What do you think?
Rate this book
Hope Ablaze
She lost her words but found her voice.
All My Rage meets The Poet X in this electric debut that explores a Muslim teen finding her voice in a post-9/11 America.
Nida has always been known as Mamou Abdul-Hafeedh’s niece - the poet that will fill her uncle’s shoes after he was wrongfully incarcerated during the war on terror. But for Nida, her poetry letters are her heart and sharing so much of herself with a world that stereotypes her faith and her hijab is not an option.
When Nida is illegally frisked at a Democratic Senatorial candidate’s political rally, she writes a scathing poem about the politician, never expecting the letter to go viral weeks before Election Day. Nida discovers her poem has won first place in a national contest, a contest she never entered, and her quiet life is toppled. But worst of all, Nida loses her ability to write poetry. In the aftermath of her win, Nida struggles to balance the expectations of her mother, her uncle, and her vibrant Muslim community with the person she truly wants to be.
With a touch of magic and poetry sprinkled throughout, Sarah Mughal Rana's Hope Ablaze is heartbreaking, often funny, and ultimately uplifting, not only celebrating the Islamic faith and Pakistani culture, but simultaneously confronting racism and Islamophobia with unflinching bravery.
All My Rage meets The Poet X in this electric debut that explores a Muslim teen finding her voice in a post-9/11 America.
Nida has always been known as Mamou Abdul-Hafeedh’s niece - the poet that will fill her uncle’s shoes after he was wrongfully incarcerated during the war on terror. But for Nida, her poetry letters are her heart and sharing so much of herself with a world that stereotypes her faith and her hijab is not an option.
When Nida is illegally frisked at a Democratic Senatorial candidate’s political rally, she writes a scathing poem about the politician, never expecting the letter to go viral weeks before Election Day. Nida discovers her poem has won first place in a national contest, a contest she never entered, and her quiet life is toppled. But worst of all, Nida loses her ability to write poetry. In the aftermath of her win, Nida struggles to balance the expectations of her mother, her uncle, and her vibrant Muslim community with the person she truly wants to be.
With a touch of magic and poetry sprinkled throughout, Sarah Mughal Rana's Hope Ablaze is heartbreaking, often funny, and ultimately uplifting, not only celebrating the Islamic faith and Pakistani culture, but simultaneously confronting racism and Islamophobia with unflinching bravery.
384 pages, Hardcover
Published February 27, 2024
63 people are currently reading
9490 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Mughal Rana
5 books347 followersSarah Mughal Rana, Pakistani author of the debut novel Hope Ablaze, is a writer and student at Oxford University, pursuing her MPhil at the intersection of human rights and policy. She is a BookTok personality and the co-host of On the Write Track Podcast where she enjoys spilling tea with her favourite authors about the book world. Outside of school, she falls down history rabbit holes and trains in traditional martial arts. These days can find her on Instagram & Tiktok
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 261 reviews
January 24, 2024
Dear Reader,
After posting this, as the author, I have this page blocked because this is a reader space. However, I want to leave my letter to you all. Regardless of your feelings about my debut novel: thank you for giving it a chance.
Bismillah. I grew up in Wisconsin directly post-9/11 and have fond memories of my childhood there. At the same time, like anyone from an immigrant family — we have complicated feelings as diaspora. This story is a diaspora story — and though my main character Nida is very different to me, I still see some of myself in her experiences, and frustrations as a hijabi poet in a post 9/11 inspired / reimagined world, one full of policing and complicated polarized politics.
Not long ago, I began writing this novel after voting in my first ever election. The frustration of casting a vote but feeling unheard is an experience shared by many – including me.
Shortly before this time, a Muslim immigration ban had been enacted. I was terrified. Western governments were notorious for invasions in the Middle East. Now, wars have been replaced with drone operations targeting countries like Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan. Leaders of democracy press a button to dictate the fates of thousands. I felt helpless when my family was told to vote for a politician whom many saw as a better leader, but was also the same administration responsible for the deaths of civilians from my home country.
In 2008, 54 drone strikes were launched in Pakistan alone. One of the first drones launched killed 41 Pakistani civilians attending a funeral. Many electoral candidates also promised to close the prison Guantanamo Bay, notorious for human rights abuses, violent interrogations, torture, and wrongful detention of majority Muslim prisoners.
Across the Western world, countries began adopting Islamophobic policies that directly affected myself and my family in America and beyond. When we moved away, later, my home province implemented a prayer ban across schools. The government also banned public religious symbols to target Muslim women and Sikhs. My school board began policing our Friday prayers and activities. I no longer felt safe in a place I considered home. Frustratingly, in every election, the lives of the people impacted by these policies were ignored. People were good at promising change but never holding up to them. Why were we always cast as villains against Western ‘heroes’?
This story was born out of my anger from these problems. I never saw myself in books, shows, nor movies. If I saw a Muslim on TV, it was a villainous stereotype or worse, a girl being coerced to take off her hijab for the sake of the show’s romantic plot. If I saw brown characters, I saw a caricature of a monolith representing South and Central Asia.
I was set on writing a book that gave readers a glimpse into a story of one girl as she navigates a world so set against her. Through touches of speculative magic, I wanted to write about the diversity and beauty of Pakistan without idealizing its flaws, mistakes, and tragic history.
As I wrote my main character, Nida, I realized she was not a representation of a perfect Muslim. Her story is a multigenerational story about love, art, faith, sacrifice, immigration, and war. These are heavy topics and I wanted to ground it with the familiar setting of a loving but complicated Pakistani family: full of delicious food, overdramatic squabbles, awkward affections, humor, a warm community, and lots of nosy neighbors. I wanted young Muslims, like me, to see themselves in this story through a spectrum of faith, unapologetic Muslims, the comfort of a mosque, and the plights of messy relationship dynamics. As a lover of the fantastical, I used speculative magic to introduce people to the ethnicities in Asia. I wanted to show readers beautiful Persian and Urdu poetry traditions that many are unaware of.
Most of all, I hope you connect to Nida’s journey in a way that transcends faith, and prejudice. No one needs to be a Muslim or immigrant to relate to her story. So I hope this story resonates with you the way that writing it resonated with me.
Happy reading and salaam!
-Sarah Mughal Rana
After posting this, as the author, I have this page blocked because this is a reader space. However, I want to leave my letter to you all. Regardless of your feelings about my debut novel: thank you for giving it a chance.
Bismillah. I grew up in Wisconsin directly post-9/11 and have fond memories of my childhood there. At the same time, like anyone from an immigrant family — we have complicated feelings as diaspora. This story is a diaspora story — and though my main character Nida is very different to me, I still see some of myself in her experiences, and frustrations as a hijabi poet in a post 9/11 inspired / reimagined world, one full of policing and complicated polarized politics.
Not long ago, I began writing this novel after voting in my first ever election. The frustration of casting a vote but feeling unheard is an experience shared by many – including me.
Shortly before this time, a Muslim immigration ban had been enacted. I was terrified. Western governments were notorious for invasions in the Middle East. Now, wars have been replaced with drone operations targeting countries like Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, and Afghanistan. Leaders of democracy press a button to dictate the fates of thousands. I felt helpless when my family was told to vote for a politician whom many saw as a better leader, but was also the same administration responsible for the deaths of civilians from my home country.
In 2008, 54 drone strikes were launched in Pakistan alone. One of the first drones launched killed 41 Pakistani civilians attending a funeral. Many electoral candidates also promised to close the prison Guantanamo Bay, notorious for human rights abuses, violent interrogations, torture, and wrongful detention of majority Muslim prisoners.
Across the Western world, countries began adopting Islamophobic policies that directly affected myself and my family in America and beyond. When we moved away, later, my home province implemented a prayer ban across schools. The government also banned public religious symbols to target Muslim women and Sikhs. My school board began policing our Friday prayers and activities. I no longer felt safe in a place I considered home. Frustratingly, in every election, the lives of the people impacted by these policies were ignored. People were good at promising change but never holding up to them. Why were we always cast as villains against Western ‘heroes’?
This story was born out of my anger from these problems. I never saw myself in books, shows, nor movies. If I saw a Muslim on TV, it was a villainous stereotype or worse, a girl being coerced to take off her hijab for the sake of the show’s romantic plot. If I saw brown characters, I saw a caricature of a monolith representing South and Central Asia.
I was set on writing a book that gave readers a glimpse into a story of one girl as she navigates a world so set against her. Through touches of speculative magic, I wanted to write about the diversity and beauty of Pakistan without idealizing its flaws, mistakes, and tragic history.
As I wrote my main character, Nida, I realized she was not a representation of a perfect Muslim. Her story is a multigenerational story about love, art, faith, sacrifice, immigration, and war. These are heavy topics and I wanted to ground it with the familiar setting of a loving but complicated Pakistani family: full of delicious food, overdramatic squabbles, awkward affections, humor, a warm community, and lots of nosy neighbors. I wanted young Muslims, like me, to see themselves in this story through a spectrum of faith, unapologetic Muslims, the comfort of a mosque, and the plights of messy relationship dynamics. As a lover of the fantastical, I used speculative magic to introduce people to the ethnicities in Asia. I wanted to show readers beautiful Persian and Urdu poetry traditions that many are unaware of.
Most of all, I hope you connect to Nida’s journey in a way that transcends faith, and prejudice. No one needs to be a Muslim or immigrant to relate to her story. So I hope this story resonates with you the way that writing it resonated with me.
Happy reading and salaam!
-Sarah Mughal Rana
July 29, 2024
ᯓꪆৎ “It’s racist to think, a girl can’t have the right to her own beliefs, in a country that applauds itself on diversity and multicultural plurality. Last time I checked, this is a free country, so let the Muslim girl wear her hijab and sweatpants in peace.”
Wow, wow, WOW. This was such a beautiful novel, oh my gosh ☹️ I talk about some really, really deep things about myself in this review, just to let you know!
I only took one star off because I don’t agree with some things like the one aunty who chewed tobacco 24/7, curses, the sacrificing goats to ward off the evil eye, casting the evil eye on others– I just don’t believe in the evil eye and it was just bothering me that it was seen as the reason for every bad thing that happened.
ᯓꪆৎ Spice level
╰ 0! There’s no romance in this but I did feel something brewing between Nida and Jawad 🤭 Their relationship waswonderfully halal, other than that one scene where she grabbed his arm to say something during the protest.
ᯓꪆৎ Plot/writing
╰ High school senior Nida Siddiqui gets illegally frisked by police officers when she goes to pray out in public and Mitchell Wilson, a politician who was said to know Muslims very well, let it happen. Her hijab– her dignity, her identity– was pulled off.
Nida writes a poetry letter to Wilson, calling him out– but it wasn’t meant to be released publicly when she wins first place in a poetry contest she never applied for. And it didn’t receive a good response.
Instead, her words are twisted in Islamophobic means and she’s linked to her uncle who got arrested under “terrorism” charges. She gets suspended from school, all MSA events are shut down, and she has the label of a liar and a terrorist. Her relationship with her amma was already rocky due to poetry, and now it’s on edge. But why does her mother hate everything she does? She loses her best friend and all she has is the Poet’s Block and Al-Rasheed, which she is avoiding.
For Nida, poetry is life, and life is poetry, but what will she do when she loses the pen inside her to write? To speak the truth? As her Mamou said, “The sharpest sword is the tongue.”.
I am actually awed. I finished this book in eight hours because of how amazing it was.
╰ “Sujood was the act of bowing in prostration while facing the qiblah, the humblest position to Allah, an opportunity of private conversation, presenting all your concealed emotions."
╰ “Dear Hijab, A veil that is not a choice, but my submission. I am lucky to wear you, as my private and public decision, without coercion. I only wish, the rest of the world understood the burden of responsibility that came with the veil too. "
First of all, THE PROPER MUSLIM REPRESENTATION !! Nida’s connection to Allah was so, so strong and I loved it with all my heart. This honestly hit home so hard. The way she spoke about the hijab, prayer, quran verses, the du’a for tragedy– it was all just so, so beautiful. My heart was both broken and proud.
No one ever understands what it’s like to be Muslim in a country like America. On top of that, a Muslim woman who wears the hijab in a society where showing your hair and skin is glorified and anything otherwise is seen as odd.
I am someone who has dealt with PLENTY of Islamophobia throughout my life, and I’m still a teenager. I am so, so proud of my identity and my decision to wear the hijab at the ripe, innocent age of eleven. At the time, no, it wasn’t for Allah, I did it because I looked up to my sister and her friends who all wore the hijab.
That being said, I had the connection from the very start. I began wearing the hijab on the 3rd of August, 2021, and just two weeks later, on the third day of 6th grade, I got it pulled off by someone I trusted in the cafeteria. There was that moment of shock, where I had no idea what just happened and how to respond. I felt naked in front of everyone. That was my first test from Allah as a hijabi.
Me wearing the hijab at such a young age felt wrong to my mother, so there would be problems at home because of it too– and Nida faced that same issue. But my hijab gave me a sense of security and comfort. I promised myself that I’d never take it off, regardless of the struggle.
I was wrong. I lost that strength in 7th, when I moved and got placed into an all-white school. I was in such a toxic environment, with people who bullied me, touched me and my hijab, told me I was so much prettier without it. I was always the odd one out, no matter how hard I tried to fit in. I was friends with the popular girls and always hung out with the “cool” people, but I knew they all talked about me behind my back.
So then, I started showing strands of my hair at school but would tuck them back in when I got home so my family wouldn’t know. Then I started wearing my hijab the turban style, with my neck all out and practically half of my hair showing. I got more accepted, yes, but there were times people asked me, “Is that allowed?” and I’d have no answer. Why? Because I knew it was wrong but I desperately sought that validation. People would ask me, “Are you about to take it off?” and I would shrug and say, “Maybe.” when my answer should have been no.
I couldn’t handle it anymore and burst into tears one day at home, when I told my sister I wanted to take off my hijab. The tears wouldn’t stop coming and I was ugly sobbing. I felt so ashamed to say those words, like I just betrayed my faith and didn’t care about it anymore. And my sister told me, with her teary eyes, “Niyya, these tears? These tears are witnesses to how much you care and how much you’re struggling.”
I made a pros and cons list for what would happen when I took off my hijab and the cons outweighed the pros. Yet I still wanted to take it off. But did I? No. But that’s because another issue popped up in that school and I ended up leaving early, not because I persevered.
