okay.... so maybe i am too critical but this is 2.5 stars at the most.


now before i get into this let’s start with this:
i am not indian or muslim not american. i am also not 17 or from a religious family, nor have i parents that very demanding of me or have very specific expectations of and from me.

so clearly i am neither the target audience nor overly similar with the main character.

but here are the issues i had with the book:

this was sold to me as indian muslim rep.
where is the actual muslim rep?!
there are very small moments (in the same scene/moment of the story) where there is a mention that maya doesn’t think drinking alcohol is very muslim and that the one and only actual muslim rule apparently nobody breaks is “no pork”.
i am clearly paraphrasing not quoting the book here but that was basically the most in-depth moment of muslim religion in the entire book.

as i already said i am not muslim but i thankfully did learn a bit about different world religions growing up. and while i honestly sadly don’t if i remember huge amounts i remember thinking “wow that’s a religion that actually requires a lot of deviation and real devotion!”
why?
it’s so much of the day dedicated to praying and specific rituals, all targeted towards their believes.

and i think that’s wonderful!

and i was so excited to learn about how that works in an american environment as a teen. how does she pray around noon (if that’s a time for praying i am sorry if i am wrong about that i think it is?).

if they live in this small town america where is their mosque? of they go to one? and how often do they visit?

you know what the book showed in that refer?

neither maya nor her parents or any other relations mentioned on the book ever even mentioned those things at all.

there was a lot of talk about indian values and family expectations.
there was a lot of mentions of parental expectations and immigration parent expectations

also correct me if i am wrong but aren’t muslim women supposed not show too much skin outside their direct family?
so maybe traipsing around in a bikini isn’t the best thing?
or maybe i am wrong.
that’s very possible.

but you know what would have been great if a book is marketed as good representation for a religion?!
if the religion actually is part of the story outside of a snippet mentioning while on a date.

maybe that’s a personal hang up?!


i also really was bothered by the fact how extremely privileged and spoiled maya was but constantly saw herself as someone that wasn’t giving what she wanted.

sure her parents wanted things from her - her mother wanted her to get married and both of them wanted maya to study something that would guarantee her a good future -like law or medicine.

but instead of talking with her parents that clearly cared for her and wanted her to be happy and do what she enjoyed in her life. maya snook around behind their backs and then complained when her parents where not happy for her once she finally came around to telling them about some things.

why didn’t maya prepare her parents that she wanted to study film?
she clearly didn’t make that decision at the last second, her parents knew her passion for it and even saw it as a nice hobby for her.

so why not introduce them slowly to the idea of wanting to study it? maybe just mentioning that she might minor in film? or wanted to do that and if her parents where okay with that maybe mention that this school she was applying to or got accepted to offered this once in a lifetime film program and couldn’t she at least do it for a year before switching majors if her parents didn’t see how happy it made her during that time?
or just doing it while also studying for what her parents wanted her to.
law and medicine are not both programs that require a undergrad degree in america, right? and as far as i know both programs want their students to follow other passions and hobbies while completing their required courses.

also there’s something as a double major?!
and NYU is certainly not a bad school so....


i just thing that entire section of the book was handled badly and instead of showing a teen how they could approach their parents with a similar issue.

i just really hate if neither the parents nor the teen are handling going to uni like adults but instead act as if there is just this one way or no way!

and i think that’s completely stupid!
that’s a lot of time and money so discuss it! figure out options and see what’s possible!
show people talking like adults about those big decisions and show that there are options and ways to find a way to work for everyone!


i also wish this. ok wouldn’t have been so overly focused on romanticizing.... every thing.
i understand that lot of other cultures have no problems introducing 17 year olds to 20 something year olds and wanting them to date... and i don’t even want to talk about it more then this.


i didn’t like how maya was so focused on kissing and has no issues with going against all her parents wishes but at the same time every time she’s kissed she acts as if she’s unsure if she really wants to be kissed and touched, as if it’s not what she has been moaning about for the last 20 pages.


also for someone to make such a thing about being in love with this one boy the ending made absolutely no sense?!


alright now let’s discuss what i do think is fine okay/good


i think the islamophobia is shown very well here.
i think how it’s shown that too many people jump to a specific conclusion without any prove or evidence at all.
and how sadly a lot of non white and non christian people suffer from that discrimination especially if something happens.

and how a specific name or even just a similar sound is so fast seen as something bad and with that people with similar or the same name suffer without any reason at all.

i loved that this is shown here and how it’s shown here as something that’s ends in violence and vandalism.

i also loved that it’s shown here that it’s not okay and that it’s against the law and that people get in trouble for the bullying, vandalism and assault.


clearly this book was a mixed bag for me.

i think a lot if it was the debut novel issues a lot of first book suffer from.
pacing problems, development issues and focus issues.

i also think this book was not marketed correctly.
if it would have been marketed as an indian american teen book who tries to figure out her life and love life and deals with islamophobia issues.

i think then this book would have been better.
but it wasn’t so ....


all in all?
it’s a good enough book but could have been better and i wish it wouldn’t have tried being too many things at once.