BOOK REVIEW/Sofia Khan is Not Obliged/ A million things in my mind// accurate representation//we need more books like these

Rating: 4.7/5

So this book. I LOVED IT!

The book follows thirty year old Sofia, a brown hijabi Muslim woman living in London,  as she breaks off her engagement to long-term boyfriend/fiancé Imran, because he wanted them to live with his parents. Her mother is distraught, but Sofia herself is adamant and in true womanly fashion, declares celibacy and decides not to get married at all.

But here’s the thing. Sofia works in the publishing industry and gets offered a chance of a lifetime; to write a book. About Muslim dating. And she takes it.

 Cue online dating on a website called ‘shaadi.com’ (literally translates to marriage.com) and hilarious dates/non-dates as she tries to maintain her job, her sister’s wedding preparations, her typical-brown-mom’s demands for her to FIND someone, and her feminist and diverse group of friends and their own love lives and struggles.

The book is written in the form diary entries, and starts off in a really light tone, though some pretty serious and important stuff comes up.

Now, I don’t read contemporary very often, because to be honest, I kind of hate it.

But I really loved the way this book as written.

 It had unfiltered thoughts by a feminist and religious Muslim woman (which is very much accurate) and felt real and relatable on so many levels. I especially loved the way her dad was portrayed in this book. Many of the aunties and uncles, family members whose judgment none could escape, all of that was stuff that I have experienced, seen, or heard of in my life.

The whole book felt so personal. It felt like Sofia was my friend and every time I opened the book, I was actually going to hang out with her, instead of reading it. Her friends, family and everyone else in this book, basically—including Naim, the attractive happenstance friend, Suj, the Sikh supermodel friend, her mom, her dad, Conall, and even her boss seemed to jump out of the pages of the book.

I tend to hate characters in a lot of books, but honestly, except for stupid ex Imran, I really liked all the characters. Sofia herself felt so real.

This book mainly follows hers and her friends’ love lives, and gives an inside view of the lives of some Muslim families (a lot of stuff about how they go about the process of marriage/meeting you intended, etc, is very different from what I’ve seen in my family, because every family has their own lifestyle, even amongst brown nations).

There was also the mention of being seen as ‘different’ and dealing with racism. A scene occurs while boarding the train where Sofia gets called a terrorist by an old man, and that bothers her a lot. She thinks about it well into the book.

I love how she’s shown as a flawed character; she tries to be religious/stay devout and clean, but often sneaks cigarettes, and even helps her dad hide his stash from her mom.

Her meetings/ interactions with the supposedly racist neighbor are hilarious. He is a white guy who is very antisocial and unsmiling and in the beginning doesn’t even utter a word—for that reason, and his unsmiling demeanor in the face of her wide grins, Sofia thinks he’s racist and that he sees her as a terrorist, which only drives her to assault him with more smiles and kindness and general awkward conversational word vomit. It’s all very fun.

The!!!! Book!!! Was!!!! So!!!! Character!!!! Driven!!!!

The book really felt like a coming of age sort of novel in a way. Sofia is lost in many ways in her life in the beginning of the book, and through her experiences, the twists and turns of the book, (which often left me laughing) she learns a lot. But I still feel like she was too confused. I know it was part of her character development, but come on, how any times do you call a wedding on and off? Her mistakes felt real and honest.  And Imran. Ugh. Get him out of my face, please. That idiot.

Ultimately, in the end Sofia is faced with an unexpected (the plot twist was real) choice, and she has to take a leap of faith. While many characters in the book itself may disagree with her decision, she makes it, and then acts on it, and I think that part really showed how strong and independent of a woman she had come to be.

As an avid fantasy, sci-fi, and adventure reader, I’m used to plots that are much more faster and intense... but, truth be told, I was so eager when reading this book, I was always flipping pages (faster than I read my current favorite fantasy series!)

So in all, Y’ALL SHOULD READ THIS BOOK!

AND THE SEQUEL!