After I left the school, I slowly gained my confidence back in my hijab. That last test really rooted me in how strong I am now. I came back even fiercer. I learned so much more about it and learned to love it even more. I love my hijab with all my heart, it’s a part of my identity, of my faith, of my morals. It’s MY decision, MY submission to God, MY jihad, and no one can tell me otherwise.
╰ “Religious principles are separate from the actions of corrupt regimes."
This. You cannot understand how angry I get when Islamophobes mention the Taliban, ISIS, Iran, Saudi– and other conservative countries and groups as to how Islam is oppressive when what they do has ZERO connection to Islam. ZERO. They have twisted our beautiful religion into extremes, but that does not mean our religion itself is extreme. Repeat it with me folks, religious principles are separate from the actions of corrupt regimes.
╰ “The first creation by God was the pen because words hold the greatest power. We can think, speak, and write, that’s why the tongue is the sharpest sword to exist. The pen is not a tool. And the words are not actions. The writer is simply the conduit for justice. Don’t fight the truth. Become it."
When I tell you the way I saw things absolutely CHANGE at this line. Late 2023, I realized social justice and activism was something rooted in me. And I also realized late 2023, that I loved words and writing them. So right now, my words are everything to me. They are justice itself. The truth. And this line just gave me a bigger, deeper meaning as to why I should continue.
For Allah.
That connection to God’s first creation being the pen– just wow. Subhanallah. I was so touched and awed by that realization. Islam is a religion of activism, and I have seen the relation.
Our prophet once said, “The most noble struggle is to speak a truthful word in the presence of a tyrannical ruler.”
ᯓꪆৎ Overall
╰ Read this. Understand our struggles. Understand our pride.
Wow, wow, WOW. This was such a beautiful novel, oh my gosh ☹️ I talk about some really, really deep things about myself in this review, just to let you know!
I only took one star off because I don’t agree with some things like the one aunty who chewed tobacco 24/7, curses, the sacrificing goats to ward off the evil eye, casting the evil eye on others– I just don’t believe in the evil eye and it was just bothering me that it was seen as the reason for every bad thing that happened.
ᯓꪆৎ Spice level
╰ 0! There’s no romance in this but I did feel something brewing between Nida and Jawad 🤭 Their relationship was
ᯓꪆৎ Plot/writing
╰ High school senior Nida Siddiqui gets illegally frisked by police officers when she goes to pray out in public and Mitchell Wilson, a politician who was said to know Muslims very well, let it happen. Her hijab– her dignity, her identity– was pulled off.
Nida writes a poetry letter to Wilson, calling him out– but it wasn’t meant to be released publicly when she wins first place in a poetry contest she never applied for. And it didn’t receive a good response.
Instead, her words are twisted in Islamophobic means and she’s linked to her uncle who got arrested under “terrorism” charges. She gets suspended from school, all MSA events are shut down, and she has the label of a liar and a terrorist. Her relationship with her amma was already rocky due to poetry, and now it’s on edge. But why does her mother hate everything she does? She loses her best friend and all she has is the Poet’s Block and Al-Rasheed, which she is avoiding.
For Nida, poetry is life, and life is poetry, but what will she do when she loses the pen inside her to write? To speak the truth? As her Mamou said, “The sharpest sword is the tongue.”.
I am actually awed. I finished this book in eight hours because of how amazing it was.
╰ “Sujood was the act of bowing in prostration while facing the qiblah, the humblest position to Allah, an opportunity of private conversation, presenting all your concealed emotions."
╰ “Dear Hijab, A veil that is not a choice, but my submission. I am lucky to wear you, as my private and public decision, without coercion. I only wish, the rest of the world understood the burden of responsibility that came with the veil too. "
First of all, THE PROPER MUSLIM REPRESENTATION !! Nida’s connection to Allah was so, so strong and I loved it with all my heart. This honestly hit home so hard. The way she spoke about the hijab, prayer, quran verses, the du’a for tragedy– it was all just so, so beautiful. My heart was both broken and proud.
No one ever understands what it’s like to be Muslim in a country like America. On top of that, a Muslim woman who wears the hijab in a society where showing your hair and skin is glorified and anything otherwise is seen as odd.
I am someone who has dealt with PLENTY of Islamophobia throughout my life, and I’m still a teenager. I am so, so proud of my identity and my decision to wear the hijab at the ripe, innocent age of eleven. At the time, no, it wasn’t for Allah, I did it because I looked up to my sister and her friends who all wore the hijab.
That being said, I had the connection from the very start. I began wearing the hijab on the 3rd of August, 2021, and just two weeks later, on the third day of 6th grade, I got it pulled off by someone I trusted in the cafeteria. There was that moment of shock, where I had no idea what just happened and how to respond. I felt naked in front of everyone. That was my first test from Allah as a hijabi.
Me wearing the hijab at such a young age felt wrong to my mother, so there would be problems at home because of it too– and Nida faced that same issue. But my hijab gave me a sense of security and comfort. I promised myself that I’d never take it off, regardless of the struggle.
I was wrong. I lost that strength in 7th, when I moved and got placed into an all-white school. I was in such a toxic environment, with people who bullied me, touched me and my hijab, told me I was so much prettier without it. I was always the odd one out, no matter how hard I tried to fit in. I was friends with the popular girls and always hung out with the “cool” people, but I knew they all talked about me behind my back.
So then, I started showing strands of my hair at school but would tuck them back in when I got home so my family wouldn’t know. Then I started wearing my hijab the turban style, with my neck all out and practically half of my hair showing. I got more accepted, yes, but there were times people asked me, “Is that allowed?” and I’d have no answer. Why? Because I knew it was wrong but I desperately sought that validation. People would ask me, “Are you about to take it off?” and I would shrug and say, “Maybe.” when my answer should have been no.
I couldn’t handle it anymore and burst into tears one day at home, when I told my sister I wanted to take off my hijab. The tears wouldn’t stop coming and I was ugly sobbing. I felt so ashamed to say those words, like I just betrayed my faith and didn’t care about it anymore. And my sister told me, with her teary eyes, “Niyya, these tears? These tears are witnesses to how much you care and how much you’re struggling.”
I made a pros and cons list for what would happen when I took off my hijab and the cons outweighed the pros. Yet I still wanted to take it off. But did I? No. But that’s because another issue popped up in that school and I ended up leaving early, not because I persevered.
After I left the school, I slowly gained my confidence back in my hijab. That last test really rooted me in how strong I am now. I came back even fiercer. I learned so much more about it and learned to love it even more. I love my hijab with all my heart, it’s a part of my identity, of my faith, of my morals. It’s MY decision, MY submission to God, MY jihad, and no one can tell me otherwise.
╰ “Religious principles are separate from the actions of corrupt regimes."
This. You cannot understand how angry I get when Islamophobes mention the Taliban, ISIS, Iran, Saudi– and other conservative countries and groups as to how Islam is oppressive when what they do has ZERO connection to Islam. ZERO. They have twisted our beautiful religion into extremes, but that does not mean our religion itself is extreme. Repeat it with me folks, religious principles are separate from the actions of corrupt regimes.
╰ “The first creation by God was the pen because words hold the greatest power. We can think, speak, and write, that’s why the tongue is the sharpest sword to exist. The pen is not a tool. And the words are not actions. The writer is simply the conduit for justice. Don’t fight the truth. Become it."
When I tell you the way I saw things absolutely CHANGE at this line. Late 2023, I realized social justice and activism was something rooted in me. And I also realized late 2023, that I loved words and writing them. So right now, my words are everything to me. They are justice itself. The truth. And this line just gave me a bigger, deeper meaning as to why I should continue.
For Allah.
That connection to God’s first creation being the pen– just wow. Subhanallah. I was so touched and awed by that realization. Islam is a religion of activism, and I have seen the relation.
Our prophet once said, “The most noble struggle is to speak a truthful word in the presence of a tyrannical ruler.”
ᯓꪆৎ Overall
╰ Read this. Understand our struggles. Understand our pride.
August 5, 2024
“They fear our words more than they fear our swords.”
i rarely see books with muslim representation that embodies what muslims truly are, but this book really exceeded my expectations. we see the fmc have a relationship with her deen and Allah SWT while also being a normal high school student with dreams and ambitions, and subhanallah, that made me so happy 🥹
“There was that buzzword—9/11. Like every Muslim was responsible for it.”
i love talking about topics like this, since islam is probably the most misunderstood religion in the whole world. before i dive into the topic of the 9/11 attacks, how wrongly the west and the media portrays muslims, i want you to think of this example with me. imagine that one of your classmates at school got into huge trouble and ended up in detention.
now, how would you feel if the teacher gave you and the rest of the students the same punishment, or possibly even worse?
“Every Muslim was considered a monolith. If one of us messed up, the rest of us would pay.”
the example i gave you above is how muslims feel. no one is responsible for others’ actions, so why do people always assume that islam is the “terrorist religion”, brainwashing themselves into believing that terrible people, extremists, represent islam? the word islam, in arabic, comes from the word “peace” or “salam.” when in war, our religion forbids to kill any child, woman, elderly, cut trees, kill animals or steal. this is one of the MANY other rulings that prove this is a religion of peace, so please, go educate yourself (and from the correct sources!!)
islam was the first religion which gave women the rights they deserve. no, i am not “oppressed”, and no, my family won’t disown me if i took off my hijab. (an actual question i got from a classmate.) don’t let the actions of random people represent the whole religion, which is a very huge number of people that keeps increasing.
“They wanted me to hate my religion
but I only fell more in love with it.”
one thing i learnt with living in western countries is that they don’t want us to be who we are. no matter how much they try to act like they accept the hijab, no matter how much they say they “stand by muslims”, some, if not most, are against it. and i’m not going to say that it’s 100% easy. it’s not.
it’s not easy to wear the hijab, and it’s not easy to be against the flow, and it’s definitely not easy praying five times a day, when you’re sometimes at work, or at school, and people look at you oddly. but, i love my religion. the amount of peace and happiness that it gives me are unimaginable, and nothing else will fill that void for me.
personally, when i struggled with life, and when i felt as if i was drowning in issues from people, from school, from myself; there was only one escape, and for me, that was islam. this is why, when someone disrespects my religion and says false information without thinking of what they say, i resist. how do you expect me to stay silent? i'm sorry, but no.
and this also applies to the genocide going on in palestine. you cannot, in the right mind, expect nothing from me.
“The pen is not a tool. And the words are not actions. The writer is simply the conduit for justice. Don’t fight that truth. Become it.”
i loved this book and would honestly be ecstatic to see other books with this type of correct muslim representation. i also loved nida, as well as her relationship with jawad, it was so cute, especially how they kept things halal. i really recommend picking this up.
thank you to my gr sister (she’s not actually my sister but i love her like one),niyya, i saw her wonderful review for this book (which you should check out here ), and decided to read this 🤍
4.55 stars + the author’s a fellow canadian and studied at the university of toronto?? i’m so proud alhumabarik 🥹
i rarely see books with muslim representation that embodies what muslims truly are, but this book really exceeded my expectations. we see the fmc have a relationship with her deen and Allah SWT while also being a normal high school student with dreams and ambitions, and subhanallah, that made me so happy 🥹
“There was that buzzword—9/11. Like every Muslim was responsible for it.”
i love talking about topics like this, since islam is probably the most misunderstood religion in the whole world. before i dive into the topic of the 9/11 attacks, how wrongly the west and the media portrays muslims, i want you to think of this example with me. imagine that one of your classmates at school got into huge trouble and ended up in detention.
now, how would you feel if the teacher gave you and the rest of the students the same punishment, or possibly even worse?
“Every Muslim was considered a monolith. If one of us messed up, the rest of us would pay.”
the example i gave you above is how muslims feel. no one is responsible for others’ actions, so why do people always assume that islam is the “terrorist religion”, brainwashing themselves into believing that terrible people, extremists, represent islam? the word islam, in arabic, comes from the word “peace” or “salam.” when in war, our religion forbids to kill any child, woman, elderly, cut trees, kill animals or steal. this is one of the MANY other rulings that prove this is a religion of peace, so please, go educate yourself (and from the correct sources!!)
islam was the first religion which gave women the rights they deserve. no, i am not “oppressed”, and no, my family won’t disown me if i took off my hijab. (an actual question i got from a classmate.) don’t let the actions of random people represent the whole religion, which is a very huge number of people that keeps increasing.
“They wanted me to hate my religion
but I only fell more in love with it.”
one thing i learnt with living in western countries is that they don’t want us to be who we are. no matter how much they try to act like they accept the hijab, no matter how much they say they “stand by muslims”, some, if not most, are against it. and i’m not going to say that it’s 100% easy. it’s not.
it’s not easy to wear the hijab, and it’s not easy to be against the flow, and it’s definitely not easy praying five times a day, when you’re sometimes at work, or at school, and people look at you oddly. but, i love my religion. the amount of peace and happiness that it gives me are unimaginable, and nothing else will fill that void for me.
personally, when i struggled with life, and when i felt as if i was drowning in issues from people, from school, from myself; there was only one escape, and for me, that was islam. this is why, when someone disrespects my religion and says false information without thinking of what they say, i resist. how do you expect me to stay silent? i'm sorry, but no.
and this also applies to the genocide going on in palestine. you cannot, in the right mind, expect nothing from me.
“The pen is not a tool. And the words are not actions. The writer is simply the conduit for justice. Don’t fight that truth. Become it.”
i loved this book and would honestly be ecstatic to see other books with this type of correct muslim representation. i also loved nida, as well as her relationship with jawad, it was so cute, especially how they kept things halal. i really recommend picking this up.
thank you to my gr sister (she’s not actually my sister but i love her like one),niyya, i saw her wonderful review for this book (which you should check out here ), and decided to read this 🤍
4.55 stars + the author’s a fellow canadian and studied at the university of toronto?? i’m so proud alhumabarik 🥹
September 30, 2023
I admire what the author tried to do with this book - an unapologetic, unflinching addressing of the horrific and systemic Islamophobia faced by Muslims in America - and this book truly had so much potential... but unfortunately, felt like a struggling first draft.
The magical realism was abrupt, odd, and poorly written (and also I didn't realize it was supposed to be magical realism until after I was thoroughly confused). There's too much repetition, several inconsistencies, and I honestly did not like the "poetry letters" that were supposed to be powerful but just came off as... weak. Character development was also rather shoddy, and Nida didn't come off as convincingly changed by the end of it.
I genuinely wish I could have given this a stronger review, but unfortunately, it seems like the editors behind this book slacked off and didn't push the author into developing this book as solidly as it deserved.
