alltheradreads's Reviews (1.9k)

First book of 2021 was the BEST CHOICE. my girl @hannahbrencher hit me right in the feels and gave me a swift kick in the pants (in love!!!) with this one— it’s fiery and full of truth and quite honestly was exactly what I needed. i highlighted the heck out of it and already added “watch for foxes” and “count the ravens” pages to my journal (read it to understand!)— her heart and her wisdom are so genuinely GOOD and needed in our world.

So, so grateful for HB. the passage she highlighted and tagged for me made me cry— “Share your tools. Share your gifts. Share what you are learning, and don’t hold back. Help people set little fires everywhere”.

This book.

I’m... not over this one. It’s free verse and fast paced and sweet and snappy and then the ending...

I read this one before watching the Netflix show (books before shows/movies/etc always!!!) and I liked it! Major Hart of Dixie/Nicholas Sparks vibes— light and quaint and cozy with just enough drama.

It’s a little like The Proposal (movie) mixed with Indian Matchmaking (Netflix show) combined with How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (movie) and it was so delightful!

Love a quirky and diverse lead (more of this, plz!!!) and a male character with complexity, and this served up both in abundance.

This book was a timely, important, multi-cultural, layered story of a boy finding his way in the world, living into the truth of who he is, and navigating the rocky terrain of religious, familial, and societal pressures and expectations. I’m so grateful for books like this one, that give me a chance to “climb into someone’s skin and walk around in it” like Atticus Finch said. I’ll never know what it’s like to be Muslim and gay as a teenage boy in America, but this book gave me a peek into that experience. It didn’t seem completely realistic (his solo jaunt to Italy to escape his family finding out his sexuality was a bit far-fetched, and the friends he met there seemed too old for him) but hey— it’s a story, it took some liberties, and it all was part of making the point that we can’t ever outrun who we are, or how loved we are.