She Wore Red Trainers

by Na'ima B. Robert

Praise for Na'ima B. Robert's previous publications:

"Interesting, and certainly timely."�Kirkus Reviews, on Boy Vs Girl

"Highly recommended."�TheBookBag.co.uk, on Black Sheep

"Robert's poetic style is captivating."�School Library Journal, on Ramadan Moon

When Ali first meets Amirah, he notices everything about her�her hijab, her long eyelashes and her red trainers�in the time it takes to have one look, before lowering his gaze. And, although Ali is still coming to terms with the loss of his mother and exploring his identity as a Muslim, and although Amirah has sworn never to get married, they can't stop thinking about each other. Can Ali and Amirah ever have a halal "happily ever after"?

Na'ima B. Robert is descended from Scottish Highlanders on her father's side and the Zulu people on her mother's side. She was born in Leeds, England, grew up in Zimbabwe, and went to university in London, England. At high school, her loves included performing arts, public speaking, and writing stories that shocked her teachers! She has written several multicultural books for children which have won, and been shortlisted, for numerous awards.

Na'ima divides her time between London and Cairo, Egypt, and dreams of living on a farm with her own horses. Until then, she is happy to be a mum to her four children and keep reading and writing books that take her to a different world each time.

Genres: Romance, Young Adult, Contemporary, Fiction, Muslims, Islam, Contemporary Romance

184 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 7, 2014

About the author

Na’ima B Robert is descended from Scottish Highlanders on her father's side and the Zulu people on her mother's side. She was born in Leeds, grew up in Zimbabwe and went to university in London. At high school, her loves included performing arts, public speaking and writing stories that shocked her teachers.
Her popular 'From my sisters' lips' explored the reality of living as a Muslim woman in the West. She has written several multicultural books for children, including 'The Swirling Hijaab', 'Going to Mecca' and 'Ramadan Moon'. She is also the author of the teen novels 'From Somalia, with love', 'Boy vs Girl', 'Black Sheep' and the award-winning 'Far from Home', a historical novel set in Zimbabwe. Her cult classic 'She Wore Red Trainers' pioneered the 'halal romance novel' genre. She divides her time between London and Yorkshire and dreams of living on a farm with her own horses. Until then, she is happy to keep telling untold stories, calling for increased representation in children's books and mentoring other aspiring Muslim writers with her writing groups and programmes.

Reviews

[s · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you know me, then you know that I seriously do not like the YA Contemporary genre. But like, this is a YA Contemporary about 2 Muslim teens, HOW CAN I NOT READ IT?? Not just Muslim, but a hijabi girl romance! Like, fuck yes I'm in for it. And the blurb sounded super cute, so Sunny had to read it. But, I'm slightly disappointed and annoyed at this book. It had a great premise and could have turned out to be a great story, but it kind of failed.

Ali is a teen who is exploring his identity as a Muslim and is striving to become a better one. His mother died, his little brother is always angry and now they have to move to a new place and grow used to it. Life is hard for Ali and his family and he doesn't want to admit it, but they are growing apart from each other, well his little brother anyways.

Amirah is also a teen who has issues with her step father, mother, and her past. Her mother was a revert and is always marrying and divorcing men. Amirah seeing the way these men treat her mother, swears to never marry and focus only on her education and become independent. She doesn't want to rely on a man, but be able to provide for herself and take care of herself.

This sounds absolutely awesome, but it seriously wasn't. For someone who swears not to marry, Amirah seriously couldn't stop thinking about Mr. Light Eyes (Ali) and Ali couldn't stop thinking about the girl in the red trainers. Their romance also had no development whatsoever. It was really rushed and the book felt too short. The characters also had no development. They were so plain and dull, like, God forbid these characters be a little more complex.

The author also uses the word "bro" and "kissed his/her teeth" a little way TOO MUCH. Like, what the fuck does kissing your teeth even mean??? The overuse of the word 'bro' was super freaking annoying. Ali and the side characters had no other relationship, than saying "bro to each other" like, can you not?? The writing also felt really flat and immature at times.

However, this entire book wasn't bad. There were some adorable parts which I really enjoyed and I absolutely LOVED that ending! For me, this was super short and I was able to read it quickly, which was awesome.

Religion is really important in this book and it's also really important to the characters (yayyy!!). It also shows positivity on Islam and educates on the religion and practices. Doesn't give much information, but some. Anyways, if you're interested in picking up a YA Contemporary about Muslim characters and interested in learning more about the religion, pick this one up!

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shhhhhh I AM NOT SCREAMING

[♛ may · Rating 3 out of 5]

buckle up friends, this is a long one

full review posted

guys, I cannot tell you how rare it is to see a young adult book feature muslim teenagers who are proud of their faith and who’s daily struggles aren’t entirely defined by their religious restrictions or islamophobia.

these kids have regular, normal lives and struggle with regular, normal things and just act like normal freaking human beings and IM SO HAPPY I FOUND SOME DAMN GOOD REPRESENTATION (even if it was cheesy and overdone at times, but we’ll get to that in a second)

as for the pros

the characters

📌 the representation was absolutely fabulous. It follows two characters, amirah, a headstrong, determined girl who is dealing with serious family issues, especially her mother’s depression and how that impacts her and her younger siblings.

📌 then we have ali, a soft sweet boy who is starting to learn more about his religion after the tragic death of his mother and is trying to cope with his grief, help his younger brothers, all while in the process of moving to a new city.

📌 what I genuinely loved about the characters was how we got to see them in such a real way. Especially in amirah’s case, we got to see this well-developed personality of this teenage girl who is so proud of her religion and is educated but has seen her mother suffer so much at the hands of terrible men that she has sworn off marriage and love for herself

📌 she is focused on her studies and art and wants to become independent but she we also see another side of her with her siblings, where she is kindhearted and sweet. She has a great friend group that was so precious and they talk and giggle and annoy each other (and yes mayyybe it was slightly overdone and cheesy at times but hey im trying to be positive here)

”Get married whole Amirah, that’s what I tell my girls. Don’t get married weak and needy"

the romance

📌 I really like how detailed the author got when she explained marriage in the muslim community. she explained the whole we-don’t-date-thing really well without sounding apologetic or forceful, it was just matter of fact and we love that

📌 it’s REALLY hard to find (and to write) a “halal” romance book but I thought the author was able to make the interactions cute and innocent and realistic (I DO however, wish we got MORE scenes with them rather than having these short, small interactions repeated and remembered over and over. like gimme something substantial that makes me root for them against all odds)

the softness

📌 all the characters in the book are babies. I absolutely loved the moments with the siblings and seeing them bond. I felt those relationships were probably the most developed. There were really tender moments with amirah and her little brother. He is deaf and they sign to each other and she tries to find activities for him to express himself and fjlkdajlkf IT’S SO WHOLESOME MY HEART

📌 ali and his brothers have a different dynamic and I like how the was shown too. there are these small tender moments here and there (when they mention their mom and talk about the struggles with faith) that really warm my snow cold heart :”)

📌 BUT LIKE HONESTLY I have to complain about zayd. His character was so………unnecessary. I know he fulfils the protective older brother role but hes so tiring omg like one minute he’s talking to amirah and they’re joking and she’s sassing him and the next minute he’s with his friends and he’s mr. grumps like boi bye with those mood swings


and now bring on the cons

📌 from a literary standpoint, I thought the writing was lacking. The book really felt dated with its slang (which aNNOYED me so much) and felt like an adult trying to write teens.