The magical realism was abrupt, odd, and poorly written (and also I didn't realize it was supposed to be magical realism until after I was thoroughly confused). There's too much repetition, several inconsistencies, and I honestly did not like the "poetry letters" that were supposed to be powerful but just came off as... weak. Character development was also rather shoddy, and Nida didn't come off as convincingly changed by the end of it.
I genuinely wish I could have given this a stronger review, but unfortunately, it seems like the editors behind this book slacked off and didn't push the author into developing this book as solidly as it deserved.
August 22, 2023
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
So, this was undoubtedly one of my most anticipated reads of next year and it absolutely crushed and exceeded my expectations. This book does require, to a degree, that you suspend your understanding of the current sociopolitical terrain of America precisely because it is a reimagining of sorts of post-9/11 America. However, while this doesn’t follow the exact same historical linear events as in real life, it does reflect the current reality in America for certain communities.
This novel overall provides a much-needed discussion on the rampant manifestations of Islamophobia in the West by focusing in on the Pakistani diaspora. I genuinely had a visceral body reaction to what Nida, her family and her community had to go through. I think Rana really nailed evoking these feelings of frustration and ire in her readers by illustrating a range of Islamaphobic encounters, both subtle and large-scale, and the way they can often be tangled with ethnicity and race. In particular, these emotional moments were emphasized by the poetry in this book which simultaneously at times acted as alternative modes of storytelling of narrative events.
Rana cleverly leveraged Nida’s relationships with her friends and teachers to illustrate the overlooked, more subtle pervasive forms of Islamophobia. Specifically, questions of agency and saviourism are oftentimes attached to broader debates on the hijab and a lot of individuals fail to consider the alternative infantilizing ways this can work to harm Muslims on a smaller, individual scale. These kinds of microaggressions rarely go viral the way large-scale encounters do but are still quite insidious, so I really appreciate Rana drawing attention to this.
Meanwhile, the narrative, at its core, revolves around more large-scale demonstrations of Islamophobia. Importantly, it was at these moments that rampant racist and Islamophobic rhetoric was directly challenged. I think a lot of fruitful discussions can be drawn from these moments. I want to underscore that Rana did an excellent job illuminating one particular perspective on Islamophobia, and this was never really pushed as an objective truth for all communities.
I also want to mention how familial relationships were handled and explored. Oftentimes in the diaspora, families communicate through gestures— to offer thanks, regrets, apologies, or forgiveness. However, sometimes it’s not enough to make these gestures, as evidenced by Nida’s relationship with her mother. I think Nida’s pain really spoke to this kind of phenomenon that a lot of diasporic women (and their relationships with the women in their families) can relate to, making for an authentically and honest read.
In a similar vein, there was one plot thread that explored generational pain and trauma which I think was cleverly woven into the larger narrative at hand by tracing Nida’s historical roots. These historical lineages were well-researched and concurrently pulled from the author’s personal background, making for what is evidently a vulnerable read for both Rana and readers who can relate.
A touching journey of self-discovery underscores and shapes this narrative, offering a semblance of hope in how we can collectively take action and move forward against racism and Islamophobia across the Pakistani diaspora in the West. The novel doesn’t try and push an unrealistic ending by suddenly resolving Islamophobia, which the author acknowledges the complexity of particularly because of the intersectionality of it all. Instead, Rana poses several questions to her audiences concerning how, as marginalized communities, can we effectively mobilize in the face of systemic policies which hinder and impede such organizational processes. More pointedly, it looks toward the two-party system and rightfully criticizes its shortcomings in the context of racialized Muslim communities, offering a supplementary critique of its weaknesses.
Overall, this debut speaks to both the potential and success of Rana’s storytelling skills and ability to critique such a complex issue. I’m eagerly waiting in anticipation for forthcoming work from Rana and I’m so excited to see where she’ll take us as readers next time!
So, this was undoubtedly one of my most anticipated reads of next year and it absolutely crushed and exceeded my expectations. This book does require, to a degree, that you suspend your understanding of the current sociopolitical terrain of America precisely because it is a reimagining of sorts of post-9/11 America. However, while this doesn’t follow the exact same historical linear events as in real life, it does reflect the current reality in America for certain communities.
This novel overall provides a much-needed discussion on the rampant manifestations of Islamophobia in the West by focusing in on the Pakistani diaspora. I genuinely had a visceral body reaction to what Nida, her family and her community had to go through. I think Rana really nailed evoking these feelings of frustration and ire in her readers by illustrating a range of Islamaphobic encounters, both subtle and large-scale, and the way they can often be tangled with ethnicity and race. In particular, these emotional moments were emphasized by the poetry in this book which simultaneously at times acted as alternative modes of storytelling of narrative events.
Rana cleverly leveraged Nida’s relationships with her friends and teachers to illustrate the overlooked, more subtle pervasive forms of Islamophobia. Specifically, questions of agency and saviourism are oftentimes attached to broader debates on the hijab and a lot of individuals fail to consider the alternative infantilizing ways this can work to harm Muslims on a smaller, individual scale. These kinds of microaggressions rarely go viral the way large-scale encounters do but are still quite insidious, so I really appreciate Rana drawing attention to this.
Meanwhile, the narrative, at its core, revolves around more large-scale demonstrations of Islamophobia. Importantly, it was at these moments that rampant racist and Islamophobic rhetoric was directly challenged. I think a lot of fruitful discussions can be drawn from these moments. I want to underscore that Rana did an excellent job illuminating one particular perspective on Islamophobia, and this was never really pushed as an objective truth for all communities.
I also want to mention how familial relationships were handled and explored. Oftentimes in the diaspora, families communicate through gestures— to offer thanks, regrets, apologies, or forgiveness. However, sometimes it’s not enough to make these gestures, as evidenced by Nida’s relationship with her mother. I think Nida’s pain really spoke to this kind of phenomenon that a lot of diasporic women (and their relationships with the women in their families) can relate to, making for an authentically and honest read.
In a similar vein, there was one plot thread that explored generational pain and trauma which I think was cleverly woven into the larger narrative at hand by tracing Nida’s historical roots. These historical lineages were well-researched and concurrently pulled from the author’s personal background, making for what is evidently a vulnerable read for both Rana and readers who can relate.
A touching journey of self-discovery underscores and shapes this narrative, offering a semblance of hope in how we can collectively take action and move forward against racism and Islamophobia across the Pakistani diaspora in the West. The novel doesn’t try and push an unrealistic ending by suddenly resolving Islamophobia, which the author acknowledges the complexity of particularly because of the intersectionality of it all. Instead, Rana poses several questions to her audiences concerning how, as marginalized communities, can we effectively mobilize in the face of systemic policies which hinder and impede such organizational processes. More pointedly, it looks toward the two-party system and rightfully criticizes its shortcomings in the context of racialized Muslim communities, offering a supplementary critique of its weaknesses.
Overall, this debut speaks to both the potential and success of Rana’s storytelling skills and ability to critique such a complex issue. I’m eagerly waiting in anticipation for forthcoming work from Rana and I’m so excited to see where she’ll take us as readers next time!
March 10, 2024
Thank you to the author Sarah Mughal Rama, publishers Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of HOPE ABLAZE. All views are mine.
Trust is a greedy thing, like gifts. You expect it but you never give it. I stopped trusting my pen and tongue. But the pen also stopped trusting me. Loc.1114
HOPE ABLAZE by Sarah Mughal Rama perfectly illustrates the overwhelming racism Pakistani people often experienced in the wake of the 9-11 terror attacks. Mughal Rama really focused on communicating the emotional experiences of the main character, Nida. There were a few inconsistencies, but despite these, I found it a compelling read. My favorite thing about the book was the poetry, dispersed in sections throughout the story. In the narrative, the poems were often spoken word pieces being performed by the main character. So I read them aloud to myself and found them to be very beautiful! I definitely recommend this book to readers who are interested in Muslim characters, Muslim women characters who wear hijab, and oppression experienced by Muslims in the US in the wake of 9-11.
By the time the guards left, I was shivering in the open sunlight. Only one thought coiled tight in my chest. A terrifying thought. I wish I wasn’t Pakistani. I clenched my teeth tight, to keep them from chattering. I wish I could be someone else. I hated the thought, but I couldn’t banish it. Loc.251
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. I really love the sections of poetry. We really get the fmc's voice in these section, which helps us connection. So personal and intimate.
2. I love the threads element. (No spoilers!)
3. This book offers such good insight into how government and media work together to construct a successful propaganda machine.
4. I read some criticisms of the poetry, but I disagree. It's beat poetry, spoken word, and if you read it aloud or listen with a screen reader, the poetry is beautiful.
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. I'm not really a fan of how this book unfolds conflict. The fmc seems to have tension with every single person she comes into contact with. I makes for a fuzzy plot.
2. This book is quite didactic. The topic is important, and handled differently I would be so bored and feel as though the text were hounding itself. The whole "interview" is just a huge chunk of dialogue; not good reading.
3. The magical realism element is so random. Only the first scene with it held any urgency. I think the book would have been better without it.
Rating: 🧕🧕🧕.5 / 5 women's rights
Recommend? Yes!
Finished: Feb 23 '24
Format: Digital arc, Kindle, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
⁉️ revolutionary stories
👧🏾 identity stories
👭🏽 teenage girl friendships
🗣 spoken word poetry
Trust is a greedy thing, like gifts. You expect it but you never give it. I stopped trusting my pen and tongue. But the pen also stopped trusting me. Loc.1114
HOPE ABLAZE by Sarah Mughal Rama perfectly illustrates the overwhelming racism Pakistani people often experienced in the wake of the 9-11 terror attacks. Mughal Rama really focused on communicating the emotional experiences of the main character, Nida. There were a few inconsistencies, but despite these, I found it a compelling read. My favorite thing about the book was the poetry, dispersed in sections throughout the story. In the narrative, the poems were often spoken word pieces being performed by the main character. So I read them aloud to myself and found them to be very beautiful! I definitely recommend this book to readers who are interested in Muslim characters, Muslim women characters who wear hijab, and oppression experienced by Muslims in the US in the wake of 9-11.
By the time the guards left, I was shivering in the open sunlight. Only one thought coiled tight in my chest. A terrifying thought. I wish I wasn’t Pakistani. I clenched my teeth tight, to keep them from chattering. I wish I could be someone else. I hated the thought, but I couldn’t banish it. Loc.251
Three (or more) things I loved:
1. I really love the sections of poetry. We really get the fmc's voice in these section, which helps us connection. So personal and intimate.
2. I love the threads element. (No spoilers!)
3. This book offers such good insight into how government and media work together to construct a successful propaganda machine.
4. I read some criticisms of the poetry, but I disagree. It's beat poetry, spoken word, and if you read it aloud or listen with a screen reader, the poetry is beautiful.
Three (or less) things I didn't love:
This section isn't only for criticisms. It's merely for items that I felt something for other than "love" or some interpretation thereof.
1. I'm not really a fan of how this book unfolds conflict. The fmc seems to have tension with every single person she comes into contact with. I makes for a fuzzy plot.
2. This book is quite didactic. The topic is important, and handled differently I would be so bored and feel as though the text were hounding itself. The whole "interview" is just a huge chunk of dialogue; not good reading.
3. The magical realism element is so random. Only the first scene with it held any urgency. I think the book would have been better without it.
Rating: 🧕🧕🧕.5 / 5 women's rights
Recommend? Yes!
Finished: Feb 23 '24
Format: Digital arc, Kindle, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
⁉️ revolutionary stories
👧🏾 identity stories
👭🏽 teenage girl friendships
🗣 spoken word poetry
August 15, 2023
What a book! I didn’t know too much to expect from this book, but this was wonderful and touching.The characters and feelings and setting were so real and raw. This novel shows how difficult life can be, and how resiliency is not easy. Would highly recommend this one.
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
ARC kindly provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
March 16, 2024
[edit march 16] i didn’t add a link with a more detailed rant because i choose peace, but nonetheless my review still standsn 😁
I want to keep it short and quick in my Goodreads and NetGalley review but I will put a link to my full review at the end. I myself am a hijabi practicing Muslim, so I guarantee you the review is not low because of islamophobia. I've seen a lot of posts where the author talks about how this book was rejected a lot because there's islamophobes everywhere, and while islamophobia exists, maybe this book was rejected because it's just so bad.
I thought the mention of the partition, the mention of the hijab as an obligation, and the recognition of the innocent prisoners in places like Guantanamo Bay were all positive aspects of this book.
Then to quickly go through the negative aspects: The poetry in this book was mediocre, the magic realism was strangely placed, there are several scenes in the book where the mom brings a goat in the house (in the United States!!!!!), to slaughter as protection from evil eye according to Islamic tradition. I had to take a pause at the goat here. When the scene occurred the first time, though it was cringe and ridiculous I tried to overlook it. But then it happened again and again. The diversity of the community that the author said was going to be present, was very much not here as 99% of the Muslim characters are Pakistani and 1% Uyghur, not really any other Muslims beyond that. Lastly, the storyline of this hijabi girl being wrongfully harassed by a powerful Democratic politician, who caused a lot of pain to not only the main character and her family, but to all American Muslims, but then the main character admits that she ended up voting for him, is extremely lame disgusting and embarrassing.
Free us from books being published just because they have Muslim characters. The writing should actually be good and the story should not be so messy. XOXO
I want to keep it short and quick in my Goodreads and NetGalley review but I will put a link to my full review at the end. I myself am a hijabi practicing Muslim, so I guarantee you the review is not low because of islamophobia. I've seen a lot of posts where the author talks about how this book was rejected a lot because there's islamophobes everywhere, and while islamophobia exists, maybe this book was rejected because it's just so bad.
I thought the mention of the partition, the mention of the hijab as an obligation, and the recognition of the innocent prisoners in places like Guantanamo Bay were all positive aspects of this book.
Then to quickly go through the negative aspects: The poetry in this book was mediocre, the magic realism was strangely placed, there are several scenes in the book where the mom brings a goat in the house (in the United States!!!!!), to slaughter as protection from evil eye according to Islamic tradition. I had to take a pause at the goat here. When the scene occurred the first time, though it was cringe and ridiculous I tried to overlook it. But then it happened again and again. The diversity of the community that the author said was going to be present, was very much not here as 99% of the Muslim characters are Pakistani and 1% Uyghur, not really any other Muslims beyond that. Lastly, the storyline of this hijabi girl being wrongfully harassed by a powerful Democratic politician, who caused a lot of pain to not only the main character and her family, but to all American Muslims, but then the main character admits that she ended up voting for him, is extremely lame disgusting and embarrassing.
