Love from A to Z by S. K Ali ( Unpopular Opinion )

Hello guys, welcome back to my book review and rant session.

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Today , I’ll be talking about (mostly ranting about anyways) this book by S K Ali.

So this will definitely be an unpopular opinion because of its from my point of view and maybe we can relate. The book did not sit right. I stayed up all night reading it , yet ! I wasn’t satisfied.

The worst is that the ending for me , was more of creepy and maybe you might even correct me if I’m wrong. I even still have questions but lets dive in ;

Title ; Love from A to Z

Author ; S . K . Ali

Genre ; YA Fiction

Pages ; 384

Goodreads rating ; 4.12

Publication ; 30th April , 2019. By Salaam Reads

Reading Format ; E book

Standalone or Series ; Standalone

Review Type ; Spoiler or non spoiler ; Both

I rated this book ; 3.5 stars ⭐️

There’s so many reasons why its like that. I loved the marvels and oddities journal and trust me the book was a very cute read. Cute because, I stayed up all night to read it. Probably why It even has more ratings from me. I’ll start with Zayneb The main character of the book and how her life experience has been in the book. It is centered on ISLAMOPHOBIA (The actual main theme in the book ) . I love the way the author makes her claim her narrative and show how unapologetic she is to be a muslim girl. Here is my problem. Asides from already establishing the fact that she is a muslim and is proud , can there be more things ? Like a way for the protagonist to actually take the narrative of the story into her own hands without religion being too actively involved and still making one of the peak points religion? There’s diverse point of views to this , and I feel like this is what I have pointed out. It’s really sad that in the world we live in , some people still discriminate and assume things just because of religion . And it’s something that’s still going on which is so sad.

As for Adam, the other main Character of the book , who is a Muslim revert and has a health condition which you will find out after reading the book ( and also because I have forgotten what it actually is 🌝) . He stops school which is fine but there wasn’t any real insight on why he stopped it and what the real future will hold for him. I read the epilogue but ! Still doesn’t push it for me. And his friends, there wasn’t really any relationship that was so pronounced like the one for Zayneb . I needed to know more outside his family and more of him taking charge of his own narrative.

Now , that’s the book rant for those characters anyways. Another is , the representation. Omg! It’s not even spoken about so much from what I have seen but clearly you should realize the representation. I’m all for representation and I actually liked the fact that Kavi was portrayed really well with no back story. An underrated character for me.

Now I am listing out themes anyways. Another underrated character for me that actually holds one of the most important themes , is Zahid the driver guy who took Adam as If he was his relative and showed him Kindness. Now there’s more to kindness that just words. He took the responsibility and didn’t even mind the inconveniences . Now that’s one of my best part of the books to be honest.

I also felt that she should have been able to also see from Adams point of view when they had that great argument even though they came back which was cute anyways.

Honor killings from the article or project from the high school teacher and that of her friend. It’s an inhuman act and I love the fact it was mentioned and disconnected with the religion later on through Zayneb.

Aunty Nandy ; A sweet soul and Zaynebs aunt. Always ready to make her niece happy. My best character by the ways and I loved her hippy style. Such a happy soul.

Adams dad is someone who opened the doors for this certain peace that Adam and his sister find in their new religion. I am not a muslim but I can tell from the book that it brought them peace. And the man was able to give his kids closure after the passing of their mom and really another character with development.

There’s also the excessive mention of hair here , don’t even know if it’s intentional but so unnecessary to me in particular. And also other unnecessary scenes and other unnecessary topics which should have have been wrapped up. Except if it’s to spark up a topic or even controversy maybe.

The character development in this book is actually A list. Means you can relate with every character. Doesn’t still mean you can actually walk in their shoes through the book.

Personal Summary;

Rant somehow included 🙂;

Adam and Zayneb meet at the airport and a cute moment when he introduces himself and Zayneb is surprised that his a muslim. She had her eyes on him anyways. She was suspended from her school because of her teacher who is very rude and clearly takes offense in her religion. She gets angry and does what lands her to get suspended. Now the part I don’t understand is why she is sent on holidays after that happened. Her parents are goals though no doubt in that. The trip is to Doha and honestly, I loved to see it ( Doha through the book) . I have been there before and it even made more sense because I could relate so much with it. Her relationship with Adam who is a muslim boy who quits school and has other plans. He suddenly doesn’t want to tell his family about his diagnosis which is definitely what dragged the book so much. Like why would he not just talk. His mother passed away which is so sad and He didn’t want to add more pain. A pain shared though still solves problems. There was emphasis on the animal ( dog ) and really ! I was educated a lot on that aspect and even through Zaynebs fear for dogs. More topics on the injustice done to people because of their religion, race and culture and consequences for involving in hating that , Also the insurgency in some countries and a good reason why we shouldn’t just judge.

Their love story was and is meant to be. I’m not sure if they got married in the end or just engaged . But just to point out that in the end , I was kind of creeped at the romance between the both of them. It was so soon and cute anyways but still made me cringe a little . You can see the details when you read the book.

All the same , I will welcome us to acknowledge this beautiful love story written by S k Ali . The way the author smashes the narrative ( stereotypes) ; especially the one of Zayneb attending an evening party , literally turns it into a cute read. A good job and yes this book was recommended by my bookstagram friend Literantenist✨she also has soothing content.

I don’t regret reading this book , I wanted more and have mixed feelings.

My favorite Quotes ;

“First impressions don’t reveal anything. They’re just about you—well, the person looking at someone, listening to them, observing them—projecting your own self to assess another.”

“Tomorrow I was going to be poised and peaceful.”

“I am going to be a better version of myself, because this isn’t the time for my shenanigans anymore.

Somebody grieving is going to be in my vicinity tomorrow.

I need to rein me in.”

“Never, ever quake in the face of hate,”

“With hopes that maybe we can be on our way to something more.”

“Because there will be consequences when you shake the world.”

“THE WORLD IS A MYSTERIOUS place. On the one hand, its size can be measured and recorded and verified. Its marvels and oddities captured in complex, empirical detail.

On the other hand, its size is relative to our mind’s perception of it. Its marvels and oddities only extending to how far our vision goes.”

Let me know how you felt reading the book and If you will love to read it in the comment section.

I’ll recommend it anyways🥂.

Till I’m back again ,

Bye✨💜