📌 and aside from that, pretty much ALL of my criticism can be boiled down to ”I Wish This Aspect Was Given More Page Time

📌 for a book that was fairly short, I feel we didn’t spend enough time with the characters to see them grow and mature in their rightful ways

📌 for example: amirah starts off the book being 110% against the idea of marriage bc she has seen her mother get involved with so many terrible dudes and then the second she sees ali her brain short circuits and she’s ready to RISK IT ALL

📌 I understand, shes a teenager, but at the same tiME SHE COULD OFFER SOME MORE RESISTANCE

📌 I saw a lot of important scenes told really quickly and had pretty rough transitions. I wish there was more elaboration on really monumental moments, maybe some flashbacks and foreshadowing to build the scenes rather than just TELLING us what happened

📌 OKAY AND A QUICK MENTION, WHAT THE HECK WAS ABU MALIK’S ARC. IT WAS SO WEIRD AND IT CAME OUT OF NOWHERE AND I JUST, CAN YOU NOT

📌 and lastly, ali’s character felt a little inauthentic to me. I mean, he’s 19 and he talks like hes a 65 year old sheikh. I liked how he owned his faith and comes from a background where he had to make a conscious effort to live the way he does, but omg pls give him some teenage qualities

📌I wanted to see more banter from him rather than using his character as a vehicle to lecture the audience and fill in the blanks for readers who aren’t familiar with islamic beliefs


OVERALL though, I thought it had fantastic representation and had really interesting themes and scenes AND IT WAS VERY CUTE but I just wish it was longer and included more detail. If it did, it would have been a Whole Win for me

[fadheela ♡ (travel hiatus) · Rating 1 out of 5]

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷・❥・𝓟𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀・❥・ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

⤿💌24/03/25
DNF @52%. too slow and my attention span have reached its limit. Maybe I will try giving it a chance in next ramadan.

⤿💌19/03/25
randomly choosing this from my ramadan tbr because I didn't know what to read next 😩 hoping this is another cute book 🤭👉🏻👈🏻

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this book!

I don't know how I missed this book (of course, education was ruining my life the time this book came out) but yes, I am glad I read this book today!

The characters are so realistic inspite of the typical ya storyline. But yes, this one will stay with me. The parents, the friends, the siblings. The Muslim community and their rich culture, the beliefs and the changing times. The discussion gets hot and quite liberating in the plot.

I love this one more so because of the outspoken characters, specifically the main female character. She has a past she's not proud of but she's so responsible, she's independent and living her dreams inspite of the limitations she had to face because of the so called 'rules' a girl had to follow.

I love Ali and Ami together. They are so damn cute. The story isn't fluffy and cheesy. The characters are more mature considering their ages but I can understand they have become wo they were because of the situations both of them had to face from a young age.

Love the book. Quite a read I say. And I hate the unreasonable and unrealistic adult characters 🤦

*Some favorite lines:

"Getting married was the biggest milestone, the one piece of news a girl's parents would make sure they shared with the whole community. Once you're married, you're safe: you're off the streets, you're not a fitnah, a trial, you've got someone to take care of you."
(What everyone else thinks!)

"If there’s one thing I’ve learned about life, it’s this: when you are not supposed to do something, you will find it near impossible to resist and when you have to do something, you’ll find any number of excuses to avoid doing it."

"I guess those things – that world – is too removed from most people’s day to day reality. Life is tough for most people. Art is for the select few, those who have the time and energy to appreciate it. You can’t appreciate beauty if you are running on empty, struggling to survive.
All the more reason to choose a different type of life."

[sara سارة · Rating 4 out of 5]

when i say i want HALAL romance, this is exactly what i mean!!
i love all the mcs and their ongoing struggles with being young muslims in the west, it all felt so raw and unfiltered. it is cheesy (and may never happen to anyone irl), but it's cute and that's all that i need in books like these <3

[Fuzaila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that I've got a (slight) hold on my emotions, I'll try to construct a proper review *ahem*

OVERVIEW
Ali and his family have just moved to South London after his mother's death. His younger brothers aren't taking it well, and his father is oblivious to their feelings. He makes friends in the neighbourhood and that's where he sees Amirah, his friend Zayd's sister. Amirah is an art lover, who has sworn she would never marry, after seeing all that her mother had gone through. As practicing muslims, Ali and Amirah do not have dating in their mind. But after their first encounter, all they can do is think of each other. Is there a halal way around it? Would they be able to pursue their feelings while staying true to their faith at the same time?

MY THOUGHTS
Let me say, this book was NOT what I was expecting. It has done a really good job of potraying ISLAM as the peaceful religion it is. Without sounding preachy, it gives us a fairly good idea of the religion.

And the characters. They felt so real, it was almost scary. It felt as if they were actually speaking to us.
And Amirah! OMG. I have read many books where I related to the character, but none as much as I did here. She loves art. Check. She reads. Check. She is a muslim. Check. It was as if someone stole the ramblings off my messy mind and carved them into meaningful lines. I'm not even pissed. Amirah is TRUE. Amirah is ME. (Or my long lost twin). 'Nuff said.

VERDICT
Now that I really think about it, the romance does seem a bit clichéd. The ending was also dramatic. Some people might find the dialect problematic, but to me it was just... cute.

This isn't your usual romance, it has a life of it's own. The way Na'ima Roberts has written this wonderful book with real-as-hell characters is just WOW. I'm not kidding. Read it for yourself.

If there's one thing I have learned about in life, it's this:
When you're not supposed to do something, you will find it near impossible to resist and when you have to do something, you'll find any number of excuses to avoid doing it.

[Lilac · Rating 2 out of 5]

Back in high school when Na'ima B. Robert came to speak at my school, this was the book she was writing at the time. So you could say I've been waiting to read this “halal romance” for years, though I completely forgot and just happened to see this at the library after months of not reading.

And I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book.

On one hand, it's nice to see a novel that reflects the experiences of a Muslim teenager living in the West. Unlike certain other Muslim protagonists , Ali and Amirah aren't discovering Islam as something new and exotic, they're living it in the air they breathe. It's just...life. With identity struggles from time to time, but just...life. On the other hand, it's fucking uncanny. I'm used to fiction, YA fiction especially, being starkly different from my own reality as a person who was embedded in an Islamic community for like 87% of my life. The downside of being able to identify with something (kinda) is that I can't help comparing it to my own experience and being unable to suspend my disbelief.