Free us from books being published just because they have Muslim characters. The writing should actually be good and the story should not be so messy. XOXO
September 25, 2024
the tears won’t stop
ISTG, as i was reading, i couldn’t stop the tears streaming down my face. it hit way too close to home.
MUST READ.
Such good muslim representation
Real life scenarios
Things I loved:
▪️Her connection with Allah
▪️Her close-knit community
▪️Her poetry
▪️Her love for her heritage
Nida Siddiqui is an eighteen year old girl, poet, and activist. She lives in a community where everyone knows each other and everyone has each others back. She writes and preforms poetry in her spare time and is trying to get her uncle out of jail. But then someone enters into a national poetry competition for her and it blows up. Goes viral, and now her family is getting far too much attention for her, and her mother’s liking. Speaking of her mother, they’re not in the best of terms. To the point where she thinks her mom hates her. With all this coming at her at once, she doesn’t know what to do or who to turn to other than Allah. She prays for forgiveness and begs for Allah to show her the right way. But alhamdulillah, she has help. Her incredible community is right behind her, standing up for her in everything that happens. She finally finds her voice and stands up to the oppression and the racism happening in her community.
Her poetry. Let’s talk about that. It was so so so beautiful i can’t even describe it. She’s inspired me to continue my own poetry and write more often, it’s so beautiful mashallah.
This representation of community is so beautiful and inspiring. Alhamdulilah I have the privilege to live in a community very similar to hers where we all know each other and always have each other’s backs.
this isn’t a normal book. it’s so relatable because so many of these things happen to us muslims on a daily basis. islamophobia is real and we have to deal with it everyday and try to stop it.
i’ve been dealing with islamophobia my entire life, as a muslim girl of color, its so much harder. the authorities see a daughter of refugees, they assume. not “american” enough, more prone to commit crimes, uncivil, violent.
they assume because they’d rather put the blame of every little thing in someone more convenient to them then do their damn jobs and find out the truth. the assume because they think “of course the people who have a different skin color than us would do it, they’re barbaric”.
stop assuming
i relate so much to nida, i had similar experiences with the legal system and a close family member in jail. i don’t want to get into detail about it, but let’s just say that even when there’s proof of innocence, this country would rather blame the black, in this case somali, person rather than bring out the truth. (this situation is solved now alhamdulillah but i really don’t want to talk about it out of respect for the person who went through this 💗)
islamophobia is everywhere. when me and my family were going to preform umrah last year, on our way back home, we were stuck in “random selection” with every single other muslim on our plane. for over an hour and half, we were waiting for them to clear up the issue with my dads name because to them, it was too similar to another “terrorists” name. my four younger siblings were with me, asking me when we’re going to go home. my youngest sister was 4, all of us exhausted, but i can’t even explain the anger i had. one of the men there even had the audacity to tell us, “don’t worry, we know it’s not you but we’re just double checking”. i felt like getting up and telling that man EXACTLY how i feel about this twisted selection and how we might even miss our flight back home if we don’t hurry and leave now. but i didn’t. my mom was tired and she didn’t want to deal with trouble or let my siblings see that. but sheltering them may not help either.
In conclusion, this book changed the way I look at my own poetry, and I think that this is a must read for Muslim girls since we can all definitely relate to all this that our girl Nida is going through.
ISTG, as i was reading, i couldn’t stop the tears streaming down my face. it hit way too close to home.
MUST READ.
Such good muslim representation
Real life scenarios
Things I loved:
▪️Her connection with Allah
▪️Her close-knit community
▪️Her poetry
▪️Her love for her heritage
Nida Siddiqui is an eighteen year old girl, poet, and activist. She lives in a community where everyone knows each other and everyone has each others back. She writes and preforms poetry in her spare time and is trying to get her uncle out of jail. But then someone enters into a national poetry competition for her and it blows up. Goes viral, and now her family is getting far too much attention for her, and her mother’s liking. Speaking of her mother, they’re not in the best of terms. To the point where she thinks her mom hates her. With all this coming at her at once, she doesn’t know what to do or who to turn to other than Allah. She prays for forgiveness and begs for Allah to show her the right way. But alhamdulillah, she has help. Her incredible community is right behind her, standing up for her in everything that happens. She finally finds her voice and stands up to the oppression and the racism happening in her community.
Her poetry. Let’s talk about that. It was so so so beautiful i can’t even describe it. She’s inspired me to continue my own poetry and write more often, it’s so beautiful mashallah.
This representation of community is so beautiful and inspiring. Alhamdulilah I have the privilege to live in a community very similar to hers where we all know each other and always have each other’s backs.
this isn’t a normal book. it’s so relatable because so many of these things happen to us muslims on a daily basis. islamophobia is real and we have to deal with it everyday and try to stop it.
i’ve been dealing with islamophobia my entire life, as a muslim girl of color, its so much harder. the authorities see a daughter of refugees, they assume. not “american” enough, more prone to commit crimes, uncivil, violent.
they assume because they’d rather put the blame of every little thing in someone more convenient to them then do their damn jobs and find out the truth. the assume because they think “of course the people who have a different skin color than us would do it, they’re barbaric”.
stop assuming
i relate so much to nida, i had similar experiences with the legal system and a close family member in jail. i don’t want to get into detail about it, but let’s just say that even when there’s proof of innocence, this country would rather blame the black, in this case somali, person rather than bring out the truth. (this situation is solved now alhamdulillah but i really don’t want to talk about it out of respect for the person who went through this 💗)
islamophobia is everywhere. when me and my family were going to preform umrah last year, on our way back home, we were stuck in “random selection” with every single other muslim on our plane. for over an hour and half, we were waiting for them to clear up the issue with my dads name because to them, it was too similar to another “terrorists” name. my four younger siblings were with me, asking me when we’re going to go home. my youngest sister was 4, all of us exhausted, but i can’t even explain the anger i had. one of the men there even had the audacity to tell us, “don’t worry, we know it’s not you but we’re just double checking”. i felt like getting up and telling that man EXACTLY how i feel about this twisted selection and how we might even miss our flight back home if we don’t hurry and leave now. but i didn’t. my mom was tired and she didn’t want to deal with trouble or let my siblings see that. but sheltering them may not help either.
In conclusion, this book changed the way I look at my own poetry, and I think that this is a must read for Muslim girls since we can all definitely relate to all this that our girl Nida is going through.
August 29, 2024
edit, 16/03: feeling some kind of way after realizing the person who commented on this review to challenge my critiques i made was the author's sister (the comment is now gone). i welcome discussion and wouldn't mind it at all coming from a stranger but there is something to be said about having a personal agenda (one as personal as a familial tie).
in light of the whole authors not treading into reviewer spaces, i truly question how this was not, indirectly, crossing into a reviewer space? my review was all in support of her career and book with minor criticisms. therefore, i find it inappropriate that there needed to be a discussion from the author's side, facilitated by her sister. it is not appreciated.
-
Poetry, religion, culture, social change… I never expected to see so many concepts explored in a book but Hope Ablaze is unlike anything else that exists out there. Despite my rating, Hope Ablaze is a book that I am glad has found its place through the publishing industry.
Note: I am not American nor have I lived in the West so I cannot comment on how accurate Western Islamophobia is portrayed in this book.
THE GOOD
1. Poetry is a central focus in this book and it is a unique touch. I’ll be honest, I’m not really a poetry person and I think a lot of it went over my head, but I can still appreciate its existence in this story. It made what we are dealing with a lot more tangible. Poetry was the core of this book and instead of Nida just telling us how much it means to her and how powerful her poetry is, she shows it through constant poems. It’s part of everything the characters connect over and the passion for spoken word and writing is so clear.
2. The diversity of the characters are not limited to just the author’s identity group. Muslims are so diverse and I’m happy to have seen Muslims of many different ethnic backgrounds on the pages of these books. I am happy that YA readers today can grow up with a book that mentions all our unique ethnicities, as well as how we bond over religion.
3. The light on casual Islamophobia from media — something that really stuck with me was Nida explaining jihad in the context of Islam and how religious language constantly has its meanings warped for the narrative of painting violence.
4. The representation of being Muslim is real and its what I’ve been looking for. There is a certain scene in which a character talks about how they want to start giving up music and how it’s been helping clear their mind… that scene alone is the perfect embodiment of what type of representation I’ve been seeking from Muslim stories. These characters are not perfect Muslims. No one is looking for perfect Muslims in a story, but Muslims that resonate with them. Muslims that are aware they are sinning and don’t make excuses, but simply acknowledge it as is and accept that they will try to do better, in their own time and ways. I also appreciate that the negative parts of being Muslim, like Islamophobia or “restrictions” of Islam, are not the only parts of the Muslim experience explored in the story. This goes back to point two, but the Muslim community of Al-Rasheed really made my heart warm.
THE CONS
1. The way certain language and slang was used did not make sense. For example, the use of wallah and wallahi confused me. I am an Arabic speaker in the Middle East, so maybe this actually is how Muslim Americans speak in the West, but I noticed wallah and wallahi being used as verbs or even in sentences they did not need to be. E.g. “I could wallahi that I hadn’t left my notebook” / "Wallah on that?" / "I can wallah that I..." — I don’t think I’ve ever said nor heard anyone use wallah like this. Also, wallah is not used as casually as every other conversation; the word has weight and I was unsure as to why it was being used for the most mundane of dialogue. Going to give the benefit of the doubt and still say, maybe this is how non-Arabic speaking Muslims speak but it did unfortunately bother me every time I saw the misuse on the page.
Also, once again, not an American nor a basketball fan but the references to sneakers brands/players felt a little forced to me. Especially one line where Nida says to her uncle in jail, "my Js are still fresh" - I didn't understand why this was said or how it fit in the conversation.
2. Despite being the audience this catered to, I still think certain words/cultural phrases needed contextual explanations. This is a tricky one, because I’m not one who believes a POC should have to cater the representation in their book to a specific audience. But, I really think it could’ve added more to the story in this case. I enjoyed how completely “Pakistani” and “Muslim” Nida was in her mannerisms and dialogue, as well as all the other characters. But I think for a reader who is not Muslim nor Desi to leave this story feeling like they learnt a lot about this culture/religion, it would’ve benefited from a glossary or even Nida’s narration explaining words like bakharni or izzat. It limits the pool of readers who can successfully read the book the way it was intended to be read when they cannot understand certain things.
E.g. I remember prior to reading Crazy Rich Asians, I didn’t know a single thing about Singapore — and reading the explanations of cultural aspects in that book gave me the push to learn more. Today, despite not being a Singaporean, I feel that I can connect more with Singaporeans because I have this one book I read one time that taught me so much about it. I think that’s the experience I would like a reader who is not Muslim or Desi to have after reading Hope Ablaze - a greater understanding of what it means to speak like a Muslim, as well as the cultural quirks of Pakistanis.
3. The writing/choice of scenes is not my favorite at times. The book is short but I didn’t feel I could binge through it in one go because not every scene kept my attention. At times, I felt like I was only reading Nida’s conversations about the same thing but with different characters. There were some that were impactful, like ones with her Mamou, but otherwise I found myself skimming some scenes and waiting for something to happen. I needed my attention to be kept much more from start to finish.
All in all, I still think this is a good Muslim book and will resonate with many readers. Unfortunately, in my case, I didn’t find it to my taste but I will definitely keep up with the author and root for her in her path!
in light of the whole authors not treading into reviewer spaces, i truly question how this was not, indirectly, crossing into a reviewer space? my review was all in support of her career and book with minor criticisms. therefore, i find it inappropriate that there needed to be a discussion from the author's side, facilitated by her sister. it is not appreciated.
-
Poetry, religion, culture, social change… I never expected to see so many concepts explored in a book but Hope Ablaze is unlike anything else that exists out there. Despite my rating, Hope Ablaze is a book that I am glad has found its place through the publishing industry.
Note: I am not American nor have I lived in the West so I cannot comment on how accurate Western Islamophobia is portrayed in this book.
THE GOOD
1. Poetry is a central focus in this book and it is a unique touch. I’ll be honest, I’m not really a poetry person and I think a lot of it went over my head, but I can still appreciate its existence in this story. It made what we are dealing with a lot more tangible. Poetry was the core of this book and instead of Nida just telling us how much it means to her and how powerful her poetry is, she shows it through constant poems. It’s part of everything the characters connect over and the passion for spoken word and writing is so clear.
2. The diversity of the characters are not limited to just the author’s identity group. Muslims are so diverse and I’m happy to have seen Muslims of many different ethnic backgrounds on the pages of these books. I am happy that YA readers today can grow up with a book that mentions all our unique ethnicities, as well as how we bond over religion.
3. The light on casual Islamophobia from media — something that really stuck with me was Nida explaining jihad in the context of Islam and how religious language constantly has its meanings warped for the narrative of painting violence.
4. The representation of being Muslim is real and its what I’ve been looking for. There is a certain scene in which a character talks about how they want to start giving up music and how it’s been helping clear their mind… that scene alone is the perfect embodiment of what type of representation I’ve been seeking from Muslim stories. These characters are not perfect Muslims. No one is looking for perfect Muslims in a story, but Muslims that resonate with them. Muslims that are aware they are sinning and don’t make excuses, but simply acknowledge it as is and accept that they will try to do better, in their own time and ways. I also appreciate that the negative parts of being Muslim, like Islamophobia or “restrictions” of Islam, are not the only parts of the Muslim experience explored in the story. This goes back to point two, but the Muslim community of Al-Rasheed really made my heart warm.
THE CONS
1. The way certain language and slang was used did not make sense. For example, the use of wallah and wallahi confused me. I am an Arabic speaker in the Middle East, so maybe this actually is how Muslim Americans speak in the West, but I noticed wallah and wallahi being used as verbs or even in sentences they did not need to be. E.g. “I could wallahi that I hadn’t left my notebook” / "Wallah on that?" / "I can wallah that I..." — I don’t think I’ve ever said nor heard anyone use wallah like this. Also, wallah is not used as casually as every other conversation; the word has weight and I was unsure as to why it was being used for the most mundane of dialogue. Going to give the benefit of the doubt and still say, maybe this is how non-Arabic speaking Muslims speak but it did unfortunately bother me every time I saw the misuse on the page.
Also, once again, not an American nor a basketball fan but the references to sneakers brands/players felt a little forced to me. Especially one line where Nida says to her uncle in jail, "my Js are still fresh" - I didn't understand why this was said or how it fit in the conversation.
