Zara Hossain is Here

 Tell me a story... about hatred and hope

Zara Hossain is Here by Sabina Khan

Publication date: April 6, 2021

Date read: June 9, 2021

Seventeen-year-old Zara Hossain lives with her parents in Texas after moving from Pakistan when she was very young. Her father's job has sponsored their visa and they are in the final stages of having their green cards accepted. But when an Islamophobic incident at school escalates into violence, everything her family has been working towards is suddenly on the line. 

Disclaimer: I am a cis white adult non-immigrant. I understand that my opinion on matters of racism and immigration are coming from the opposite side as Zara's (and the author's). All opinions here are my own.

I had a lot of issues with this book, but I'll try to start off with what I did like. I liked most of the characters in this book - specifically, Zara's parents were wonderful. I adored the way they were supportive of her and her friends. I also think that this is an important story to tell and it's good reading it from an own-voice writer.

As far as the writing style goes, I'm not sure if it's from the author not having English as her first language (I honestly don't know one way or the other - I know that Khan has lived in many countries, but don't know what her languages are), but the sentence structure seemed very choppy and had a lot of short, blunt sentences. It really felt more like a middle-grade novel than a young adult novel. I would have guessed that it was middle grade, except that the protagonist was seventeen. The book felt very "talk not show", telling us how the characters felt instead of allowing us to come to conclusions on our own.

I also had serious problems with Zara herself. There was a whole underdeveloped side story about how a bunch of students would go to counter-protests to help protect against hate groups. I felt that Zara's point in going to these was to show others that racism was wrong (a good message). But when confronted with racism from one of her classmates, she was completely incapable of believing that this person could regret his racist behavior and try to be better. It just felt like a very immature reaction to me, to the point where she yelled at one of her best friends about it and took their comments completely out of context. Again, a very middle-grade feel. I'm not saying that she should have forgiven the student, but believing that he was incapable of realizing that he had been wrong seemed odd, but also out of character considering the way she behaved in other situations. (This storyline was also left unresolved, which bothered me.)

Overall, I'm happy that these types of stories are being told, but this particular one just did not work for me. I think if a few details had been changed and this had been marketed as a middle grade novel, it would have worked better. But putting it in the same class as novels such as The Hate You Give and Dear Martin (not one of my favorites, but still well-written), just show how this one doesn't really hold up. I wish I could have liked it more, because again, I think it's an important story. Learning about the immigrant experience and, especially, how hard it is to legally come to the U.S. is important for young people to understand. I just thought that this book had too many flaws for me to see it as truly effective. 

Rating; 2/5 stars

The Angel's Game

Tell me a story... about the power of books

The Angel's Game (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books #2) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Publication date: April 17, 2008

Date read: May 28, 2021 (re-read)

David Martin makes his living writing cheap thrillers under a pseudonym, but wants to someday write a masterpiece that will carry his name forever. But when a mysterious benefactor makes him an offer he literally can't refuse, he finds himself drawn into a real murder mystery that could end up costing him everything. 

This is the follow-up to The Shadow of the Wind, but could be read either before or after that one, since the carry over between the two stories is minor in this one. But if you have the option, Shadow is probably the best place to start with these books. 

I find this book really difficult to explain or recommend to people. I absolutely recommend reading it, but if I tried to recommend it and the person asks me what it's about, my response would be "It's uh... about a writer.... It's creepy and gothic. Just read it." Not exactly helpful. But I find all of Zafon's books to be this way - hard to articulate a plot or just what makes them great, but books that I will continue to come back to time and again.

I actually like this book a little more than The Shadow of the Wind, although I might be in the minority with this. The characters in this book are less likable and more unreliable, but there is just something about the mystery that I find incredibly compelling. I also love the relationship between David and Isabella. This book as a whole is darker than Shadow (which is saying something), because while there is a lot of dry humor, especially between David and Isabella, there is very little in the way of uplifting content. And while I'm not going to spoil the ending, I can definitely see that it's not for everyone, as it is both more vague and more depressing than the ending in his previous book. 

All that being said, I think the majority of people will prefer The Shadow of the Wind to this one, but I still highly recommend reading this one after you finish. The writing is just as beautiful and the story, while a definite slow build, is one worth reading.

Also, if you're into audiobooks, I highly recommend this one in the audio format. It's read by Dan Stevens (of Downton Abbey fame) and he is amazing. I often forgot that I was listening to one person reading multiple characters. He got the vibe of the book perfectly. 

Rating: 5/5 stars

Stay tuned later this year for a review on the rest of the series: The Prisoner of Heaven and The Labyrinth of Spirits.