For example, the “one look” where they first see each other? In the split second before Ali lowers his gaze (cause he's halal like that) he manages to see, and I quote, “the tiny hands, the pale fingernails, the cleft in her chin, its defiant tilt, the hose ring, the piercing eyes, the long eyelashes” (p. 19)? And she in return memorizes his hands well enough to draw them from memory, which is a level of unrealistic I can't even express and art doesn't work like that? From across the basketball court? Thing is, I know this scene-- Muslim guys playing ball outside the mosque, hogging the court, wallowing in their masculinity, and then...someone's sister appears! DUN DUN DUN. A pause. You make eye contact across the distance, a forbidden glance DRIPPING with sexual tension. Opposite-gender relations are so rare for some people that this is genuinely significant moment that you're going to discuss with your friends later. He looked at me. It's ridiculous. You might develop a crush, stalk him on social media and so on, but is that moment across the room where ~sparks fly~ likely to lead to a healthy relationship? No.

Not only is “love at first sight” trope an annoying YA cliché, it's a real life phenomenon that ends up with more severe consequences for Muslim teenagers who get married young than just having a bad relationship. It's ironic that one of Amirah's friends says in the beginning of the book “I prefer the Islamic approach: don't try to woo me, speak to me plainly, honestly, tell me what you're bringing to the table. I'll judge you on your merits, with a clear head, and make a rational decision, one that is based on fact, not butterflies.” Which is...the exact opposite of what happened in this book. After their initial meeting, I thought maybe they would interact some more, actually get to know each other outside of superficial things but...they didn't. They had a handful of short, half-flirty moments and admire each other from a distance and somehow Ali decides he wants to be with her for the rest of his life. They have some love triangle jealousy shit, because this is a YA novel to the core, culminating in a “bae don't leave” airport scene. You know the type. *gags*

I'm not a huge fan of portraying this bullshit as the ideal relationship. The thing is, this happens. People rushing into marriage because it's the halal way to marry the person they wanted to date...And being stuck in it for life, OR they get divorced and face extra stigma because of a dumb ass decision they made at 18 years old.

Anyways, one could have a halal relationship without it being substanceless. Like, this is where the suspension of disbelief comes in again because Good Muslims (since the author is really intent on not having one speck of ambiguity in this book) DO talk to the opposite gender. One has to interact through school, through the mosque, through organizing activities and so on. It doesn't have to be flirting but umm, you get to know someone's character a hell of a lot better from cooperating with them on a project or as *ahem* teachers at summer school (that's literally a way some very religious people I know met). And what about that whole thing about Wali's? Isn't it allowed for Ali and Amirah to be in the same room as long as Zayd is there? It wouldn't have been difficult.

The book is directly contradicting itself in it's message. You shouldn't make emotional decisions based on wishy-washy ideas of “romance”....but if you do have feeeeeeeellliings you should get married the halal way. A narrative that tried to bridge the gap between Islamic "morals" and the modern search for intimacy and happiness.

Not to be cynical or anything, but it feels to me like this is story about teenagers rather than for them. Like a guide for what Muslim teenagers should do when faced with Issues(tm). Except it falls short, because Ali and Amirah never do anything haram in this entire book. Their “bad” phases are mentioned offscreen, in the past. They're Good Muslims now. Their friends are good Muslims. Moral dilemmas? Ambiguity? Nope. Ali shuts down his ex-girlfriend, Amy, right away, and there's no tension here because we know he's not going to go for anything haram. There's no way for character to develop if they don't, y'know, have flaws in the first place...

If you're raised in a religioius atmosphere, you've probably seen the different types of preachers and leaders. There's the stuffy old ones, and there's the “cool” ones. The youth leaders, probably born and raised in the West. They appeal to you with jokes and pop culture references, acting like a siblinglike figure who listens to all your problems including taboo topics like sex, drugs, etc. But they're feeding you the same guidelines you learned from your parents and traditional preachers: never doubt, be chaste, don't wear tight clothing or fall outside the good girl mold, etc. That's what this book is like.

It's preachy, but I do believe this one is more interesting and better written than Boy vs. Girl. (either that or my standards have fallen). So make of that what you will.

Other random things that I'm concerned about:

* WHAT. IS. THEIR. ETHNICITIES. Ali and Amirah are referred to several times as "mixed" but unless I missed something, it's never stated what goddamn ethnicity. Boy vs. Girl focused too much on ethnic background, this one didn't mention it at all. Each one of them has a convert parent, but are they white? Black? What? It's not a big deal but why does it have to be a SECRET????

* "kissed his teeth" the actual fuck

* a little heavy on the Islamic terminology. Non-Muslim readers probably have a hard enough time getting used to "mashallah" and "inshallah." Why bring up miswaks? And I've never heard the word tarbiyah used in casual language. Or concepts of "da'eef" and "adab"? "Kids have no manners!!1" Those are things parents or condescending jerks say. Not average Muslim teenagers, that would be hypocritical. And if someone said "i won't let my sister marry a da'eef brother" to their face, I wouldn't be surprised if he got laughed at and also punched like who even says that??? And wth is "ghayrah"?

* Samia calls herself a "revert" (pg.63) but the reader isn't told what that means--that all children are born following the one true path and becoming Muslim is returning to that state? I think it would've given more insight to Islam idk...Also is desi ppl wearing dupattas to school a regular thing in the UK, like...what.

*What is Amirah's family going to do without her? How can they survive?

*last but not least, IS IT REALLY ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO HAVE A LITTLE BORDER W/ THE MALE OR FEMALE SYMBOL FOR EACH OF THE POVS? LIKE, WHAT DOES THIS ACCOMPLISH OTHER THAN EMPHASIZE HOW HETEROSEXUAL THIS BOOK IS. IS THE READER TOO STUPID TO KNOW WHICH CHAPTER IS FROM WHOSE POV I MEAN?????????????????? *screams into an empty sky*

[Salma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm don't usually pick up romance novels, but being a Muslim romance, I was curious. I was curious too see how all the romantic cliches -awkward first dates, holding hands, sunset picnics - would play out in a story like this.
I wasn't disappointed. Got butterflies all throughout just like Amirah.
By the last 10 chapters everything was moving so quickly I would skip lines or just skim through because I was so eager to see how the events would unfold, whereas the first few chapters, everything was moving very slowly which helped me become part of the story as a reader, to really be living with everyone in London.

Surely a book I will pick up again.

[Zeynep زينب · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐

THIS IS WHAT YOU CALL REPRESENTATION!

Seriously, I have been trying (and failing) to find a book with a proper Muslim representation, for a long time.

But what do I mean by "proper Muslim representation"?

I definitely don't mean perfectly practicing, perfect characters who don't make any mistakes and who do EVERYTHING according to Islam. No. That would be unrealistic and no one could relate to the story, as we know that no one is perfect. What I call a 'bad representation' is, however, when characters make mistakes, do things that are forbidden in Islam - and they know that it's forbidden - but they don't turn away from them, instead continue with them and try to justify their actions. That, in my opinion, is bad representation, those types of stories won't do anything other than pull young readers further away from the Deen, thinking that it's normal and accepted to do so.

