Thursday, January 27, 2022

Review: Love From A to Z by S.K. Ali

 


Goodreads Overview:

marvel: something you find amazing. Even ordinary-amazing. Like potatoes—because they make French fries happen. Like the perfect fries Adam and his mom used to make together.

An oddity: whatever gives you pause. Like the fact that there are hateful people in the world. Like Zayneb’s teacher, who won’t stop reminding the class how “bad” Muslims are.

But Zayneb, the only Muslim in class, isn’t bad. She’s angry.

When she gets suspended for confronting her teacher, and he begins investigating her activist friends, Zayneb heads to her aunt’s house in Doha, Qatar, for an early start to spring break.

Fueled by the guilt of getting her friends in trouble, she resolves to try out a newer, “nicer” version of herself in a place where no one knows her.

Then her path crosses with Adam’s.

Since he got diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in November, Adam’s stopped going to classes, intent, instead, on perfecting the making of things. Intent on keeping the memory of his mom alive for his little sister.

Adam’s also intent on keeping his diagnosis a secret from his grieving father.

Alone, Adam and Zayneb are playing roles for others, keeping their real thoughts locked away in their journals.

Until a marvel and an oddity occurs…

Marvel: Adam and Zayneb meeting.

Oddity: Adam and Zayneb meeting.

Review:

This book has been on my TBR list since August 2019. I'm not sure if it ever would have made it to the top of the list if it weren't for the A to Z challenge. I was scrolling through my Goodreads TBR list looking for a book with a Z in the title and BAM, there were Adam and Zayneb. 

This was such an inspiring and thought provoking novel that I really learned a lot from. I did not know much about Muslim beliefs and customs prior to reading this book, but I was very much aware of the discrimination that is often placed upon them due to stereotypes in this country. This book gives a first hand account of how discrimination can impact someone's daily life. Zayneb was a good student with a nice group of friends, but one teacher's hatred for Muslims made her life a living hell. She  became very angry and began acting out. When she goes to live with her Aunt over spring break she encounters discrimination again at the gym her Aunt goes to. Zayneb likes to swim, but another patron and the manager did not approve of her culturally compliant swimwear and gave her a hard time. Her Aunt was a great influence and taught her how to channel her anger to make positive changes.  

Adam is also Muslim, but growing up in a country where he was not a minority, he often did not see things in the same light as Zayneb. He was dealing with his own issues related to his MS diagnosis and how the disease was affecting his body. He didn't know how to tell his father and sister about his diagnosis and was focusing all of his effort on his art as a way of avoiding reality and coping.

Through a fluke meeting at the airport and a shared appreciation for a Marvels and Oddities journal, it would appear that these two were destined to be together. Even when they went their separate ways their lives continued to cross paths. While neither could fully appreciate the challenges the other was going through, they were a great support system for each other and you couldn't help but root for them. 

I gave it a solid 5 stars and immediately read the companion short story, The Eid Gift, which takes place shortly before the epilogue in this book. It was a quick read and really filled in the gaps, so I would highly recommend reading that as well. It is a free download that was linked to The Eid Gift's page on Goodreads.

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