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alexblackreads 's review for:
Love, Hate & Other Filters
by Samira Ahmed
I had some mixed feelings about this book. There were a number of elements I enjoyed, but overall, I don't think it was executed very well.
First the story seemed to be split in two. There was the first half of the book, a cute romance between Maya and the two guys she was choosing between who represented her American assimilation and more traditional upbringing. The symbolism was a bit heavy handed, but overall that part was fine. Super cute, almost fake feeling, but it was fine. It didn't do a whole lot for me, but if you're someone who enjoys cutesy romances, that part of the book probably goes over better.
Then there was the second half of the book, after a terrorist attack occurs and Maya experiences backlash for being a Muslim. I was more interested in this section because I prefer more issue driven contemporaries, but it fell kind of flat for me.
Even when hate crimes were happening against Maya and her family, even when her parents were threatening to disown her, even when her life was crumbling to pieces, she was kind of still more concerned with her romance (which by the epilogue, didn't even matter anymore). She spent more time crying over boys than she did her parents literally disowning her. There were some very serious things that happened and it seemed like she took them too flippantly. When her parents kicked her (a 17 year old with a part time job) out of the house, her best friend said she could stay with her and they were like "ooh yes it'll be an extended sleepover! fun!" Like I get looking on the bright side, but this was literally the same day she was disowned. I felt like there was a need for more gravitas.
It seemed like most of the side characters had a single facet to their personalities. They weren't really full people. The racist guy was just the racist. Period. I don't need him to have justifications for being racist, but there was literally nothing else in his personality. He had no other role in the story other than to be the racist guy. And he wasn't the only one. The main characters had a little nuance, but none of the side characters. Add to that how much the side characters would escalate everything in the story almost seemingly without reason.
The way the terrorist was treated made me feel kind of uncomfortable. At first I thought Ahmed was mirroring the way the media treats white American terrorists. They're lone wolves, they had hard upbringings, neighbors come out to say how nice they seemed. It seemed like she was making an intentional point. But then in the narration she went into the terrorist's backstory, about how he was a poor abused kid. It no longer felt like she was making a point with it. It felt almost as though she was trying to give him some sort of backstory that made us understand him, which is exactly what the media does with white terrorists as well. I'm sorry his father was abusive, but he murdered over a hundred people. Having an abusive father doesn't explain that away.
Then there were other small things. The dialogue felt awkward and forced. There were so many pop culture references, like almost an absurd number. It honestly worked better than it usually does because it was contrasting the two cultures, but there were still too many. The relationship between her and Kareem made me super uncomfortable. Like he's a 21 year old, on a date with a 17 year old, ordering alcohol and then making out with her. It felt yikes. That's a rather substantial age difference, and he was much more experienced with dating than Maya was.
But it was still a decent book. There were a number of good elements, and I liked that it focused on what it felt like to choose between cultures, and what it was like for Maya, who was a mostly secular Muslim, to grow up in a small town being The Muslim. And it held my attention pretty easily. I was down for the ride, even if at the end of the day, I didn't think it was the greatest overall book. I think this is one I'd recommend to younger YA readers, probably 14-15. I wouldn't say adults shouldn't read this, but I do think it probably reads better to a younger audience. I am glad I picked this up, though.
First the story seemed to be split in two. There was the first half of the book, a cute romance between Maya and the two guys she was choosing between who represented her American assimilation and more traditional upbringing. The symbolism was a bit heavy handed, but overall that part was fine. Super cute, almost fake feeling, but it was fine. It didn't do a whole lot for me, but if you're someone who enjoys cutesy romances, that part of the book probably goes over better.
Then there was the second half of the book, after a terrorist attack occurs and Maya experiences backlash for being a Muslim. I was more interested in this section because I prefer more issue driven contemporaries, but it fell kind of flat for me.
Even when hate crimes were happening against Maya and her family, even when her parents were threatening to disown her, even when her life was crumbling to pieces, she was kind of still more concerned with her romance (which by the epilogue, didn't even matter anymore). She spent more time crying over boys than she did her parents literally disowning her. There were some very serious things that happened and it seemed like she took them too flippantly. When her parents kicked her (a 17 year old with a part time job) out of the house, her best friend said she could stay with her and they were like "ooh yes it'll be an extended sleepover! fun!" Like I get looking on the bright side, but this was literally the same day she was disowned. I felt like there was a need for more gravitas.
It seemed like most of the side characters had a single facet to their personalities. They weren't really full people. The racist guy was just the racist. Period. I don't need him to have justifications for being racist, but there was literally nothing else in his personality. He had no other role in the story other than to be the racist guy. And he wasn't the only one. The main characters had a little nuance, but none of the side characters. Add to that how much the side characters would escalate everything in the story almost seemingly without reason.
The way the terrorist was treated made me feel kind of uncomfortable. At first I thought Ahmed was mirroring the way the media treats white American terrorists. They're lone wolves, they had hard upbringings, neighbors come out to say how nice they seemed. It seemed like she was making an intentional point. But then in the narration she went into the terrorist's backstory, about how he was a poor abused kid. It no longer felt like she was making a point with it. It felt almost as though she was trying to give him some sort of backstory that made us understand him, which is exactly what the media does with white terrorists as well. I'm sorry his father was abusive, but he murdered over a hundred people. Having an abusive father doesn't explain that away.
Then there were other small things. The dialogue felt awkward and forced. There were so many pop culture references, like almost an absurd number. It honestly worked better than it usually does because it was contrasting the two cultures, but there were still too many. The relationship between her and Kareem made me super uncomfortable. Like he's a 21 year old, on a date with a 17 year old, ordering alcohol and then making out with her. It felt yikes. That's a rather substantial age difference, and he was much more experienced with dating than Maya was.
But it was still a decent book. There were a number of good elements, and I liked that it focused on what it felt like to choose between cultures, and what it was like for Maya, who was a mostly secular Muslim, to grow up in a small town being The Muslim. And it held my attention pretty easily. I was down for the ride, even if at the end of the day, I didn't think it was the greatest overall book. I think this is one I'd recommend to younger YA readers, probably 14-15. I wouldn't say adults shouldn't read this, but I do think it probably reads better to a younger audience. I am glad I picked this up, though.