But this book, unlike those stories I just talked about, shows that the characters struggle with many different things, they have some dark pasts, BUT they try their best to stay away from sinning and they repent from their past sins. Perfect.

Story:
I loved the love story (which was halal!!), the way many different conflicts were woven into the story, and the way everyone had their problems and struggles. I loved the way things unfolded, Amirah's art passion, and Ali's wanting to help people in need instead of pursuing higher education.

Amirah and Ali's story was so cute, and even though at times it felt a bit unrealistic, it was really well written and got me smiling multiple times.🤍

Writing
I must admit that, as I've seen in many reviews, the writing was not the best. There were some minor grammatical mistakes and some uncommon ways to tell the facial expressions of people. But it was only in the beginning. After chapters 5-10 I feel like those were gone and the writing was actually really smooth and engaging. I could focus on the story much more easily.

Characters:
I won't talk about each character individually, because there were too many, but I wanna say that I am really amazed by the variety of characters in this book. There are Muslim reverts, people who started practicing after a turning point, Christians, and people who were born and raised as Muslims etc. ✨

My favorite character in the book was definitely Auntie Azra. She was such a nice auntie/mother-figure. Her constant help to Amirah was so sweet. We all need a person like her in our lives, imo.❤️‍🩹

About the author
When I was done with the book and read the "about the author" page at the end, I was so so surprised and happy to find out that the author was a revert! I am so incredibly grateful to see more and more people joining this beautiful religion and, in the author's case, representing it so beautifully. May Allah bless her for this.

Why not 5⭐?
Even though I really liked the book for the most part, I feel like the ending was a bit too short and just a bit rushed. I would like to see more of them, but that's not a big thing ofc. Along with the writing in the beginning, I chose to rate it 4.5 stars. Also, I feel like there were some minor plot holes, like what happened with Umar? Did he see the beauty of Islam at the end? I would really have liked to see that

Conclusion:
I have so much to say about this book, but this review is already so long, so I'll cut it here.
I HIGHLY recommend this book if you want a proper Muslim representation, a cute love story, and a light read (though I must admit I got tears in my eyes a few times and got my heart broken a couple of times.)
And thank you, Sara, for buddy reading this with me. It was really fun talking with you about the book throughout the reading 💗💗

[farhia · Rating 4 out of 5]

pass the tissues 🥹❤️‍🩹

[Nour (FREE PALESTINE) Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
I wish I could rate this higher because I really liked the end, but there was so many small flaws that the end didn't quite make up for it.
I think this is my first YA muslim rep fiction and I feel kinda guilty about my harsh review. But I did enjoy and there were amazing lessons and it was a cute story, but the execution could have been so much better.

Beginning ★★☆☆☆
Usually I am a huge fan of multiple POV's, but this time I was honestly just confused. Half the time I think I’m reading from Ali's perspective and I’m like HOW DID YOUR MOM COME BACK FROM THE DEAD AND HAVE TWO MORE GROWN UP CHILDREN AND YOUR DAD IS NOW M.I.A.- oh wait, this is amirah... It took some getting used to. I feel like everything at the start was really fast and the author just wanted to get to the drama asap.

Middle ★★☆☆☆
I felt like there were a lot of details which were added halfway through the book and the beginning wasn't updated. I just found myself confused most of the time. I wish that we got more information on the characters pasts and their backgrounds, but I was left with a lot of unanswered questions.

End ★★★★☆
Okay, now I'm going to stop complaining. Once you get the idea of who the characters are and what they went through, the book got much better (maybe if I reread it I would enjoy it more). The whole love triangle had me stressing while reading and I honestly didn't think it was possible for there to be a love triangle in this book... but I was wrong. The ending honestly brought tears to my eyes and I was really happy.

Amirah
I really liked her backstory and how she fell away from Islam and what led her back. She is a really strong character and I enjoyed reading about her, though she did stress me out.
I thought it was so cool how her brother is deaf (that sounds weirder than it did in my head) mainly because I am learning ASL and that stuff about art therapy was so interesting

Ali
I don’t know he kinda weirded me out at times (especially how he talks, I don't think anyone talks like that...) but I didn't mind him. The way he feels about Amirah is just so sweet. (HOW HE TOLD HER THAT HE WOULD CARRY HER BAGGAGE WAS SO CUTE)
I don’t really get why Umar (Ali's brother) was so mad about spending the summer I mean I know eventually they were planning to move, but he didn't know that. I would love spending the summer in london. also HOW OLD IS HE?? I MUST KNOW.
I wish I knew what his tattoo ment...

Writing style
It was a bit childish, but I think the author was really trying to explain all these foreign words to non-muslims so I guess I understand

Overall
Although I enjoyed reading a muslim rep book, I couldn't relate as much as I wanted to with the characters. I mean they were talking about marriage and pregnancy by the age of 19 just seemed crazy to me. and the fact that Amirah said that she shouldn't be able to recognize someone of the opposite gender, like I don’t know if she was kidding, but for me, that a bit much.


Also: HOW DOES ONE KISS THEIR TEETH?? I don’t know maybe its a british thing.

[Ayesha Mashiat · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHAT A BOOK!
I mean if you're Muslim and you found this book, how do you even go back to reading the non Muslim romances anymore?😭🖐🏽
This book has forever ruined every other non Muslim romance for me.


It's extremely hard to get hands on books where Muslim characters are unapologetically Muslims. In this book we find a story of such two Muslims. Ali Jordan is a guy who found Islam after his mother's death, Amirah found Islam after her life went astray in early teen years. Both of them had come a long way and held on to Islam strongly, which I admired a lot. Their romance was 100% halal and I dig that more than anything 😭🖐🏽.


I also liked the character development of Amirah. Amirah was someone who didn't like girls getting married early and popping kids. She was a lot into the liberal mindset of being successful in careers and then family as a luxury option. But author showed downs in her life which made her character grow as a Muslimah. I loved that. Both Ali and Amirah were the anchors of their almost sinking families and this also shows a deep connection between Islam and family bondings.


However, one part of the book really irked me was the Mottie scale. In Islam, women are also asked to lower their gazes. It doesn't only apply to brothers. It applies to us girls as well.


Also, can we pleaseeeeee talk about Ali's proposal😭🖐🏽? That guy stole my heart. He wasn't perfect but he was trying. That's the thing, to keep trying and to be better. Another aspect of the book which I admired a lot was Umar. Umar is a representative of almost every teen who hadn't had their Islamic awakening yet and those who desperately seek so. Representation of Umar was acknowledging the journeys of young Muslims and I think that's quite beautiful.


And y'all. Zayd's mine. Y'all take all those shit Aaron Warner, Rhys shit and what the hell not. I take Zayd. No questions. No claims. He is mine. Locked🔒


Another thing this book taught me was, you don't need 5000 people at your wedding. You can have a wedding with only the bride, groom and wali and THAT'S LITERALLY IT. Why do we need to invite the entire country to a wedding? Just explain that to me😭🖐🏽.


