Huge thanks to Edelweiss+ for letting me read an advanced digital copy.
This is definitely my favorite Mafi book now. Her typical writing style is very over-the-top and visual and I admit that I've been fascinated with it for some time now, even while maintaining a love/hate relationship with it. This book was very different from any of her previous ones, in tone and in style, and I have to say I like the realness of this one the best. It still manages to retain the at-times beautiful prose, but it goes about it less extravagantly.
This own voices book shows an important yet somewhat nonexistent voice in YA contemporary. If you are white (like I am) this book will open your eyes to your white privilege in an interesting way.
I found myself relating to the MC a lot more than I thought I would. After all, what do I know about hijabs or Ramadan? Even so, I found myself in her in a lot of ways. I was also a very angry high schooler. As a victim of bullying for the majority of my school career, by high school I was tired of being sad. I turned mad. Bitter. Downright scary. Shirin felt the same way about the world that I did. Yet her character development through the novel was extraordinarily eye opening. Using the eye-opening experience of first love, Mafi managed to craft an enlightening coming-of-age tale.
I also really appreciated the attention to detail to the time period that this book is set in. The early 2000s have a very specific flavor to them and this book brought me right back to that formative time for me. It made me so happy to see flip phones and AIM and giant ass bulky computers that take 100 years to load up.
For some reason, I was expecting this book to have a sad ending. I thought it was going to go all Pay It Forward on me at the end. But it didn't. It went for a realistic yet happy ending and I've got to say it worked. This was a satisfying read and I'm very glad I didn't let the initial teenage angst scare me away. (I actually almost dnf'd this book after the first sentence because the MC was so snarky. I thought I would hate her but it turns out I am her.)
Definitely give this book a chance, even if you weren't a fan of any of Mafi's previous works.