books get that big I actually become a bit wary of them - I worry that they won’t live up to my now overly-inflated expectations. Thankfully, in this case the hype was warranted. This book is brilliant. A Place For Us is a beautifully written story about a Muslim family living in California.

Mirza chose to split the narrative into multiple points of view, focusing specifically on the mother Layla and 3 children Hadia, Huda and Amar. She also incorporated time jumps, which were a lot easier to follow than I had expected. It was really well done, allowing the reader to see the same event from different angles. It also made the final quarter of the book that much more powerful.

The last quarter of the book switches the point of view to Rafiq, the father of the family. For most of the story, Rafiq is portrayed as a rather strict and sometimes angry man. This section turns that portrayal on its head, by showing pivotal events through his eyes - revealing a whole new dimension to the tale. It’s a powerful way to end the book.

A Place For Us ripped my heart out a little, and left me thinking about it long after I had read the last page. I highly recommend it, especially in today’s political climate. Go read it!