Also, Ali communicating with Abdullah through sign language and the whole interaction between Ali and Abdullah, my ghawsh. Why so cute Ali?!🤲🏼


All in all, I loved this book to bits. It's refreshing, reading a halal romance in the sea of haram romances with hyper sexualisations and smut scenes. This book was like a breath of fresh air. I'd recommend every Muslim to read this book. Non Muslims can read it too but 👊🏼 if you leave any Islamophobic review. I mean it.





Pre review
I swear uni doesn't look much appealing anymore........
Will write full review later

[Meerah · Rating 4 out of 5]

𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙤 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚-𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙪𝙜𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬𝙨

𝘚𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺, 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘥 𝘢 𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨

𝓖𝓮𝓷𝓻𝓮 : 𝙄𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙘 𝙁𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣

𝓼𝔂𝓷𝓸𝓹𝓼𝓲𝓼 : 𝘿𝙪𝙖𝙡 𝙋𝙊𝙑 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘼𝙢𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝘼𝙡𝙞 𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙣 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙄𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙘 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙨. 𝘼𝙡𝙞 𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝘼𝙢𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙝 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙤𝙗𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙖𝙩𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙬𝙤 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙙𝙧𝙖𝙬𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙡.

𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓼 : 𝑰𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝑭𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒉, 𝑪𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒗𝒔 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔, 𝑵𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈

𝓥𝓲𝓸𝓵𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓮 : 𝑵𝒐𝒏𝒆

𝓒𝓾𝓻𝓼𝓲𝓷𝓰 : 𝑵𝒐𝒏𝒆

𝓗𝓪𝓵𝓪𝓵 𝓡𝓸𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮? : 𝑵𝒐 𝒌𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒏𝒐 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒌𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕

𝓣𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓰𝓮𝓻 𝓦𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 : 𝑳𝒐𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒆

𝓣𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼 : 𝑰 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒈𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕, 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒍 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒎. 𝑰 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉, 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏'𝒕 𝒃𝒂𝒅, 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒘𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼 :
𝘼𝙢𝙞𝙧𝙖𝙝 : 𝐴𝑚𝑖𝑟𝑎ℎ ℎ𝑎𝑠 𝑎𝑙𝑤𝑎𝑦𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑐𝑢𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑚𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑. 𝐼 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟, 𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑡 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑡, 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑 𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑛. 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑠ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒, 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝐼 𝑔𝑒𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑟𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒.

𝘼𝙡𝙞 : 𝐴𝑙𝑖 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑓 𝑜𝑓 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑚𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑡ℎ, 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑡ℎ 𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑑𝑎𝑑 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑒 ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝐼𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑔𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑎 𝑏𝑖𝑡.

𝙕𝙖𝙮𝙙 : 𝐼 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑢𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝐼 𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛

𝓡𝓮𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓭 𝓪𝓰𝓮 : 13+

𝓞𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵𝓵 : 𝓦𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓻𝓮𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓭 𝓲𝓯 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓪𝓷𝓽 𝓪 𝓯𝓪𝓼𝓽 𝓹𝓪𝓬𝓮𝓭 𝓗𝓪𝓵𝓪𝓵 𝓻𝓸𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓭𝓮𝓪𝓵𝓼 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓰𝓻𝓲𝓮𝓯 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓯𝓪𝓲𝓽𝓱.

[Fadwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review originally posted on my blog: Word Wonders

This book is probably the oldest book by a Muslim author on my TBR, from the time when I was still very hesitant to pick books with Muslim MCs up… for reasons. So it got burried under a gigantic pile of books and I only remembered about it while trying to figure out my TBR for Ramadan Readathon. And to be honest, it kind of checked a box for one of the reasons I used to stay away from these books quite some time ago, which I’ll be explaining in detail somewhere in this review. That being said, it was still a true to life, enjoyable story.

The writing is simple enough to follow and easy to read which helped a lot with the pacing on the book, one thing that bugged me about it is how much the words “teeth kissing” (??) and “bro” were used, there was too much of them. She Wore Red Trainers is written in dual POV alternating between Ali and Amirah which was good, because even though the two of them don’t interact much, we still got to see what each of them thought of the other, of the few times they met, etc…

There’s one thing I want to address before moving on with the review, it’s about the fact that a lot of people (non-muslim and western in most of the cases) thought the romance unrealistic because the two of them barely talked so “how can they develop feelings for each other?”. The fact that this is different from western cultures and situations doesn’t make it unrealistic, in fact, this is the reality for a lot of Muslims who get married only after a few meeting because that’s just how things are done and most of these marriages work just fine. So please be careful not to label real people’s lives “unrealistic” just because they are different from what you’re used to experiencing.

Moving on. Even though at first glance the story appears to be a romance through and through, it’s so much more than that. It’s also about family and dealing with different traumas and different kinds of grief. I loved the siblinghood from both the MCs sides, they were different and yet similar in a way that they both cared so very deeply for their siblings. I also loved the sense of community, how everyone got together to do something for the youth and to make their summer better.

As for the romance, I really liked how the author managed to keep it interesting even with Amirah and Ali interacting very little with the stolen glances, the misunderstandings and the awkward but adorable little conversations. The ending was so very cute, I loved how the two of them ended up making things work no matter what was thrown their way.

I loved Amirah‘s personality and how ambitious, strong and witty she was, but under all of that she had a lot of deeply rooted secrets and insecurities and I loved seeing her deal with that and ultaimately break free from it.  Ali is such a responsible, funny guy, I loved how he tried to be his family’s rock after his mom’s death even though he struggled a lot on his own. He went through great development, finding himself, what he wants to do and taking a different direction with his life.

All of this being said, there was something deeply wrong with the narration, and this is my opinion and mine only. The way the characters live in this book is very strict and conservative and there’s nothing wrong with that, I actually quite liked getting a perspective that’s different from mine but what really bothered me is that the book seemed to not know there are Muslims who live their Islam in other ways, so it ultimately alienated me because I felt like it was judging my way of practicing my faith to uplift the way the characters practice it. There was use of sentences like “every self-respecting girl would do X”, implied judging of people who don’t wear the hijab, do or don’t do certain things and that made my reading experience uneasy, because as good as the story itself it failed in keeping an open mind to the other types of Muslims who are on a different level of religiosity. 

[نور | NOUR · Rating 5 out of 5]

“But human beings are amazing like that. We’re resilient. And Allah tests us with the things we love so that we can return to Him and long for His love, not the love of His creation. That was when I realized that this life isn’t meant to be perfect. It’s a place for test and examination. The true happiness, the true bliss, will be in the afterlife, Akhirah. That’s when I hope to taste pure happiness, with no loss, no tears, ever.”
This quote especially speaks to me now ✨💛
So the books is a Love story by a Muslim author and I love it! A great book to catch glimpse of lifestyle taught by Islam.
The mood is different than of the standard love books out there for sure. It has a special aura to it - the story felt pure. I'm not exactly a teenager but the author managed to transferred me back to my younger years. Remember the days when you were too young to get married but you have crushes anyway? That's it (I sometimes think I'm still too young to get married xD).
This book will make you feel giddy all over again!
Muslims or not, this book is perfect for young adults and adults alike.

