Tatiana > Recent Status Updates

Crying on the bus man the Asiyah chapter is so good

This book is so lovely and so easy to read lmao I needed that rn
Also I wanna be Lamya’s friend so bad

This book is so good man and it’s heartbreaking walking a mile in her shoes through the narration and seeing all the racism/islamophobia she has to experience on the daily whether in Saudi or in the US

This book is so fucking good and Lamya’s experience in what I am 100% sure is Saudi is sooo reminiscent of mine (not the racism obviously, the school stuff)

This weird thing is happening to me where while reading I think “oof this book is hard” and then as soon as I see smth orientalist happen around me I get back to reading more out of spite

Man this book is TOO academic… like it’s made for people who have a PhD in oriental studies 💀 so far most of the book he’s roasting random philologists legit no one has heard of and amongst all that sometimes there’s like something super profound and actually useful in MY life. Shame but I have hope for chapter 3

This book already is doing, and I know it will ultimately completely do one thing: give a coherent voice and logic to every thought, feeling, hunch, instinct I’ve ever had about the Western view of Arabs, Muslims and other people of the “Orient”. I am eternally grateful for the experience of having lived in KSA. Living with and learning from my friends there was watching myths being dispelled in real time.