2. Despite being the audience this catered to, I still think certain words/cultural phrases needed contextual explanations. This is a tricky one, because I’m not one who believes a POC should have to cater the representation in their book to a specific audience. But, I really think it could’ve added more to the story in this case. I enjoyed how completely “Pakistani” and “Muslim” Nida was in her mannerisms and dialogue, as well as all the other characters. But I think for a reader who is not Muslim nor Desi to leave this story feeling like they learnt a lot about this culture/religion, it would’ve benefited from a glossary or even Nida’s narration explaining words like bakharni or izzat. It limits the pool of readers who can successfully read the book the way it was intended to be read when they cannot understand certain things.
E.g. I remember prior to reading Crazy Rich Asians, I didn’t know a single thing about Singapore — and reading the explanations of cultural aspects in that book gave me the push to learn more. Today, despite not being a Singaporean, I feel that I can connect more with Singaporeans because I have this one book I read one time that taught me so much about it. I think that’s the experience I would like a reader who is not Muslim or Desi to have after reading Hope Ablaze - a greater understanding of what it means to speak like a Muslim, as well as the cultural quirks of Pakistanis.
3. The writing/choice of scenes is not my favorite at times. The book is short but I didn’t feel I could binge through it in one go because not every scene kept my attention. At times, I felt like I was only reading Nida’s conversations about the same thing but with different characters. There were some that were impactful, like ones with her Mamou, but otherwise I found myself skimming some scenes and waiting for something to happen. I needed my attention to be kept much more from start to finish.
All in all, I still think this is a good Muslim book and will resonate with many readers. Unfortunately, in my case, I didn’t find it to my taste but I will definitely keep up with the author and root for her in her path!
March 27, 2024
1 ⭐️
Preface: I’m aware of the drama surrounding this book but only after I read it. I tried to find out what was going on exactly but honestly I don’t fully understand. I don’t even understand why I’m writing this review (first review ever lol). Originally, I felt obligated to offer my perspective as a Muslim girl who lives in an Arab country (lived briefly in America) (has faced racism and Islamophobia) but according to the limited information I grasped surrounding the drama, I’ll just offer my review from a craft perspective. Also, I fear I’m not eloquent enough yet to voice my opinions in a way that won’t be misconstrued. I’ll keep this review focused on craft but I know for a fact a few things will slip so yeah. This is a review so the IMO is implied at the end of every sentence.
TLDR: if this book could be described in three words, it would be described very easily. Forced, half-baked, and ineffective.
***
I don’t need plot to have a good time. My number one priority when reading is writing (style, voice, structure) closely followed by characters (not just character work, but also interaction and dialogue). Also I have a hard time really describing my taste in books. Either I like it or I don’t. For this book: I obviously don’t.
The writing. In her own words, I believe the author “glossed over the nuances”.
1) Laughably bad poetry. Like mediocre Instagram poetry on whatever the opposite of steroids is. The poems were so bad and unoriginal they made me laugh, even the ones dealing with heavy themes. I couldn’t take it seriously at all. Maybe I wouldn’t have minded as much if they weren’t such a central part of the book, or if Nida wasn’t constantly hailed as this poetry prodigy (her confidence in her own poetry made it more hilarious). All the poetry, regardless of who was supposed to be writing it, read the same. “Every poet had a specific cadence, rhythm—lilt and tone.” Except you, Nida. Your poetry sucks. It was lame and unoriginal. The metaphors failed to be anything new. Just the same standard comparisons to fire and origami a middle schooler could make.
Example: “My mosque was shot up/Boom, boom.” This line in particular stunned me, then made me laugh so hard I couldn’t breathe. How am I supposed to take this seriously? I’ve witnessed terrorism before. My family has witnessed terrorism. I’ve been to several mosques. A mosque getting shot up shouldn’t make me laugh. But I couldn’t help it. Not when the poetry, the situation, is written like this. “Boom, boom”? Give me a break. The lines after didn’t help at all.
2)general stuff. I wasn’t a fan of the writing style at all. Everything about it felt contrived and manufactured. Unnatural. Like it was following a formula for “making people sad” rather than drawing from genuine emotion. Like: “Okay now here I’m gonna write a sentence about how sad she was, then I’m going to write a sentence about what’s happening, then I’ll write a sentence about Islam, then I’ll write a sentence about how she’s feeling, then one about America, then this other character, etc”. It was amateurish.
It seemed like the author was using Muslim and cultural terms just for the sake of it sounding Muslim. It didn’t feel natural. It didn’t feel like I was immersing myself in this character’s world. It just seemed like a desperate attempt to create more atmosphere. At times, it didn’t make any grammatical sense. For example: a character literally says something along the lines of “I can wallah if you don’t believe me.” BUT THAT DOESNT MAKE SENSE. IT DOESNT MATTER IF YOU ARE FLUENT IN ARABIC/URDU/ENGLISH OR NOT. WALLAH IS NOT A VERB. I won’t get into that even though I do in my annotations lol.
A book that did this better is Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo. The main character is Chinese during the Red Scare (1950s). She also lives in a part of the city reserved for people of her race and faces racism. The descriptions, of food and places, felt more natural and I actually cared about what was happening.
Writing also had slight redundancies.
The dialogue. Oh my God, the dialogue. Easily the weakest part of this book. So, so bad. All the characters speak like a badly written news article. If not that, really cartoonish. The “bad people” all spoke like “hur-dur I’m stupid”. How much better would it have been to have them have above average intelligence *and* be cruel? But if they were stupid, Nida was even more stupid for being unable to respond and for being surprised by their ignorance, despite being surrounded by it all her life. The moment she finally stood up to them felt unearned, and anything they said in response was just said to make Nida sound right.
The magical realism. It didn’t add anything at all. I would even say it took away from the book. The magical realism was unexpected and completely took away from anything the book had to say. It was the final nail in the coffin, the final writing device, to solidify what I was feeling. Nothing in this book serves the main point. The fact that this book doesn’t feel realistic takes away from anything it’s trying to say. Why should I care about any of the events happening if they don’t feel real? At all? They aren’t even written in a way that have a root of authenticity or a sign of humanity. I believe the term I’m looking for is: cardboard cut out. As someone who has watched my family and friends go through events not dissimilar from this, why couldn’t I feel any horror or sympathy?
The cringe. Namely the rap battles and constant references to being a “baller”. What’s another way to say “give me a break” because that’s what I was constantly saying.
3)the characters. Not good. Not consistent. They were all stupid and cartoonish. Why is Nida surprised every time an American is ignorant? Why is she taking a huge risk by praying in public, because she *must* pray on time, but she’s completely okay with her sister lying/cheating to get reimbursed for meals? Her sister literally photoshops receipts to get reimbursed, and Nida thinks that’s genius. How is that consistent with the religiosity she’s shown us? Especially considering the huge (and I mean huge) emphasis Islam has on honesty and all the rules it has regarding money and business. The emphasis that the author acknowledges multiple times!
The contrast of poet/muslim/modern-teen felt jarring and forced. The best books have characters that feel real and natural whether your belief is suspended or not and this didn’t achieve that. The MC felt too much like a book character. Like her traits were written out in a Pinterest template help develop character traits. To be clear, that in itself isn’t a bad thing as much as it’s not enough.
The characters’ inconsistency did nothing to make a point about the general hypocrisy of the human spirit. It was just ridiculous. Some characters can’t be described as inconsistent exactly. Because they had nothing to be consistent with. They were an illusion. They were nothing.
The book would make a statement like “this character was (blank)” and all I would think was “but are they? Are they really?”
Nida had a very childish view on everything, understandable since she’s 18 (though I would give more credit to 18 year olds…). I expected the people around her to make up for it, namely her uncle, but they only reinforced it.
***
I skimmed the last 30% of the book.
I think the books this was comped with set it up for failure. Magical Pachinko? You wish. Also, studio ghibli? Literally where?? In what way?? How?? The nonsensical magic? The mediocre prose?
Anyway. I have more to say but I don’t quite know how to word it. My annotations do go more in depth (when I’m not writing “huh???” or “what??”). I enjoy reading detailed reviews but I didn’t want to write too much for my first review.
Miscellaneous:
-I saw someone point out the problematic depiction of ADHD but it was so much worse in context. Wow.
-the politics were…….ok…ay?
-don’t get me started on the conversation this tried to have about jihad…
-not every email has to include the sentence “I apologize for the inconvenience”
If you want to read a book through the point of view of a poet (Iranian), I recommend Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar. The prose is very, very beautiful and the poems aren’t bad. I wasn’t a fan of the plot and how it unfolds, but I can’t deny the charm it had. Do keep in mind it has a different stance on religion.
Preface: I’m aware of the drama surrounding this book but only after I read it. I tried to find out what was going on exactly but honestly I don’t fully understand. I don’t even understand why I’m writing this review (first review ever lol). Originally, I felt obligated to offer my perspective as a Muslim girl who lives in an Arab country (lived briefly in America) (has faced racism and Islamophobia) but according to the limited information I grasped surrounding the drama, I’ll just offer my review from a craft perspective. Also, I fear I’m not eloquent enough yet to voice my opinions in a way that won’t be misconstrued. I’ll keep this review focused on craft but I know for a fact a few things will slip so yeah. This is a review so the IMO is implied at the end of every sentence.
TLDR: if this book could be described in three words, it would be described very easily. Forced, half-baked, and ineffective.
***
I don’t need plot to have a good time. My number one priority when reading is writing (style, voice, structure) closely followed by characters (not just character work, but also interaction and dialogue). Also I have a hard time really describing my taste in books. Either I like it or I don’t. For this book: I obviously don’t.
The writing. In her own words, I believe the author “glossed over the nuances”.
1) Laughably bad poetry. Like mediocre Instagram poetry on whatever the opposite of steroids is. The poems were so bad and unoriginal they made me laugh, even the ones dealing with heavy themes. I couldn’t take it seriously at all. Maybe I wouldn’t have minded as much if they weren’t such a central part of the book, or if Nida wasn’t constantly hailed as this poetry prodigy (her confidence in her own poetry made it more hilarious). All the poetry, regardless of who was supposed to be writing it, read the same. “Every poet had a specific cadence, rhythm—lilt and tone.” Except you, Nida. Your poetry sucks. It was lame and unoriginal. The metaphors failed to be anything new. Just the same standard comparisons to fire and origami a middle schooler could make.
Example: “My mosque was shot up/Boom, boom.” This line in particular stunned me, then made me laugh so hard I couldn’t breathe. How am I supposed to take this seriously? I’ve witnessed terrorism before. My family has witnessed terrorism. I’ve been to several mosques. A mosque getting shot up shouldn’t make me laugh. But I couldn’t help it. Not when the poetry, the situation, is written like this. “Boom, boom”? Give me a break. The lines after didn’t help at all.
2)general stuff. I wasn’t a fan of the writing style at all. Everything about it felt contrived and manufactured. Unnatural. Like it was following a formula for “making people sad” rather than drawing from genuine emotion. Like: “Okay now here I’m gonna write a sentence about how sad she was, then I’m going to write a sentence about what’s happening, then I’ll write a sentence about Islam, then I’ll write a sentence about how she’s feeling, then one about America, then this other character, etc”. It was amateurish.
It seemed like the author was using Muslim and cultural terms just for the sake of it sounding Muslim. It didn’t feel natural. It didn’t feel like I was immersing myself in this character’s world. It just seemed like a desperate attempt to create more atmosphere. At times, it didn’t make any grammatical sense. For example: a character literally says something along the lines of “I can wallah if you don’t believe me.” BUT THAT DOESNT MAKE SENSE. IT DOESNT MATTER IF YOU ARE FLUENT IN ARABIC/URDU/ENGLISH OR NOT. WALLAH IS NOT A VERB. I won’t get into that even though I do in my annotations lol.
A book that did this better is Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo. The main character is Chinese during the Red Scare (1950s). She also lives in a part of the city reserved for people of her race and faces racism. The descriptions, of food and places, felt more natural and I actually cared about what was happening.
Writing also had slight redundancies.
The dialogue. Oh my God, the dialogue. Easily the weakest part of this book. So, so bad. All the characters speak like a badly written news article. If not that, really cartoonish. The “bad people” all spoke like “hur-dur I’m stupid”. How much better would it have been to have them have above average intelligence *and* be cruel? But if they were stupid, Nida was even more stupid for being unable to respond and for being surprised by their ignorance, despite being surrounded by it all her life. The moment she finally stood up to them felt unearned, and anything they said in response was just said to make Nida sound right.
The magical realism. It didn’t add anything at all. I would even say it took away from the book. The magical realism was unexpected and completely took away from anything the book had to say. It was the final nail in the coffin, the final writing device, to solidify what I was feeling. Nothing in this book serves the main point. The fact that this book doesn’t feel realistic takes away from anything it’s trying to say. Why should I care about any of the events happening if they don’t feel real? At all? They aren’t even written in a way that have a root of authenticity or a sign of humanity. I believe the term I’m looking for is: cardboard cut out. As someone who has watched my family and friends go through events not dissimilar from this, why couldn’t I feel any horror or sympathy?
The cringe. Namely the rap battles and constant references to being a “baller”. What’s another way to say “give me a break” because that’s what I was constantly saying.
3)the characters. Not good. Not consistent. They were all stupid and cartoonish. Why is Nida surprised every time an American is ignorant? Why is she taking a huge risk by praying in public, because she *must* pray on time, but she’s completely okay with her sister lying/cheating to get reimbursed for meals? Her sister literally photoshops receipts to get reimbursed, and Nida thinks that’s genius. How is that consistent with the religiosity she’s shown us? Especially considering the huge (and I mean huge) emphasis Islam has on honesty and all the rules it has regarding money and business. The emphasis that the author acknowledges multiple times!
The contrast of poet/muslim/modern-teen felt jarring and forced. The best books have characters that feel real and natural whether your belief is suspended or not and this didn’t achieve that. The MC felt too much like a book character. Like her traits were written out in a Pinterest template help develop character traits. To be clear, that in itself isn’t a bad thing as much as it’s not enough.
The characters’ inconsistency did nothing to make a point about the general hypocrisy of the human spirit. It was just ridiculous. Some characters can’t be described as inconsistent exactly. Because they had nothing to be consistent with. They were an illusion. They were nothing.
The book would make a statement like “this character was (blank)” and all I would think was “but are they? Are they really?”
Nida had a very childish view on everything, understandable since she’s 18 (though I would give more credit to 18 year olds…). I expected the people around her to make up for it, namely her uncle, but they only reinforced it.
***
I skimmed the last 30% of the book.