[hadiaa ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is so adorable istg. And it was so good for a change and honestly? We don’t see enough teenagers being shy towards each other (in books) which is trust me the norm around me and so many scenes that made me giggle-GIGGLE. I could genuinely feel the feelings of Ali and Ams through the pages hehe and that’s it folks!

[Michelle (Fluttering Butterflies) · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting read and a very different story than I'd normally read.

She Wore Red Trainers by Na'ima B. Robert is not like any other book I've read before and I really like it for that very reason. It's always a good thing, I think, reading books very different to our own personal beliefs. It's good to read a story with a very different perspective and to see things differently. And that's what my enjoyment of She Wore Red Trainers was about for the most part.

She Wore Red Trainers has the subtitle 'A Muslim Love Story' and it is a dual-perspective novel telling the story of two teenagers, Amirah and Ali, and how they came to meet each other and fall in love and how their relationship conforms to the ideals and customs of the Muslim religion.

It was a very different experience witnessing Ali and Amirah's feelings for the other develop over the course of this novel. A lot of that connection was subtle: there wasn't very much direct interaction with each other and I felt like the two characters found out about each other more from other people, through friends and family etc, than they did through actual conversations and spending time with each other. And while as a reader seeing the events unfold from both perspectives and seeing how both Ali and Amirah feels about the other, I think it's more apparent that these two characters potentially have a lot in common and that there might be the possibility of more, I still wanted to see them talk a bit more and to see some of their shared ideas and hopes and dreams verbalised.

I really enjoyed getting to know both Ali and Amirah throughout this book. I felt like the romantic elements of this story are kind of on a back burner and at the forefront of this novel is the character development of both of our main characters as they struggle in their friendships and families and their futures. And I really enjoyed seeing how their religion shapes a lot of their thoughts and decisions and how it both helps and guides them through.

We have Ali, who has moved to London with his dad and two brothers after the death of Ali's mother and the decline in his father's business. Everyone is handling their grief in different ways and I really liked seeing Ali's brother, Umar, struggle with Ali and their dad's return to Islam and we can see that, for Umar at least, it isn't quite that easy and that there's still plenty of anger and helplessness in the face of loss.

And then there is Amirah, who is pretty resistant to the idea of boys and marriage especially in light of her mother's disastrous love life as her mother is, at the beginning of the novel, grappling with her fourth divorce. And at the same time Amirah is also questioning what she wants to do with her life and what she sees for her future. She loves art but other more practical subjects are more encouraged and pushed.

It was great to see people using their religious beliefs to do good things, like setting up a youth group and raising money for charity. It was great to explore the Muslim faith more. I found it really interesting to see the pressures that both Ali and Amirah were under - from themselves, their families, their friends, their community and within their religion. It was a very interesting experience.

[Arisha (Free Palestine &#x1f1f5;&#x1f1f8;) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so cute! I remember really liking this and its Islamic themes. I loved watching the characters grow closer with Islam. Perfect for people who loved Love From A to Z!

[trix (semi-hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

⤷ ゛If there's one thing I've learnt in my short time on this earth, it is that you don't have to look, behave or think like everyone else to achieve. Just be sincere, work hard and Allah will take care of the rest. ˎˊ˗

𐔌 . ⋮ reading summary .ᐟ ֹ ₊ ꒱
▸⋮ ⌗ read ┆apr 19 - apr 21 (2026)
▸⊱ ۫ ׅ rating: 4.45 ✧˖°
▸ spoiler free review

this book is beautiful in the way so few things are in this day and age.

i found myself irrevocably tethered to every word, every scene, every beautiful quote and i just can't help but marvel at the fact that such gems as this book exist in this world and we're simply oblivious to it.

this halal-love story redefined the meaning of a halal-love story. the marvelous representation of characters, deen (muslim way-of-life), familial relations, cultural inserts, everything.

the fmc, amirah, is so incredibly sweet, so incredibly caring, and her being is relatable on a lot of different levels. she's a talented artist, fun, so very beautiful. i feel for her so deeply, and so often do i reflect on her story and rejoice at seeing her grow into the amazing young lady we know she is.

the mmc, ali, is a man of his faith. he's genuinely the kindest person on this earth. his patience, his overwhelming love, his beautiful soul. his behaviours, his practices. the man has healthy coping mechanisms guys, i feel like we need to salute that fact. i admire him so much for being himself, living by his deen and acting out of the goodness of his heart in all that he does.

we see them grow, we see them fall, we see love bloom and we see them lean back on their faith in times of struggle and times of joy, and, subhanallah, i had a whole epiphany reading this.

i had no idea what to do with myself throughout this read, for i feared my heart would simply burst at the seams. when i say i haven't felt such a profound and all-encompassing love and adoration for my faith since i cannot even tell you when, and yet the simple act of reading this book, these words, seeing my people, has taken me somewhere i cant even begin to explain.

it's indescribable, yet it's an experience i wouldn't give up for anything.

𐔌 . quotes .ᐟ ֹ . ₊ ꒱

⤷ ゛I guess that is a mercy for the dead; they don't have to watch the living falling apart as they grieve. ˎˊ˗

⤷ ゛You can't appreciate beauty if you're running on empty, trying to survive. ˎˊ˗

⤷ ゛I didn't know how to help him heal, not without Islam. Because, without my faith in Allah, none of it made any sense to me. ˎˊ˗

⤷ ゛You haven't made the choices I have, Amirah. I pray that you never do. But if you do ever find yourself in my position, I hope that you won't judge yourself as harshly as you judge me. ˎˊ˗

⤷ ゛I had first tasted the darkness when I was a tortured 15-year-old wannabe goth girl who was angry with the world. ˎˊ˗

twin, because same??

⤷ ゛Get married whole, Amirah, that's what I tell my girls. Don't get married weak and needy, looking to your husband to make the world the one you dream of. ˎˊ˗

⤷ ゛"I don't want a lot, Amirah. I just want to be with you," I said with a shrug. "I want to wake up with you to pray Fajr. I want to learn with you, grow with you, see the world with you. I want you to be the mother of my children. I want us to grow old together, inshallah. That's all."
"Just to be together for the rest of our lives then, yeah?" She laughed, and i swear it felt so good to see that sadness disappear from her eyes.
Yes, I thought, that's it. I want to make you smile like that every day of your life, for the rest of your life, inshallah.ˎˊ˗

ali, habibi, do you have a twin brother? if so, he free?

⤷ ゛Please, Allah, if it is good for me, decree it and, if it isn't, remove it from me and replace it with better. ˎˊ˗

amen.

[nur elaika · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Zee, one thing you need to realise is that good Muslim women come in all forms. There isn't one officially sanctioned version. Just look at the Mothers of the Believers: they were all different, with characters and personalities all of their own. The only thing they conformed to was the love of Allah and His Messenger, sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, and their commitment to Islam. So why are we made to feel that we need to conform to more than that?'
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The only Halal Romance novel that I find to be all around perfect. I'm more particular when it comes to books like these because it revolves around the Deen, and that is something that we can't compromise. Nowadays, romance novels can be categorised under fantasy because of it's idealistic views. In this case, this book portrays marriage and love as incredibly realistic and relatable. The story was extremely heartwarming, it got me gushing and teary-eyed.