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Belated October Wrap Up

i know, i know.
she's back, look, you say.
only for a little bit, and then she'll be gone like the wind again, you think.
well, my friend, you're...probably right, let's face it, i'm crappy with schedules and fixed timings and anything that doesn't involve flailing.
(i'm a free spirit okay)
(jeez. *rolls eyes* )

Hopefully I'm not just shouting (or typing furiously on my laptop, fine, I'll be accurate and literal, brain) into an empty void like Augustus Waters (who is the cutest little fluffball ever--I'm reading TFIOS, and loving it,   but more on that later.) so solemnly fears, and--let's be real, I fear so too.

But now, here is the main topic that we have congregated here to discuss: what I read in the month of October. (because narcissism. i can't get enough of myself) (i'm sorry for the copious amounts of self-berating sarcasm.) (not really)

 Well, the first order of business is this: a n g s t

I don't know what it is with angst and me. angsty novels, movies, music. gimme allllllll the angst.
maybe it's because i'm an angst filled teenager, or maybe angsty in general, i really don't know. but at the end of the day, angsty books are home, and i love to drown in the feels that they force upon me. and this month was no different.

October was the follow up month from reading the Raven Cycle books by Maggie Stiefvater, so I was kind of recovering from some serious book hangover, and i was randomly scrolling through the inter of nets (for everyone who didn't get that : the internet)  and i happened to come across this thing, i think on tumblr it was,which stated that one of the characters in this other book series was like Ronan from the Raven Cycle and Kavinsky from the Raven Cycle combined, and i thought, a copy of my precious child, my little sunshine Ronan, in another book?

and that friends, is how October was the month i sank into the world of the Foxhole Court ( also known as : All For The Game series) and i was a goner. it's a trilogy, written by Nora Sakavic. it's about this guy Neil, who is the run away son hiding from his father who is a very dangerous criminal lord sort of thing called The Butcher, and it also heavily involves a sport, a fictional sport called Exy, which is kind of like a mix of hockey and lacrosse, but, like, on steroids.

Neil's mom rcently died, and Exy is extremely close to his heart, and now he's got an offer to play for this University called Palmetto State University, which is actually the laughing stock of the Exy world, kind of, because of the fact that it's coach, Wymack, is bent on recruiting the most effed up kids with messed up pasts and problems of drug abuse and childhood issues and stuff and what not. angst : check.
characters dying : kind of . pain: yesssssss gore and grit and general fighting scenes :check anger : check
 check sports: check

okay, this trilogy gave me  a lot of pain and horror and has tons of, i mean, TONS OF triggers, so if you want to check it out, i suggest you first be 1. aged sixteen or older 2. see all the triggers (look them up. google exists for a reason.)

Next, I read...
SIX OF CROWS YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

this book tho. THIS.
                                  BOOK.
                                                   THO.

pretty accurate

like. honestly. leigh bardugo, what even.

It's essentially about this  one gang's officer guy genius 17 year old  Kaz (aka the hottest-est and cleverest-est guy to ever exist like bro you go) is offered a crazy amount of money to break into this high security, impenetrable prison in this other country and he has to break out this really important scientist/political prisoner. also, he needs a crew; enter Nina, sassy bab who is also a sort of runaway but still loyal to her country army person Grisha (she  has magical powers) who is in love with Matthias, an angry white blond guy who first needs to be broken out of the local prison, and he is most certainly not in love with Nina, nope, only he kind of is, oops, sorry Grisha-hating-brain-washed-brain, and Inej, my sweet baby girl who is so brave and so lovely and she can enter a room, steal your wallet and empty it right out of your pocket, have a cupcake and go back out the front door without you ever noticing, and she is also Kaz's most trusted lieutenant sort of person (also, maybe something more? PLEASE SOMETHING MORE) and Jesper, who is sunshine in human form and is filled with more energy than a bolt of lightning and he loves his guns more than chocolate, and Wylan, a 16 year old small blushing chemistry nerd who is a genius of his own kind, talented, beautiful Wylan, who has run away from his rich merchant father only to end up washed up and tattered and somehow finds himself helping to carry out this seemingly impossible heist.