I think the books this was comped with set it up for failure. Magical Pachinko? You wish. Also, studio ghibli? Literally where?? In what way?? How?? The nonsensical magic? The mediocre prose?
Anyway. I have more to say but I don’t quite know how to word it. My annotations do go more in depth (when I’m not writing “huh???” or “what??”). I enjoy reading detailed reviews but I didn’t want to write too much for my first review.
Miscellaneous:
-I saw someone point out the problematic depiction of ADHD but it was so much worse in context. Wow.
-the politics were…….ok…ay?
-don’t get me started on the conversation this tried to have about jihad…
-not every email has to include the sentence “I apologize for the inconvenience”
If you want to read a book through the point of view of a poet (Iranian), I recommend Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar. The prose is very, very beautiful and the poems aren’t bad. I wasn’t a fan of the plot and how it unfolds, but I can’t deny the charm it had. Do keep in mind it has a different stance on religion.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 29, 2024
I’m so proud of Sarah for writing such an amazing book! Hope Ablaze is a contemporary YA novel with a hint of magical realism and told partly in verse that follows Nida, a Muslim teen finding her voice in a post-9/11 America. As a poet, Nida follows in the footsteps of her uncle, Mamou Abdul-Hafeedh, who was wrongfully incarcerated during the war on terror. But Nida’s poetry letters are her heart and sharing so much of herself with a world that stereotypes her faith and her hijab is not an option.
When Nida is illegally frisked at a Democratic Senatorial candidate’s political rally, she writes a scathing poem about the politician, never expecting the letter to go viral weeks before Election Day. Nida discovers her poem has won first place in a national contest, a contest she never entered, and her quiet life is toppled. But worst of all, Nida loses her ability to write poetry. In the aftermath of her win, Nida struggles to balance the expectations of her mother, her uncle, and her vibrant Muslim community with the person she truly wants to be.
Sarah of course does an excellent job of writing about the experience of being a young visibly Muslim woman in America while dealing with racism and Islamophobia. While the content of the book is heavy at times, I really loved how Sarah wove these scenes with uplifting and hilarious moments. Seeing Nida among her Pakistani family members, other Muslim family friends, and fellow poets was honestly super heartwarming. I found myself cracking up numerous times reading about the shenanigans her mother and aunties got into (iykyk 🐐). Congrats Sarah on your debut! 🥳 I'd rate this novel 4.25 stars rounded up.
Please note: Hope Ablaze is published under Wednesday Books and St. Martin’s Press, which we are currently boycotting. Hope Ablaze is the only book I am promoting from this imprint due to Sarah Mughal Rana being the imprint’s only brown Muslim author. Until St. Martin’s Press takes accountability for their employee’s racist, Islamophobic, and anti-Palestinian actions and addresses how they will protect Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and other people of color they work with moving forward, I will not be promoting any other titles from the imprint. You can learn more about the boycott by visiting @readersforaccountability on Instagram
Follow me on TikTok | Instagram | Twitter for more book reviews & recommendations!
When Nida is illegally frisked at a Democratic Senatorial candidate’s political rally, she writes a scathing poem about the politician, never expecting the letter to go viral weeks before Election Day. Nida discovers her poem has won first place in a national contest, a contest she never entered, and her quiet life is toppled. But worst of all, Nida loses her ability to write poetry. In the aftermath of her win, Nida struggles to balance the expectations of her mother, her uncle, and her vibrant Muslim community with the person she truly wants to be.
Sarah of course does an excellent job of writing about the experience of being a young visibly Muslim woman in America while dealing with racism and Islamophobia. While the content of the book is heavy at times, I really loved how Sarah wove these scenes with uplifting and hilarious moments. Seeing Nida among her Pakistani family members, other Muslim family friends, and fellow poets was honestly super heartwarming. I found myself cracking up numerous times reading about the shenanigans her mother and aunties got into (iykyk 🐐). Congrats Sarah on your debut! 🥳 I'd rate this novel 4.25 stars rounded up.
Please note: Hope Ablaze is published under Wednesday Books and St. Martin’s Press, which we are currently boycotting. Hope Ablaze is the only book I am promoting from this imprint due to Sarah Mughal Rana being the imprint’s only brown Muslim author. Until St. Martin’s Press takes accountability for their employee’s racist, Islamophobic, and anti-Palestinian actions and addresses how they will protect Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and other people of color they work with moving forward, I will not be promoting any other titles from the imprint. You can learn more about the boycott by visiting @readersforaccountability on Instagram
Follow me on TikTok | Instagram | Twitter for more book reviews & recommendations!
November 27, 2024
4.5 ⭐️
(now im writing up all my reviews after my last exam because i don't want those 'rtc's to keep piling up 😓)
"Islam was peace but in a country of people who declared you their enemy... it was important to show them what peace means to a muslim, to write out anger into something beautiful, something that could be wholly mine, something disguising rage into pretty rhymes"
i felt so seen and heard while reading this, it reminded me that others struggle like me, as a muslim, and that im not alone
i remember how much i laughed at reading this! it was so relatable and i wish it becomes more recognised in the book community because its so underrated.
(gotta put these quotes in because i found them so funny, iykyk otherwise feel free to skip)
"Anytime I wanted something, she always pointed up and said 'inshallah' because it meant 'by God's will'. But really, it was code for 'no, and you better not question it.'"
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾. * ੈ✩‧₊˚
"Aunty, you know there's a trash can for a reason, right?"
"Oho, I know there's a trash can, baby. Almost put my husband in one."
🦋☆*: .｡. ♡ .｡.:*☆🦋
"I will du'a shifa for little Mohamed, may Allah make his sudden injury, that was not there earlier- that was not told to me until Subhanallah five minutes before his scheduled class- disappear as quick as it came."
"Damn, Mohamed, you got exposed by an old man."
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾. * ੈ✩‧₊˚
The imam raised his voice as he directed everyone to fit into the appropriate lines. "Bismillah." He was gritting it out, as if any more bismillah was going to make the lot of us miraculously create more room on the carpet. "Bismillah, Bismillah." He huffed. Now it was embarrassing, I was getting out of breath for him.
🦋☆*: .｡. ♡ .｡.:*☆🦋
"I need you send nice massage-"
"Message," I corrected her English. "Not massage."
(no because my parents say the exact same thing, im always correcting their pronunciation and grammar 😭 we always laugh over it tho)
"You with Sindhi and Urdu. Me with English...I'd learned to stick to simpler sentences." (me too, girl)
i love the accurate muslim rep (something i rarely ever see) and the struggles that Nida went through because i also experience similar
rarely any of my classmates and teachers ever see past my hijab and my religion
one of my teachers has gotten me mixed up with another girl who also wears a hijab just because we both wear a hijab-- keep in mind, we look nothing alike 💀 the amount of times i corrected that teacher and she literally said "oh it's because you both wear the headscarf" and just laughed it off
i've also gotten mixed up with my sister in highschool and we also look nothing alike and it was because we both wore the same colour hijab 😭
idk if its just me but i feel offended that someone can't even be bothered to remember me by my face/name and not my hijab
my parents are constantly worried that i'm going to get harassed when i go out in public without them
not to mention that there's not a single day that goes by without me feeling very self-conscious of my hijab (i still love my hijab ofc but its the staring that gets to me) even when i smile at people on the street just to be nice and rarely anyone ever smiles back :(
being singled out by a teacher when it wasn't even my fault
also the questions "do you ever take it off? do you sleep with it on? do you shower with it? you must get hot with it on in summer." pleeeeaaase its a piece of fabric, a veil, don't overthink its purpose
anyway back to what i was saying,
these problems are real! the discrimination is real and its sad that so many others like me go through it and no one ever really talks about it which is why i felt so happy when this book talked about it
i hate how muslims are so generalised and underrepresented in everything
"I swear my ears bled from the way she pronounced the religion, calling it Iz-laam, instead of Is-lam."
i love love love how ive been inspired to start writing poetry again after reading this and its reminded me to strengthen my bond with Islam and to not give up
"To write is to show the world you heart before letting them stomp all over it. That kind of permission was dangerous, because consent didn't matter for our art when we never had ownership to begin with."
as a side note: i did not like the magical realism aspect of this book, i felt like it didn't really fit in/ wasn't necessary and didn't make much sense
mostly what i really really want is more people to read this to gain an understanding <3
thanks for reading my rambling xx
(now im writing up all my reviews after my last exam because i don't want those 'rtc's to keep piling up 😓)
"Islam was peace but in a country of people who declared you their enemy... it was important to show them what peace means to a muslim, to write out anger into something beautiful, something that could be wholly mine, something disguising rage into pretty rhymes"
i felt so seen and heard while reading this, it reminded me that others struggle like me, as a muslim, and that im not alone
i remember how much i laughed at reading this! it was so relatable and i wish it becomes more recognised in the book community because its so underrated.
(gotta put these quotes in because i found them so funny, iykyk otherwise feel free to skip)
"Anytime I wanted something, she always pointed up and said 'inshallah' because it meant 'by God's will'. But really, it was code for 'no, and you better not question it.'"
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾. * ੈ✩‧₊˚
"Aunty, you know there's a trash can for a reason, right?"
"Oho, I know there's a trash can, baby. Almost put my husband in one."
🦋☆*: .｡. ♡ .｡.:*☆🦋
"I will du'a shifa for little Mohamed, may Allah make his sudden injury, that was not there earlier- that was not told to me until Subhanallah five minutes before his scheduled class- disappear as quick as it came."
"Damn, Mohamed, you got exposed by an old man."
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾. * ੈ✩‧₊˚
The imam raised his voice as he directed everyone to fit into the appropriate lines. "Bismillah." He was gritting it out, as if any more bismillah was going to make the lot of us miraculously create more room on the carpet. "Bismillah, Bismillah." He huffed. Now it was embarrassing, I was getting out of breath for him.
🦋☆*: .｡. ♡ .｡.:*☆🦋
"I need you send nice massage-"
"Message," I corrected her English. "Not massage."
(no because my parents say the exact same thing, im always correcting their pronunciation and grammar 😭 we always laugh over it tho)
"You with Sindhi and Urdu. Me with English...I'd learned to stick to simpler sentences." (me too, girl)
i love the accurate muslim rep (something i rarely ever see) and the struggles that Nida went through because i also experience similar
rarely any of my classmates and teachers ever see past my hijab and my religion
one of my teachers has gotten me mixed up with another girl who also wears a hijab just because we both wear a hijab-- keep in mind, we look nothing alike 💀 the amount of times i corrected that teacher and she literally said "oh it's because you both wear the headscarf" and just laughed it off
i've also gotten mixed up with my sister in highschool and we also look nothing alike and it was because we both wore the same colour hijab 😭
idk if its just me but i feel offended that someone can't even be bothered to remember me by my face/name and not my hijab
my parents are constantly worried that i'm going to get harassed when i go out in public without them
not to mention that there's not a single day that goes by without me feeling very self-conscious of my hijab (i still love my hijab ofc but its the staring that gets to me) even when i smile at people on the street just to be nice and rarely anyone ever smiles back :(
being singled out by a teacher when it wasn't even my fault
also the questions "do you ever take it off? do you sleep with it on? do you shower with it? you must get hot with it on in summer." pleeeeaaase its a piece of fabric, a veil, don't overthink its purpose
anyway back to what i was saying,
these problems are real! the discrimination is real and its sad that so many others like me go through it and no one ever really talks about it which is why i felt so happy when this book talked about it
i hate how muslims are so generalised and underrepresented in everything
"I swear my ears bled from the way she pronounced the religion, calling it Iz-laam, instead of Is-lam."
i love love love how ive been inspired to start writing poetry again after reading this and its reminded me to strengthen my bond with Islam and to not give up
"To write is to show the world you heart before letting them stomp all over it. That kind of permission was dangerous, because consent didn't matter for our art when we never had ownership to begin with."
as a side note: i did not like the magical realism aspect of this book, i felt like it didn't really fit in/ wasn't necessary and didn't make much sense
mostly what i really really want is more people to read this to gain an understanding <3
thanks for reading my rambling xx
February 18, 2024
I won an ARC of this in a giveaway.
It’s funny that the title of this book is Hope Ablaze because it is not very hopeful. This book had an ok premise but the execution isn’t great and the author relies on stereotypes far too much for my liking. The protagonist Nida is so negative and bitter that it was hard for me to feel sympathetic for her. Even though she faces adversity there is no real character development which I found very disappointing. She thinks everyone is out to get her which must be an exhausting way to live.
There is a lot of poetry in this book which I didn’t know before reading. I don’t think it’s the greatest but I also don’t enjoy reading poetry so I may not be the best judge of that.
I didn’t love the way politics and the election were handled in this book. Yes all political parties have their faults and there are bad people on both sides but there is one party that is obviously way worse because they don’t believe in basic human rights! This is YA so I really hope it doesn’t discourage teenagers from voting. This is not the way to make change!
All in all if you’re looking for a book by a Muslim author there are several other books that have come out in recent years that tackle themes of Islamophobia and belonging with much better execution.
It’s funny that the title of this book is Hope Ablaze because it is not very hopeful. This book had an ok premise but the execution isn’t great and the author relies on stereotypes far too much for my liking. The protagonist Nida is so negative and bitter that it was hard for me to feel sympathetic for her. Even though she faces adversity there is no real character development which I found very disappointing. She thinks everyone is out to get her which must be an exhausting way to live.
There is a lot of poetry in this book which I didn’t know before reading. I don’t think it’s the greatest but I also don’t enjoy reading poetry so I may not be the best judge of that.
I didn’t love the way politics and the election were handled in this book. Yes all political parties have their faults and there are bad people on both sides but there is one party that is obviously way worse because they don’t believe in basic human rights! This is YA so I really hope it doesn’t discourage teenagers from voting. This is not the way to make change!
All in all if you’re looking for a book by a Muslim author there are several other books that have come out in recent years that tackle themes of Islamophobia and belonging with much better execution.
March 3, 2024
2024 reads: 51/250
2024 tbr: 26/120
i received an advanced review copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. this did not affect my rating.
nida is a teen poet who feels pressured to fill the shoes of her uncle, who was wrongfully incarcerated under terrorism charges. after nida is illegally frisked at a political rally, she writes an angry letter to the politician, expecting it to come across nobody’s eyes except her own. however, someone submits this letter to a poetry competition, and suddenly, nida has gone viral overnight. after this, she loses the ability to write, and has to learn how to balance this with the expectations of her family, community, and herself.
this was a beautiful book exploring community, racism, islamophobia, american politics, and more. i enjoyed the writing in this book, especially the poems interspersed throughout. i feel like the poems were a good way to more deeply get to know nida.
i highly recommend this book and i’m looking forward to what sarah mughal rana writes next.