I appreciated that this book showed dual POVs. It shows the intentions of the two, and how each of them had Allah in mind when thinking of the other. I really love this book because it made me ponder on my own set of values and morals in a marriage. Ultimately the book is a reminder for muslimahs to strive to be the best version of ourselves solely for the sake of Allah, and inshaa Allah, everything else will fall into place.
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"Don't get married weak and needy, looking to your husband to make your world the one you dream of. What a burden for him! What high expectations. How on earth will he ever be able to fulfil all your needs? He's still learning, himself. And what happens when he fails this huge task you've set him without his knowledge? You become bitter and disappointed. And that's no way to be, trust me."

[Yusra ❥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

I have mixed feelings on this book but I did read it one day so that definitely says something.

Things I liked:
+this book was unapologetically Muslim and was literally made with just us in mind instead of catering to the west, or trying to teach them about our religion, or even to break some of the rules of the religion so we seem 'normal'.
+lots of discussions about faith and mentions of hadiths
+main girl and boy were easy to root for

Things I didn't like:
-she said I'm not like other girls
-dual pov and how the boys spoke was lowkey kinda cringe
-hating on housewives
-sooo much onsta love - idk why the author was trying to convince that it was more than physical attraction, they spoke like three times the whole book.
-main girls friends were not fleshed out at all

In conclusion, a super easy, kinda cringe but also fun halal romance that i recommend to Muslims. ( i dont necessarily recommend this for non-muslims because there is so much reference to quar'an and sunnah that it might be super confusing to non Muslims and there isn't a unique story that would make it worth it, ya know?)

[Libby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I ... was not the audience for this book. Not at all.

I like YA romance generally; I'd heard this compared to The Fault in Our Stars (spoiler alert: it is NOTHING like TFiOS except that the main couple is young and heterosexual); and I thought it would be interesting to read one culturally different from my usual.

Unfortunately, I didn't click with it at all. For one thing, the dialogue was all in dialect, and I couldn't tell if it was because it was different from my own, but I felt like the author laid it on much thicker than necessary. There was a "bro" every third word, seemed like. (I haven't had this problem with other books in dialect, but other dialects may be more familiar to me.) This felt like it was trying too hard to match how teens "really talk," and I found it almost as annoying as listening to an actual group of teenagers. It would also have been helpful for me as a Western reader if Robert had managed to define some of the Arabic words within the text, rather than with a glossary at the end. I had the Kindle version and no idea the glossary was there. Just a parenthetical phrase here or there would have helped.

But really, the biggest problem for me connecting to it was it is completely antithetical to my idea of a romance novel, YA or otherwise. Ali and Amirah have a total of perhaps five or six conversations in the course of the book, most lasting less than a page. Really this felt like two YA novels, interspersed but independent, one about a young man who has to learn to relate better to his father and brothers, and one about a young woman who has to decide what to do with her life. Every thirty pages or so, they have a very quick, modest interaction where they make small talk about nothing and find one another attractive, and then they go back to their lives. Then at the end they just get married.

I knew it was a Muslim romance, and I obviously wasn't expecting any sex. But I guess I am really American because I kind of did expect some, you know, conversation. Amirah laments that another suitor talks all about himself and doesn't let her express the kind of person she is or her hopes and dreams. But I never saw her express those directly to Ali, either. He knew about some of them from other sources, but they never discussed what was important to them.

The book was supposed to be about how right they were for each other, and I didn't get the sense that they were wrong for each other exactly, but you never see how they'll be together, because they never talk. As someone who is rarely attracted to strangers (I make an exception for Chris Hemsworth) in my own personal life, and who reads romance novels to read stories of people getting to know each other, I was totally flummoxed and put off by a story of two people who just had faith that they were with the right person because they both had the same shoes.

[Ilhaam · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only thing I’ve taken away from this book is a somewhat irrational fear of marriage um-

[Afifa · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of THE best Muslamic novels I've read in a loong time. Highly recommended for teenagers!!

[Caitlynn Day · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. I'll admit that I'm never one to read romance novels, but this one seemed interesting. And it kind of was. Kind of. Just for the vernacular.

A lot of Muslim terminology is used throughout the book and there is a short glossary in the back of the book so that you can actually understand what you're reading. This sounds cool. It's a good idea. BUT, it's not such a cool idea when I end up turning to the back of the book to find a definition for a word every five minutes. It completely ruined the flow of the story.

I got about half way through this book and I didn't want to finish because I was completely bored with everything. It felt like not much had happened. I didn't care about the characters at all.

The dialogue in this story didn't feel realistic at all. The words "bro," "akh" (brother), and "man" were used way too often and it bugged me so much.

The term "kissed his/her/my teeth" was used a lot. What does that even mean? I am so confused.

The story is told in first person with two different POVs. That's cool. But at one point the female character, Amirah is narrating and she literally says,"...Zayd was back from his Saturday job and I was like, 'Bro, you need to take over...'"
What. No. That's dumb. You can't use "and I was like" in narration. I understand that's how people talk, but that does not belong in a book unless it's direct dialogue. Ugh.

Other ridiculous things:

"And he scored a very respectable eight in our totally naughty but hilarious Muslim hottie chart: the 'Mottie Scale'"

"There was something about the way he moved - strong, graceful, rippling, like a cat - that made something flutter in my stomach."

"What a gorgeous specimen, I thought. From a purely artistic point of view, of course."

"It was a drawing of a hand, a strong, beautiful hand, the fingers tipped by perfect fingernails. A hand holding a basketball with a mole below the middle finger. And it was obvious who it belonged to. Mr. Light Eyes."

I definitely wasn't a fan of this one. Maybe it's because I'm not into cheesy romance so I can't really enjoy it. I dunno.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you’re a Muslim then I have the perfect romance book for you to read.

She wore red trainers isn’t just a love story, it’s slow burn romance that’s completely halal and will it will hit deep.

And when I say slow burn... I mean SLOW. BURN. Like, these two don’t even touch... but you’ll be kicking your feet and blushing anyway.

It’s about Ali and Amirah — two Muslim characters who are just unapologetically Muslim, both on their own spiritual journeys, who fall in love the halal way.

No random hand grazing. No smut. No compromising values.

Ali rediscovered Islam after the passing of his mother and he moved with his dad and brothers to a new place in South London.

Trying to settle in he hangs out with the brothers from the masjid and one day playing sports he had his first look at Amirah.

Amirah began living her life the Islamic way after she went down a different path in her early teen years. Wanting nothing to do with marriage due to the failed ones of her mother, developing feelings for her bother’s friend isn’t something she wants to do.

Both Ali and Amirah have come a long way in both their Deen and looking out for their family and the little interactions between them made me scream internally.

It even has a little Islamic glossary at the end so everyone can understand what certain vocab or recitations mean.

I feel like this is such a beautiful representation of what teen, maybe even adult, Muslims are struggling with.

