I spotted Love, Hate & Filters at my local library and absolutely squealed. Ahmed's debut has been much celebrated throughout the #YALit world, and I enjoyed every page of it!

Our YA heroine is Maya Aziz, an Indian-American Muslim with a dream to be the first of her heritage to earn an Oscar for Best Director...aaaaaand to kiss lots of boys. The only problem is her parents don't want that life for her: they want her to be safe, living near home, happily married to an Indian Muslim boy, and running a successful law firm. The clash is well-done, with compassion for both sides. Add to the mix some all too real racism and white supremacy, and readers are in for a tour-de-force that'll leave them flailing for more.

Samira Ahmed has masterful, clear wordcraft. The plotting and tension are taunt as a violin string, and I was engrossed from Chapter 1. The snippets between chapters make everything infinitely better and worse. Like with other contemporary YA, the characters are the strongest selling point. I know next to nothing about film-making, but through Maya I learned its delights. The characters felt real, and their struggles organic, relatable, and heartbreaking. Love, Hate & Other Filters is a proudly #ownvoices novel, and Kav and Vicky have written excellent reviews addressing that here for Kav's review and here for Vicky's review.

In summary, don't walk, run to read this Love, Hate & Other Filters. Though the subjects may be tough, but the journey is well worth it.