B O O K S
During the month of March, I managed to read 10 books. How I managed that is beyond me. This month felt like two months.
The Infinite
I completely forgot to write a review for this but I LOVED it. I heard this series was hyped a lot when it was first out, and it’s a shame I missed it all in my early blog days! I really want to see how this series end but this came out in 2015! And I haven’t found anything that suggests the final book any time soon.
Rilakkuma
Super cute, and adorable. Really short. Works well as a great pick-me-up read.
The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali
From my review: “The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali is an emotional, page-turning read. It’s personal and bold, with a hopeful and happy ending. Khan is making a splash with her brilliant debut novel that and I can’t wait to read more from her in the future. ”
It’s Not About The Burqa
“A much-needed collection of essays from Muslim women on faith, feminism and sexuality as a Muslim woman.” My short review
The Lines We Cross
I’m a little conflicted if I actually want to write a review for this because the romance plot of this book really ruined it for me. This book is about two POVs, Mina and Michael. Mina’s refugee, while Michael is a white Australian whose parents are the leaders of an growing anti-immigration group. Michael falls for Mina, and starts questioning his parent’s belief, ones that he’s accepted as normal all this life. This book is actually quite good, it was interested to see Michael form his own opinions and deciding that his parent’s beliefs aren’t his beliefs, and Mina, as she navigates her new school as the only Muslim girl. Yeah, sure, Michael isn’t his family, but I just couldn’t come to grips with her falling for a boy who comes from a very publicly racist family. I just found that part so unsettling, which was a shame because the rest of the book is rather enjoyable.
The Beauty That Remains
I actually started this book back in January, but I only managed to finish it now. I gave it a neutral rating partly because the gap between me and starting, and me, finishing the book was quite big. I couldn’t remember much of the plot when I picked it up again, but I didn’t have time to re-read it. From what I remember, this book is really sad and moving.
Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes?
Bourne is a very prominent UKYA author, so I was pretty excited to read her books. It tackles mental health issues which is really important, but because I’m rather picked with contemporary novels, I feel like this book is a hit or miss, and I personally wasn’t that interested in it.
Dream Daddy
I still remember the day this game came out! Perhaps I’ll write a longer review later down the line, but this book basically reaffirmed my love for Craig and Damien as my favourite dads 😭
The Year After You
A moving debut about a girl sent to boarding school after her best friend in a car accident.
The Secret Lives of the Amir Sister
I was rather interested in Nadiya’s venture into fictional writing. I believe Ayisha Malik was her ghost writer for this, and now that I’ve read two of Malik’s books, I can really see her influence in this novel. I wouldn’t say it’s a bad thing, but Fatima’s story arc is really similar to Sofia Khan’s in Malik’s other series. I loved how Bengali this entire novel was. I thought my family drama was bad but the Amir family really take it up a notch. My favourite sister was easily Fatima, despite some similarities to Malik’s Sofia, I actually saw myself a lot in her. The one thing that I didn’t enjoy a lot was the fat-shaming from her family. It’s common in Bengali families, but it still didn’t make it easy to read.
M U S I C
P O S T S
A feature section to highlight my favourite posts from my fellow bloggers that were posted this month.
- Book Review: The Fox Hole Court. Thanks to Keanna, I was reminded of the All For The Game trilogy. This series is so wild. I completely forgot how much I loved this series back in 2016. Looking back on the series, there was a lot of iffy moments but it really helped me through a tough phase in my life. It makes me happy to see people are still enjoying it to this day.
- Book Review: Sadie. I really loved Sadie so seeing other people gush about how much they loved Sadie too is amazing! Another brilliant review from the Quiet Pond!
That’s it for this month! Tell me what went on in YOUR life this month! What sort of things was important for you this month? New obsessions? New TV shows? Or book? Any new song recs (I’m always open to new music!)? Best books you read this month?
as told by zaheerah 