And what I appreciate most is how the author showed that the halal way is indeed beautiful, especially to me as a revert I did in fact learn new things and Ali and Amirah, alongside the other characters, will hold a place in my heart.

‘She Wore Red Trainers’ is your fresh start to clean and halal romance. Muslims—this one’s for us.

[Adeeba · Rating 1 out of 5]

Good concept, terrible execution
I really wanted to like this book but every time I did I was hit with more cringe dialogue.
The writing was lacking and the dialogue felt like an adult using teenager’s lingo - it felt forced and cringe and as someone who hasn’t been a teenager in ten years even I know younger people don’t speak like this.
I also felt like I was reading diary entries from a 16 year old - a lot of I did this, I loved this, I helped with this which made it sound more like someone writing a reflective essay rather than a novel.
I hated the way it switched from 1st to 3rd person within the character’s narrative.

I feel like the author just overused Muslim/Islamic terms to the point of (again) cringe - things like ‘Has your wali found you a husband yet’ and ‘he doesn’t have two miswaks to rub together’ - it was overkill and as much as I love the Muslim representation we just don’t converse like this.
My Hijabed-up head - really?

This book needs an editor because the amount of pointless sentences was ridiculous.

What I liked about the novel is the Muslim representation - growing up it was rare to find a young adult book with majority Muslim characters and it was nice to read about a young group of Muslim friends just hanging out.

Literally adding an extra star for the one chapter I actually enjoyed (chpt 39) the conversation between Amirah and Auntie Azra - this was really nicely articulated.

The last quarter of the book was bearable but the ending was awful

I recognise I’m not the target audience for this and maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I was a young adult.

[Sofiya · Rating 2 out of 5]

*1.5 stars*
The amount of times I cringed was astronomical. I had to put it down and opted to study instead, it was that bad.
The writing was very juvenile, which fine, maybe I shouldn’t be reading youth books, but it was so hard to read. And even then, there’s so many well written youth books I’ve read… so this one was not it.
Everything was chaotic and rushed and the characters I liked the most had barely any coverage. 1.5 Stars for those few that I liked.

[T ✩ Handmaiden Of Amidala · Rating 2 out of 5]

When Ali meets Amirah, it's love at first sight (literally) from the moment he sets his eyes on her (before lowering his gaze).
Amirah can't take Ali off her mind, but she has sworn off love after experiencing her mother's treatment at the hands of evil men.
Both are in hard times, emotionally and financially. But will they get their happily ever after?

My thoughts:

So I loved Boy Vs Girl, but I was SORELY disappointed with this book!

The romance didn't work for me. It also gave a really strange view on arranged marriages in Islam.

But then, I know there are different viewpoints and sects within our religion. Maybe this is normal thing for some people and they're fine with it and I'm not in a place to judge. I'm just giving my viewpoint here.

Most Muslims don't just meet someone and marry them straight away. Usually you get to know each other in a supervised environment through family etc.

When this is the case however, the newlyweds usually have their families around to help them out and adjust.

Ali and Amira don't have this. They have a quick 5-minute nikkah ceremony at the AIRPORT and then board a flight and are ON THEIR WAY TO MEXICO!!! Amirah decided to go with Ali on the literal DAY. Everything is last minute. Why not contact Ali once he's arrived at his destination and arrange a wedding for a FUTURE TIME? Where was the settling of the Mahr and the Wali and Walimah?

Why are they so obsessed with having a shotgun wedding? They're eighteen!

Amira is a total pushover. Her brother is horrible and manipulative, but she always defends him and makes him seem like the most amazing person in the world.

I understand growing up in a difficult situation and not having a proper father figure will make them closer than your average siblings but their relationship was very toxic. He arranged an engagement with his best friend and Amira WITHOUT HER KNOWLEDGE then uses ISLAM to emotionally blackmail her into accepting!

"Apply the virgin's consent before you marry her" Hadith

Mr I'm-so-pious bro is above select religious rulings apparently.

The bloke he tries to marry her to is a Saudi guy who makes her wear Niqab just to see him! Their religious values are obviously not compatible. He then makes her take it off so he can observe her looks like she's some sort of farm animal!

Yes, before you marry you're supposed to make sure there's some sort of physical attraction but everything about their meeting is a red flag. He doesn't even let her SPEAK for goodness sake, nor does he show any interest in her as a PERSON, he talks only to Amirah's brother about her qualities, again as if she wasn't a sentient human being.

This definitely happens unfortunately in many countries, so it being part of the story isn't a problem.
What IS an issue is that this is never called out by the narrative as cultural rather than religious. The Prophet (saws) encouraged young people to get to know their future spouses before marriage (in a controlled setting obviously).

But wait! He then calls everything off when Amirah's stepfather mentions that she may have had a sinful past! You know, despite the fact that she may have changed? What a horrible person. Just like Amirah's brother, who is always painted heroically by the narrative.

Speaking of...

Her brother also says some nasty things to Ali because of his past. At one point calls him an Arabic slur that essentially translates to 'infidel'. Umm his own sister has a past too, which he'll ignore and defend when he can because she's changed.

Yeah but so has Ali! Who are you to judge another Muslim's faith like that? He knows that Ali is practising and that he literally broke up with his girlfriend for his religion but that's not enough for him.

Now, Ali.
Oh. My. Goodness.

Literally the moment he arrives in London (East? South? I can't remember) from the countryside - a mixed race boy with a posh country accent, he gets swept up by a bike gang - a GOOD gang of nice Muslim boys who gave up motorbiking for fun to serve the community with them instead. They're basically Top-Gear angelic saviours, a wish come true.

Wha...aaat? I can only suspend my disbelief for so long. Are you kidding me? IN LONDON?
Sure, we have plenty of nice practising Muslim men. But WHAT ARE THE ODDS OF A NICE BIKE GANG TAKING YOU UNDER THEIR WING LIKE THAT.

Look, realistically Ali would be fodder for bullies and gangs. This is only touched in briefly in a small subplot involving his brother.

You know what would've been a bit more believable? Ali starts off isolated and grieving but over the course of the story starts meeting other converts and reverts like himself and slowly learns more about himself and his faith while healing from the trauma of his mother's death and trying to unite his dividing family.

Final rating:

1/2 star because I loved Ali's family and their dynamic. His brother's struggle with his faith and gang warfare would have made for a more interesting story.

Another 1/2 star for the brief scenes with Amirah's deaf little brother, her best friends - one who is a white convert - and her poor mother's heartbreak. Again, what an interesting book this could've been had they been explored properly.

1/2 star for Amirah's art and her passion for it

1/2 star for that great scene at the end with Amirah's mother rising against her evil husband - woohoo!

2/5 stars ⭐

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5
It's a light book to read and enjoy. Every character from this book really touched my heart. The way of thinking and the way of representing Islam was so beautiful. There were some things a little bit unrealistic for me, but overall, I thought there was no other way to make it.

Special thanks to Zeynep for recommending such a beautiful book and for the buddy read🥺🥺❤️❤️