I probably didn't do the best sort of description, but suffice it to say, i love this book, i finished the second book, Crooked Kingdom, like just a few hours ago, and i am ready to fangirl like crazy.


IT'S THRILLING. IT'S BEAUTIFUL. THERE'S MAGIC. THERE'S FIGHTING, GANGS AND LOTS OF ANGST AND SO MANY CRAZY PLOT TWISTS LIKE MY BRAIN IS INCAPABLE OF COMPREHENDING IT. THE WRITING IS SO BEAUTIFUL AND THE CHARACTERS ARE SO WELL WRITTEN AND THE GENIUS BEHIND THIS BOOK IS CRAZY .  GO READ IT.


this turned a bit too rambly, i suppose. but, whatever. 

what books did you read in October? I'm compiling a November tbr, do you have anything to recommend? lemme know.
xx

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Book Review : If I Stay by Gayle Foreman

Recently I have started reading some YA novels, and after watching the If I Stay movie a few days ago,  decided that I absolutely had to red the book, which I downloaded, and read. And so, here I am.

If I stay is a story about a girl, Mia, who lives in Oregon, and comes from a family of four; her parents, who used to be punk (her dad was in a local band), Mia herself, and her little brother, Teddy, who is very young. Mia gets into a car accident and becomes something between a ghost an a zombie; basically, her soul is outside of her body, and she sees the doctors and all of her loved ones react to her nearly fatal accident in different ways. Based on all of this, Mia has to see what she has lost, and what her life will be like if she stays, hence the title. She also has a best friend named Kim, and an amazing rock star boyfriend named Adam, and a strong passion, (and talent) for playing the cello.

The thing about this book is that it's very direct; there aren't too many fancy words or sentences for that matter, which might confuse you otherwise. It's easy to read in terms of style.
 However, it is quite a heavy book, so maybe some people would not like to read it. The characters were all very lively, the kind that really draw you in and make you feel at home. Kim, Mia's best friend, is Jewish, and hilarious. Adam is, well, he's punk rock, all the way. From cursing loudly in the ICU to taking Mia to some classical music thing, he's definitely earned himself a place in my heart. Mia's parents, and little brother re some of the most amazing, confident and unique characters I have come across, warm, loving, and fierce. Her mom an her mom's "rocker friends are said to be a "feminist bitch" which I kind of agree with-- but in a good way.
The story is told in present time, where Mia's souls is trapped outside her body, along with flashbacks or memories with of her with various characters, like Adam, Kim, her parents, etc.The memories are vivid, and enjoyable, though some of them really strike your heartstrings.
What I didn't like was how bland Mia, herself felt. It was as if everyone else, all the other characters were drawn in colors while Mia was a  black and white sketch. I also didn't really like this one intimate scene with Adam, to be honest I just found it plain freaky.
Some scenes in the book had me laughing, like when Kim and Adam try to break into Mia's ICU with the help of a bunch of hipsters, but some scenes, like where dam visits Mia in the ICU ( finally), just broke my heart. I have to admit, in the beginning, when I started reading this book, I didn't really enjoy it all that much, but it slowly grew on me. One thing that I really did not like, though, was the lack of racial diversity in the book; I think only one character was black, and she was like a supporting character.

In terms of emotional baggage, this book holds a lot. It definitely has something to teach you about love, loss, and hope. Hope is eminent throughout the book, along with some themes of ruining relationships, and happiness, and cello--don't even get me started on the cello.
  All of these different elements to the story, Mia's more-than-20 visitors to the ICU, her family, friends, boyfriend, hope, her music, her passion for playing the cello and applying to college in New York, have been so beautifully combined along with the simple narrative that the book makes it feel consistent.
 And that is a commendable feat.
Overall, I give this book maybe a 3 and a half stars out of five, 3.5/5.
Gayle Foreman has other books too, the If I Stay series also has other books, but I don't know if I will read them soon. Or if I would recommend this book either.
It's up to you, really. You've read this review, what do you think of the book, if you've already read it?

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