2024 tbr: 26/120
i received an advanced review copy from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review. this did not affect my rating.
nida is a teen poet who feels pressured to fill the shoes of her uncle, who was wrongfully incarcerated under terrorism charges. after nida is illegally frisked at a political rally, she writes an angry letter to the politician, expecting it to come across nobody’s eyes except her own. however, someone submits this letter to a poetry competition, and suddenly, nida has gone viral overnight. after this, she loses the ability to write, and has to learn how to balance this with the expectations of her family, community, and herself.
this was a beautiful book exploring community, racism, islamophobia, american politics, and more. i enjoyed the writing in this book, especially the poems interspersed throughout. i feel like the poems were a good way to more deeply get to know nida.
i highly recommend this book and i’m looking forward to what sarah mughal rana writes next.
January 16, 2024
~~Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!~~
1.5/5 stars rounded up.
I've been going through my acquired ARCs back to back, and the past couple days have been totally duds. This, unfortunately, joins that list.
The main story was so repetitive. Nida got frisked by the candidate and his security, her neighborhood goes into protective mode, her mom and fam freak out for dishonoring the family, the media paints her as a radical, and then the cycle repeats itself with a few bits of new info sprinkled in. It was exhausting to read Nida stretching between extreme depictions of racism/Islamophobia and her fighting with everyone in her life for one reason or another. Despite this book supposedly being about hope and continuing the fight against systematic oppression, I felt none of that.
One thing that really confused me was when this took place. By the description, I assumed this took place in the early 2000s. But then when social media was made essential to the plot, it's clear it actually takes place in the modern day. I feel like that's really stretching the Post-9/11 America as a descriptor.
The poetry parts weren't that good, either. It's so blocky and long-winded; it's the exact poetry I wrote in my beginner's workshop that was mediocre because I'm a prose girlie. I ended up skimming through them after the halfway mark, which didn't do much good because some scenes are started in a poem before dropping back in prose. That annoyed me a lot. I don't understand why a book about a poet isn't written in verse. Or, if the author still wanted prose, why the chapters alternate between all prose and all verse.
My last thing is something small, but, dammit, it irritated me so much. So, Nida has this friend (Kinda love interest? I dunno, it was hinted at but no official romance came out of it) named Jawad who brings up he has ADHD at one point. He says he gave up music for Ramadan and that it's help him cleared his mind. As someone with ADHD who uses music to help me focus, I was raising a brow, but that's why it's called neurodivergence. Some people with ADHD find music distracting, and it helps with others. But then he goes on to say everyone can find the willpower to get over their fears if they remember it's all in their head. This line pisses me off so much because it simplifies and minimizes neurodivergence (As well as anyone who has a mental illness). As if the brain isn't the most powerful organ in our body! As if forcing ourselves to adhere to neurotypical standards is so simple! This whole thing left an extremely sour taste in my mouth.
1.5/5 stars rounded up.
I've been going through my acquired ARCs back to back, and the past couple days have been totally duds. This, unfortunately, joins that list.
The main story was so repetitive. Nida got frisked by the candidate and his security, her neighborhood goes into protective mode, her mom and fam freak out for dishonoring the family, the media paints her as a radical, and then the cycle repeats itself with a few bits of new info sprinkled in. It was exhausting to read Nida stretching between extreme depictions of racism/Islamophobia and her fighting with everyone in her life for one reason or another. Despite this book supposedly being about hope and continuing the fight against systematic oppression, I felt none of that.
One thing that really confused me was when this took place. By the description, I assumed this took place in the early 2000s. But then when social media was made essential to the plot, it's clear it actually takes place in the modern day. I feel like that's really stretching the Post-9/11 America as a descriptor.
The poetry parts weren't that good, either. It's so blocky and long-winded; it's the exact poetry I wrote in my beginner's workshop that was mediocre because I'm a prose girlie. I ended up skimming through them after the halfway mark, which didn't do much good because some scenes are started in a poem before dropping back in prose. That annoyed me a lot. I don't understand why a book about a poet isn't written in verse. Or, if the author still wanted prose, why the chapters alternate between all prose and all verse.
My last thing is something small, but, dammit, it irritated me so much. So, Nida has this friend (Kinda love interest? I dunno, it was hinted at but no official romance came out of it) named Jawad who brings up he has ADHD at one point. He says he gave up music for Ramadan and that it's help him cleared his mind. As someone with ADHD who uses music to help me focus, I was raising a brow, but that's why it's called neurodivergence. Some people with ADHD find music distracting, and it helps with others. But then he goes on to say everyone can find the willpower to get over their fears if they remember it's all in their head. This line pisses me off so much because it simplifies and minimizes neurodivergence (As well as anyone who has a mental illness). As if the brain isn't the most powerful organ in our body! As if forcing ourselves to adhere to neurotypical standards is so simple! This whole thing left an extremely sour taste in my mouth.
February 27, 2024
I finally caved and requested this book thanks to Gretal (yet again). It's always weird reading a book written by an author you kind of know. Or in this case, you know their twin sister. I was worried I wasn't going to like this book like so many other muslim contemporary books, but I really enjoyed this one.
This book made me laugh, it made me emotional, and it made me angry. The release of this book coinciding with the genocide in Gaza and the world waking up to the terrorism that is zionism and Israel could not have been more perfect. Everything Nida goes through are things we've been experiencing and seeing with our own eyes. The rage she feels felt like our rage at the world right now. And the hope she has inside of her, is the hope many of us have that something will be different this time.
The interview scene was probably my favourite scene in this entire book. It made me so angry I wanted to break something, especially after seeing this exact scene play out on the news the first few weeks of this genocide when Palestinians were being interviewed and asked to condemn Hamas. Watching Nida fight back and say everything I've always wanted to say was so satisfying. I loved seeing her take charge of her story and find her voice, and also realize she doesn't have to write poetry because of her mamou or stop writing poetry because of her mom, but she can write as a way to express herself and her anger and her truth.
Also shoutout to the Shia side character in this book, Rayan. It was so nice to see that seamlessly added to this story, especially considering people forget we exist most of the time.
My few issues with the book were Jawad. He was just so mean to Nida. I'm glad there was no romantic subplot between the two of them, but I think he could have been more understanding of what Nida was going through and realize just because he would do things a certain way, doesn't mean everyone else should.
The magical realism aspect of this book was interesting, though the entire time I thought it was a manifestation of her anxiety, before it was revealed that it's actually a family curse. I wasn't really expecting this in a contemporary book so it did take me out of the story sometimes.
The only other issue I had was some of the dialogue didn't flow super well or feel like an actual conversation between two people, which might have been changed since I read the arc.
Also the arc has horrible formatting for the poems if you read it on the Kindle app which was kind of annoying 😭
But overall, this was a pretty good read and I'm glad I picked it up!
3.5/5 stars
This book made me laugh, it made me emotional, and it made me angry. The release of this book coinciding with the genocide in Gaza and the world waking up to the terrorism that is zionism and Israel could not have been more perfect. Everything Nida goes through are things we've been experiencing and seeing with our own eyes. The rage she feels felt like our rage at the world right now. And the hope she has inside of her, is the hope many of us have that something will be different this time.
The interview scene was probably my favourite scene in this entire book. It made me so angry I wanted to break something, especially after seeing this exact scene play out on the news the first few weeks of this genocide when Palestinians were being interviewed and asked to condemn Hamas. Watching Nida fight back and say everything I've always wanted to say was so satisfying. I loved seeing her take charge of her story and find her voice, and also realize she doesn't have to write poetry because of her mamou or stop writing poetry because of her mom, but she can write as a way to express herself and her anger and her truth.
Also shoutout to the Shia side character in this book, Rayan. It was so nice to see that seamlessly added to this story, especially considering people forget we exist most of the time.
My few issues with the book were Jawad. He was just so mean to Nida. I'm glad there was no romantic subplot between the two of them, but I think he could have been more understanding of what Nida was going through and realize just because he would do things a certain way, doesn't mean everyone else should.
The magical realism aspect of this book was interesting, though the entire time I thought it was a manifestation of her anxiety, before it was revealed that it's actually a family curse. I wasn't really expecting this in a contemporary book so it did take me out of the story sometimes.
The only other issue I had was some of the dialogue didn't flow super well or feel like an actual conversation between two people, which might have been changed since I read the arc.
Also the arc has horrible formatting for the poems if you read it on the Kindle app which was kind of annoying 😭
But overall, this was a pretty good read and I'm glad I picked it up!
3.5/5 stars
July 5, 2025
3.5 rounded up
Overall I enjoyed reading this, there was a moment that made me emotional and I realized I had actually grown more attached to the characters than I expected. It’s always a pleasant surprise when that realization just creeps up on you - at least I’m always left feeling like hmm wow, you did the job.
The story took an unexpected turn when there was an element of magical realism that added a new layer of intrigue (this is why I avoid book blurbs and summaries as much as possible, so I can be pleasantly surprised).
This was, in some ways, a coming of age story that did a good job at weaving in commentary on identity, family, community (the good and the bad), Islamophobia and what it means to stand your ground and uphold your morals and beliefs. It makes for a timely read too considering the currently global political climate!
Oh and the food! Like sheesh…I think I was only a few pages in before Sarah’s writing had me craving Pakistani food.
I will say there were two drawbacks for me, though they did not detract from my overall reading experience, for the most part.
1. The dialogue and some of the character reactions/conclusions sometimes felt… abrupt.
2. Somewhere along the middle it got a little repetitive before it started to pick up and progress more.
Overall I enjoyed reading this, there was a moment that made me emotional and I realized I had actually grown more attached to the characters than I expected. It’s always a pleasant surprise when that realization just creeps up on you - at least I’m always left feeling like hmm wow, you did the job.
The story took an unexpected turn when there was an element of magical realism that added a new layer of intrigue (this is why I avoid book blurbs and summaries as much as possible, so I can be pleasantly surprised).
This was, in some ways, a coming of age story that did a good job at weaving in commentary on identity, family, community (the good and the bad), Islamophobia and what it means to stand your ground and uphold your morals and beliefs. It makes for a timely read too considering the currently global political climate!
Oh and the food! Like sheesh…I think I was only a few pages in before Sarah’s writing had me craving Pakistani food.
I will say there were two drawbacks for me, though they did not detract from my overall reading experience, for the most part.
1. The dialogue and some of the character reactions/conclusions sometimes felt… abrupt.
2. Somewhere along the middle it got a little repetitive before it started to pick up and progress more.
October 11, 2023
I thought I'd love this novel about a young Muslim woman who is secretly a poet. Her best friend enters her work into a contest without permission, and the repercussions are violent and horrific. But the characters were stock figures--the mother who doesn't want to rock the boat and is scared for her daughter in the current racist and Islamophobic climate in the US, the gossipy auntie who is annoying as hell, the clueless White girl who just wants to help her friend, the beloved uncle in jail--and the poetry was just meh. The plot required some willing suspension of disbelief, which took me out of the book, and there was a lot of material that felt like filler. It's a shame, because the premise is a good one.
Want to read
August 4, 2023E-ARC generously provided by Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!
I haven't dabbled much in books wrote in verse beyond The Poet X but I'm excited to read this one!
I haven't dabbled much in books wrote in verse beyond The Poet X but I'm excited to read this one!
October 7, 2022
Had the pleasure of reading an early copy of this book and it is AMAZING. Seriously life changing. Funny, and warm and emotional and powerful. You do not want to miss this book.
September 4, 2024
"Trust is a greedy thing, like gifts. You expect it but you never give it. I stopped trusting my pen and tongue. But the pen also stopped trusting me."
TW: ableism, classism, colonization, confinement, death, death of a loved one, genocide, grief, hate crime, islamophobia, police brutality, racism, war.
First read of September completed!
Hope Ablaze is a book that tackles a lot of heavy, important topics whilst also balancing them with celebrations of love, family, food, and the fmc's Muslim identity. The moments of community and pure joy were so lovely to read about. I also really appreciated the way this book called out liberals and progressives that still operate as if they need to "save" anyone wearing a hijab.
There were some aspects of this book that were a bit messy, particularly in terms of pacing and characterization. Sometimes there were big moments that were reduced and small moments that dragged on. The characters would have really heavy moments and their next scene together made it feel forgotten.
I'm not someone that's ever gotten into poetry but some of it... didn't translate well, at least to the audiobook version. It came across very juvenile, which I suppose makes sense with this being a YA book; but with the main character's talent for it, I was hoping for a bit more.
Overall, I would recommend this. As I said, I had a few issues with it and I felt the ending was a bit out of place, but I still think this book is important and manages to (successfully) touch on quite a few topics that the YA age range would benefit from reading.
TW: ableism, classism, colonization, confinement, death, death of a loved one, genocide, grief, hate crime, islamophobia, police brutality, racism, war.
First read of September completed!
Hope Ablaze is a book that tackles a lot of heavy, important topics whilst also balancing them with celebrations of love, family, food, and the fmc's Muslim identity. The moments of community and pure joy were so lovely to read about. I also really appreciated the way this book called out liberals and progressives that still operate as if they need to "save" anyone wearing a hijab.
There were some aspects of this book that were a bit messy, particularly in terms of pacing and characterization. Sometimes there were big moments that were reduced and small moments that dragged on. The characters would have really heavy moments and their next scene together made it feel forgotten.
I'm not someone that's ever gotten into poetry but some of it... didn't translate well, at least to the audiobook version. It came across very juvenile, which I suppose makes sense with this being a YA book; but with the main character's talent for it, I was hoping for a bit more.
Overall, I would recommend this. As I said, I had a few issues with it and I felt the ending was a bit out of place, but I still think this book is important and manages to (successfully) touch on quite a few topics that the YA age range would benefit from reading.
February 28, 2024
This one is a difficult one for me to rate, I think this book discusses so many critical concepts such as islamophobia, diaspora, hate crimes, and free speech (to name a few).
Unfortunately, the prose (both poetry and not) didn’t create that sense of action and response from the reader. I found the characters to be caricatures and a lot of the actions they made didn’t make sense. Pairing that with the magical realism that took a sharp turn after 70%, it almost made me feel like I was reading 2 separate books.
The sense of home and family and understanding in this book was very well done. I liked that there was more to find out about family and tradition, as well as seeing a young female character who is very convicted in her religion and beliefs. I learned a few things from Nida, and I appreciate that in a book.
