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Review: Misfit in Love by S. K. Ali

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Misfit in Love by S K Ali

Misfit in Love
S. K. Ali
Simon & Schuster/Salaam Reads
Published May 25, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Misfit in Love

Janna Yusuf is so excited for the weekend: her brother Muhammad’s getting married, and she’s reuniting with her mom, whom she’s missed the whole summer.

And Nuah’s arriving for the weekend too.

Sweet, constant Nuah.

The last time she saw him, Janna wasn’t ready to reciprocate his feelings for her. But things are different now. She’s finished high school, ready for college…and ready for Nuah.

It’s time for Janna’s (carefully planned) summer of love to begin—starting right at the wedding.

But it wouldn’t be a wedding if everything went according to plan. Muhammad’s party choices aren’t in line with his fiancée’s taste at all, Janna’s dad is acting strange, and her mom is spending more time with an old friend (and maybe love interest?) than Janna.

And Nuah’s treating her differently.

Just when things couldn’t get more complicated, two newcomers—the dreamy Haytham and brooding Layth—have Janna more confused than ever about what her misfit heart really wants.

Janna’s summer of love is turning out to be super crowded and painfully unpredictable.

In this fun and fresh sequel to SAINTS AND MISFITS, Janna hopes her brother’s wedding will be the perfect start to her own summer of love, but attractive new arrivals have her more confused than ever.

My Review

Janna is hilarious and awkward and completely adorable. I love her. Every time I sat down to read for a few minutes, I got pulled straight into this story and its big, quirky family and all the drama of getting ready for the wedding. I love the way Janna has this community of women surrounding her and building her up. She also spends some time asking herself really hard questions about love and forgiveness, and I love that the story pursued those threads, too. It was fun getting to revisit some of my favorite characters from SAINTS AND MISFITS and adding some new characters to the mix.

I think one of the reasons I enjoy faith-positive stories like this one so much is that I feel like I can really easily connect with a character whose faith is deeply important to them. I guess I just feel like I really connect with characters whose faith drives a lot of their everyday decisions and motivates them to try to be a better person to others. I’m glad to see faith-positive stories in young adult literature.

I think fans of HENNA WARS by Adiba Jaigirdar or TODAY TONIGHT TOMORROW by Rachel Lynn Solomon will enjoy this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 12 up.

Representation
Janna and many of her friends and family members are Muslim. A few minor characters are Black. Janna’s dad is Indian and her mom is Egyptian.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used very infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
Janna has feelings for a boy, but doesn’t pursue physical contact with him because of her faith. She believes that dating should be focused on preparing for marriage and chaperoned by a companion.

Spiritual Content
Scenes show Janna and others rising early to pray and praying together at other times in the day. Janna’s faith governs her behavior toward boys, too. She covers her hair with a hijab. She wears a burkini to swim. She doesn’t have physical contact with boys. She also edits a question and answer page on her mosque’s website, and browses some of those questions and answers in one scene of the story. Some other precepts of Islam come up, like the importance of caring for the environment and the value of loving others.

Violent Content
In SAINTS AND MISFITS, Janna was assaulted by a family friend. She mentions the assault a couple of times, but it’s not described in any detail.

Janna also confronts a loved one about anti-Black behavior and wrestles with how to handle having a relationship with that person going forward.

Drug Content
None.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of MISFIT IN LOVE in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Saints and Misfits by S. K. Ali

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Saints and Misfits
S. K. Ali
Salaam Reads
Published June 13, 2017

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Book Depository | Indiebound | Goodreads

About Saints and Misfits

How much can you tell about a person just by looking at them?

Janna Yusuf knows a lot of people can’t figure out what to make of her…an Arab Indian-American hijabi teenager who is a Flannery O’Connor obsessed book nerd, aspiring photographer, and sometime graphic novelist is not exactly easy to put into a box.

And Janna suddenly finds herself caring what people think. Or at least what a certain boy named Jeremy thinks. Not that she would ever date him—Muslim girls don’t date. Or they shouldn’t date. Or won’t? Janna is still working all this out.

While her heart might be leading her in one direction, her mind is spinning in others. She is trying to decide what kind of person she wants to be, and what it means to be a saint, a misfit, or a monster. Except she knows a monster…one who happens to be parading around as a saint…Will she be the one to call him out on it? What will people in her tightknit Muslim community think of her then?

SAINTS AND MISFITS is an unforgettable debut novel that feels like a modern day My So-Called Life…starring a Muslim teen.

My Review

This book made me think a lot about the way that we tend to reduce people to being just one or two things– because it did the opposite so well. Each character is so different and has so many layers. I feel like we often see people of faith represented in sort of cookie cutter ways, and I loved seeing all the varied representations of different types of people here. It might be the most honest, authentic stories centered around a faith community that I’ve ever read. (I loved ONCE WAS LOST by Sara Zarr, too.)

Janna faces her own misjudgments about the people around her as well as being pleasantly– and sometimes unpleasantly– surprised by those around her. I loved her relationship with her elderly neighbor and the way his friendship impacted her and her friendships with Tats and Sarah and Sausun. Janna learns a lot about courage, finding her voice, and learning to speak up for herself. It’s about confronting evil even when it emerges in what should be a sacred space.

The book doesn’t just tackle hard issues and relationships and faith questions, though. It’s quirky and funny and so much fun to read. Janna’s voice is often self-deprecating and wry and smart. I loved that.

All in all, I really enjoyed reading SAINTS AND MISFITS, and I totally bawled through the big climactic scenes where Janna does the thing she most needs to do. MISFIT IN LOVE, a new adventure about Janna and her family and friends, comes out soon, and I really can’t wait to read it.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 14 up.

Representation
Most major characters are Muslim.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Strong profanity used infrequently.

Romance/Sexual Content – Trigger Warning
A boy grabs a girl and pins her down, groping her against her will.

Spiritual Content
Janna references prayer and attends several events at the mosque with her family. Her uncle is the imam, and as part of her job helping with the mosque website, she helps with the grammar of some answers to questions people in the community have asked about Islam.

Violent Content
See romance trigger warning. There are also some instances of online bullying. Girls post pictures of Janna without her hijab and others post cruel comments on the photos.

Drug Content
Janna and her friend attend a party where teens are drinking. Janna does not drink alcohol.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support running this blog. I received a free copy of SAINTS AND MISFITS in exchange for my honest review.