I think this author has a very bright future and I honestly look forward to seeing how her craft grows over the years. There is something important to her work, and I believe hers is a voice worth listening to.
⭐⭐.5 (rounded up)
Available February 27, 2024
Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review
Unfortunately, the prose (both poetry and not) didn’t create that sense of action and response from the reader. I found the characters to be caricatures and a lot of the actions they made didn’t make sense. Pairing that with the magical realism that took a sharp turn after 70%, it almost made me feel like I was reading 2 separate books.
The sense of home and family and understanding in this book was very well done. I liked that there was more to find out about family and tradition, as well as seeing a young female character who is very convicted in her religion and beliefs. I learned a few things from Nida, and I appreciate that in a book.
I think this author has a very bright future and I honestly look forward to seeing how her craft grows over the years. There is something important to her work, and I believe hers is a voice worth listening to.
⭐⭐.5 (rounded up)
Available February 27, 2024
Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review
July 13, 2024
4.5/5 ☆
I was granted an arc via NetGalley.
I have never read a book that made me feel so seen as a Muslim or as a South Asian. So many things about this book, from the characters blaming evil eye on everything to the littlest things like stuffing sewing kit into biscuit tins, was so familiar that it made me think about how I’ve had to downsize my expectations with representation, having to hyper-fixate on scarce words and lines, but this book was so effortlessly Muslim that I didn’t have a single worry about being misrepresented.
I still can’t get over how this book made me laugh even during sad scenes. It was an interesting reading experience, one that I enjoyed a lot, especially because it’s a reminder that our joy exists along with our sorrow. Also I’m never going to forget the goat scenes, or Nida’s mom’s WhatsApp statuses, or the aunty feeding the raccoon.
The writing was almost magnetic. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. One of the biggest reasons for that is the way the author wrote the Muslim community. It captured everything about our community as a whole: our diversity, our brotherhood, our unity. I never thought I’d see it in a book, but I did and I’m so glad.
Rana tackled heavy themes, from how Islam was, in her words, ‘bastardized’ to conversations on the hijab that emphasised that while we wear the hijab to show our submission to God brilliantly. The usage of poetry letters was so clever, especially because this book covers so much—from Islamophobia to art to colonisation. There were some poems that I didn’t connect with, but that’s okay because poetry is subjective and I loved most of them. Also, the poetry letters paced the book out, allowing the heavy themes to be explored in an even pace.
Another aspect of the book that is noteworthy is that the author managed to keep true to the character’s age. Oftentimes, when characters are pushed into hard situations, they completely grow up. But not here. Even through her suffering, Nida was still a teenager figuring things out.
At first I wished that Nida’s relationship with her sister had been explored a bit more, because Nida mentioned that Zaynab kept coming in between her and their mom, but at the same time this makes it more realistic. Especially in the South Asian context, sit-downs rarely happen. We learn as we go.
A reviewer pointed out that despite being upset about her privacy being invaded, Nida does the same thing. I wish that there was a part where she would’ve been corrected and made to understand that her mother is her own person and deserved the right to privacy.
Overall, Hope Ablaze is an amazing book that shouldn’t be missed! I highly recommend this to everyone, especially Muslim and South Asians (especially Pakistanis).
I was granted an arc via NetGalley.
I have never read a book that made me feel so seen as a Muslim or as a South Asian. So many things about this book, from the characters blaming evil eye on everything to the littlest things like stuffing sewing kit into biscuit tins, was so familiar that it made me think about how I’ve had to downsize my expectations with representation, having to hyper-fixate on scarce words and lines, but this book was so effortlessly Muslim that I didn’t have a single worry about being misrepresented.
I still can’t get over how this book made me laugh even during sad scenes. It was an interesting reading experience, one that I enjoyed a lot, especially because it’s a reminder that our joy exists along with our sorrow. Also I’m never going to forget the goat scenes, or Nida’s mom’s WhatsApp statuses, or the aunty feeding the raccoon.
The writing was almost magnetic. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. One of the biggest reasons for that is the way the author wrote the Muslim community. It captured everything about our community as a whole: our diversity, our brotherhood, our unity. I never thought I’d see it in a book, but I did and I’m so glad.
Rana tackled heavy themes, from how Islam was, in her words, ‘bastardized’ to conversations on the hijab that emphasised that while we wear the hijab to show our submission to God brilliantly. The usage of poetry letters was so clever, especially because this book covers so much—from Islamophobia to art to colonisation. There were some poems that I didn’t connect with, but that’s okay because poetry is subjective and I loved most of them. Also, the poetry letters paced the book out, allowing the heavy themes to be explored in an even pace.
Another aspect of the book that is noteworthy is that the author managed to keep true to the character’s age. Oftentimes, when characters are pushed into hard situations, they completely grow up. But not here. Even through her suffering, Nida was still a teenager figuring things out.
At first I wished that Nida’s relationship with her sister had been explored a bit more, because Nida mentioned that Zaynab kept coming in between her and their mom, but at the same time this makes it more realistic. Especially in the South Asian context, sit-downs rarely happen. We learn as we go.
A reviewer pointed out that despite being upset about her privacy being invaded, Nida does the same thing. I wish that there was a part where she would’ve been corrected and made to understand that her mother is her own person and deserved the right to privacy.
Overall, Hope Ablaze is an amazing book that shouldn’t be missed! I highly recommend this to everyone, especially Muslim and South Asians (especially Pakistanis).
nope
September 15, 2024been seeing a whole lot of discourse about “authors need to stay out of reader spaces”, not so much about “authors’ families should refrain from starting violently racist and misogynistic harassment campaigns against other marginalized authors”. i’m not interested in reading anything by an author who even passively condones the blatant defamation and harassment of one of their peers, and i’m certainly not going to contribute to their financial success when i can pay for books by authors who aren’t invested in seeing other WoC torn down.
June 1, 2025
It’s been a little over a year since I read this and I pretty sure the boycott is over but genuinely I don’t remember any of my thoughts about this book. Wait I remember being weirded out by the normalization of shirk and I think the version of Islam that the characters followed was more cultural than actually based on deen (i don’t remember tbh) but besides that i lit don’t remember anything💀 I did put on storygraph that this book is character driven with strong character development and loveable characters.
February 12, 2024
All My Rage meets The Poet X in this electric debut that explores a Muslim teen finding her voice in a post-9/11 America.
Thank you Wednesday Books & Netgalley for sending me a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I read the first 75 pages of this book and I decided to DNF it. It���s an interesting story but I don’t like the writing style.
Thank you Wednesday Books & Netgalley for sending me a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I read the first 75 pages of this book and I decided to DNF it. It���s an interesting story but I don’t like the writing style.
Read
July 27, 2023I think I need to lay on the floor. How utterly stunning.
December 25, 2023
2.5 stars
thank you netgalley for the arc!
i’m going to start by going over content:
there was a good distinction between culture and religion. having muslims that are from different places with different cultures (pakistani, indian, american, bangladeshi, etc) is a good way to subtly do this and this author did it great
i liked the way in which the author incorporated Nida’s practicing of Islam. doing her daily prayers, reading Quran, dressing modestly, greeting people with salaam, hadith, fasting, sacrifice, etc. they were incorporated very naturally and it didn’t seem forced. the information was correct and mostly not stereotyped.
i particularly loved nidas love for prayer. saying that she saw it as a comforting embrace is a beautiful way to describe the peace that prayer can bring. also how it helped her to fall in love with Islam and understand it better.
sometimes, the portrayal of islam would become a little exaggerated. for example, this books seems to take place in an urban setting, a city or city adjacent. nida constantly makes mention to her mom bringing live goats into their home to give in sacrifice. i live in an urban setting and its not very common for this to happen. mostly a certain amount will be paid for a goat to be sacrificed in their name somewhere else. that being said, it’s not that it’s incorrect information or that it’s wrong, it’s just not super common.
i didn’t love when the author wrote that hijab is not a choice. it is so much more complex than that. it is a commandment yes, however in Islam there is not law that punishes women for not wearing hijab.
ok now let’s move on to writing style:
this point is not a specific grievance i have with this book or author, just something i’ve noticed recently. while it is very important to write about the overt racism that muslims in america face today, it is equally as important to write about the micro aggressions and subtle islamaphobia that muslims (especially hijabis) face on the daily. these micro aggressions are just as harmful and even more common. i would love to have more books be written about this topic.
my main reason for disliking this book was the overall writing style. i felt that the pacing was a little off. the first 30% of the book was so packed with intense moments. but after that, it slowed a lot. so much so that it got repetitive. Nida’s inner dialogue got repetitive, her conversations with her mother got repetitive, even her poetry would, at times, get repetitive. then, the last 15-20% of the book picked back up again with so much new information and plot being introduced.
overall, the book wasn’t bad content wise. the pacing just caused me to get a little bored halfway through. honestly, it’s probably not something i will end up rereading.
thank you netgalley for the arc!
i’m going to start by going over content:
there was a good distinction between culture and religion. having muslims that are from different places with different cultures (pakistani, indian, american, bangladeshi, etc) is a good way to subtly do this and this author did it great
i liked the way in which the author incorporated Nida’s practicing of Islam. doing her daily prayers, reading Quran, dressing modestly, greeting people with salaam, hadith, fasting, sacrifice, etc. they were incorporated very naturally and it didn’t seem forced. the information was correct and mostly not stereotyped.
i particularly loved nidas love for prayer. saying that she saw it as a comforting embrace is a beautiful way to describe the peace that prayer can bring. also how it helped her to fall in love with Islam and understand it better.
sometimes, the portrayal of islam would become a little exaggerated. for example, this books seems to take place in an urban setting, a city or city adjacent. nida constantly makes mention to her mom bringing live goats into their home to give in sacrifice. i live in an urban setting and its not very common for this to happen. mostly a certain amount will be paid for a goat to be sacrificed in their name somewhere else. that being said, it’s not that it’s incorrect information or that it’s wrong, it’s just not super common.
i didn’t love when the author wrote that hijab is not a choice. it is so much more complex than that. it is a commandment yes, however in Islam there is not law that punishes women for not wearing hijab.
ok now let’s move on to writing style:
this point is not a specific grievance i have with this book or author, just something i’ve noticed recently. while it is very important to write about the overt racism that muslims in america face today, it is equally as important to write about the micro aggressions and subtle islamaphobia that muslims (especially hijabis) face on the daily. these micro aggressions are just as harmful and even more common. i would love to have more books be written about this topic.
my main reason for disliking this book was the overall writing style. i felt that the pacing was a little off. the first 30% of the book was so packed with intense moments. but after that, it slowed a lot. so much so that it got repetitive. Nida’s inner dialogue got repetitive, her conversations with her mother got repetitive, even her poetry would, at times, get repetitive. then, the last 15-20% of the book picked back up again with so much new information and plot being introduced.
overall, the book wasn’t bad content wise. the pacing just caused me to get a little bored halfway through. honestly, it’s probably not something i will end up rereading.
January 24, 2024
I always like checking out debut authors in hopes that I find something special. With the idea that Hope Ablaze was like a mix of All My Rage and The Poet X, I was definitely intrigued and excited to dive into a culture that I'm not overly familiar with.
Upon starting the book, I almost put it down and didn't finish it. I think ultimately that the age group that it was geared toward wasn't really for me. It was for YA and although I do like and read those books, I wasn't feeling all too connected with it, although I was enjoying the pieces of letters as poetry that was included. I decided to keep going and I'm glad I did. I got to see a young woman that felt strongly toward her culture and religion and came from a very close knit family that happened to have very strong ties to their community. And it was that community that played a huge role in not only her life, but also to the plot of the story.
When Nida is put through an uncomfortable situation at a political event, it triggers something in her in a way that she must get out her feelings through the written word. Unfortunately (or fortunately), those words get into the hands of the wrong person and her poetry becomes viral. For people that already saw her community as a danger, it became even worse for her.
I truly liked the voice of the author and the way she was trying to get a huge message across, especially during the current world climate. She dealt with politics and how broken our system is and combined that with racism and Islamophobia. It was a lot to chew for a story that is geared towards young adults and at times was repetitive and didn't always succeed. BUT, I commend the author for taking such huge steps toward getting her words and thoughts out into the world so more people understand cultures in which they do not belong to.
Although not everything worked for me, there was lots that did. I loved Nida and her family and how strongly culture and food played into their home life. I liked that her family backed her up and supported what she needed to do to get those around her to understand what she was trying to say in her letters of poetry.
Overall, this book wasn't necessarily written for my age group, but I enjoyed aspects of it. The poetry included was timely and added to the movement of the story. I also loved seeing a young woman come to terms with who she is and the voice she was given within her community. She evolved and grew from her experience while also learning how important her family was, but especially her voice.
Sarah Mughal Rana is a promising young author and I can't wait to see where she goes from here.
Upon starting the book, I almost put it down and didn't finish it. I think ultimately that the age group that it was geared toward wasn't really for me. It was for YA and although I do like and read those books, I wasn't feeling all too connected with it, although I was enjoying the pieces of letters as poetry that was included. I decided to keep going and I'm glad I did. I got to see a young woman that felt strongly toward her culture and religion and came from a very close knit family that happened to have very strong ties to their community. And it was that community that played a huge role in not only her life, but also to the plot of the story.
When Nida is put through an uncomfortable situation at a political event, it triggers something in her in a way that she must get out her feelings through the written word. Unfortunately (or fortunately), those words get into the hands of the wrong person and her poetry becomes viral. For people that already saw her community as a danger, it became even worse for her.
I truly liked the voice of the author and the way she was trying to get a huge message across, especially during the current world climate. She dealt with politics and how broken our system is and combined that with racism and Islamophobia. It was a lot to chew for a story that is geared towards young adults and at times was repetitive and didn't always succeed. BUT, I commend the author for taking such huge steps toward getting her words and thoughts out into the world so more people understand cultures in which they do not belong to.
Although not everything worked for me, there was lots that did. I loved Nida and her family and how strongly culture and food played into their home life. I liked that her family backed her up and supported what she needed to do to get those around her to understand what she was trying to say in her letters of poetry.
Overall, this book wasn't necessarily written for my age group, but I enjoyed aspects of it. The poetry included was timely and added to the movement of the story. I also loved seeing a young woman come to terms with who she is and the voice she was given within her community. She evolved and grew from her experience while also learning how important her family was, but especially her voice.
Sarah Mughal Rana is a promising young author and I can't wait to see where she goes from here.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 261 reviews