American-born seventeen-year-old Maya Aziz is torn between worlds. There’s the proper one her parents expect for their good Indian daughter: attending a college close to their suburban Chicago home, and being paired off with an older Muslim boy her mom deems “suitable.” And then there is the world of her dreams: going to film school and living in New York City—and maybe (just maybe) pursuing a boy she’s known from afar since grade school, a boy who’s finally falling into her orbit at school.
There’s also the real world, beyond Maya’s control. In the aftermath of a horrific crime perpetrated hundreds of miles away, her life is turned upside down. The community she’s known since birth becomes unrecognizable; neighbors and classmates alike are consumed with fear, bigotry, and hatred. Ultimately, Maya must find the strength within to determine where she truly belongs (via Goodreads.com).
Release Date: January 16th, 2018
Pages: 281
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars
Review:
In Samira Ahmed's debut novel, she explores the presence of Islamophobia in American society. Love, Hate, and Other Filters follows Maya, a Muslim American teen, dealing with normal high school problems, such as where to attend college, overprotective parents, and love issues. All of those problems, however, are diminished when a terrorist attack in a different city by an apparent Muslim American man that shares Maya's last name occurs. Her entire world is turned upside down and all the hopes she has are put aside because of societal opposition to her religion.
One of the most powerful aspect to Love, Hate, and Other Filters is the switch in tone that occurs within the novel. While the chapters alternate between Maya and a mysterious person seemingly planning a terrorist attack, the tone for the mystery person is continuously ominous; however, the tone in Maya's chapters drastically changes. If you were unaware of the synopsis and read this novel, it would appear as though the novel was a typical contemporary romance from the first half of the novel. It mainly focuses on Maya's love life and typical problems of high school students. The terrorist attack, however, transforms the tone and focus of the novel. The story no longer follows her typical life. It follows a wave of Islamophobia against her and her family.
While I was aware of Islamophobia before reading this novel, I never realized how quickly it could escalate. The man responsible for the attack was not even confirmed, but the attachment of a Muslim American to it made the town turn on Maya and her family. They were not even related to him, but they were targeted because they were Muslim and shared the same last name, which is common for people of most backgrounds. This is not the first time people have shared the same religious faith and last name without being related. There is only so much originality in the world. I will spoil part of the novel, which is the fact that the Muslim American man did not even commit the attack. He was an innocent bystander killed by a psychotic white man. No white people were harmed because a white man committed this crime, but Muslim Americans were harmed because a Muslim American's name was attached to it. He was not even confirmed to be the perpetrator, everyone just assumed.
In addition, not only was the livelihood of Maya and her family endangered. The attack led her parents to forbidding her from attending her dream school, NYU, because they were worried for her safety. Her parents rationalized the decision because their family's business and Maya was attacked because a Muslim American man was thought to have committed the terrorist attack, but what if another attacked happened and a Muslim American was actually responsible. She disregards her parents and attends NYU anyway, permanently damaging her relationship with her parents, specifically her mother. While I had hoped there would be a happy ending, there really was not. Maya may be attending her dream school, but her family is somewhat estranged from her because of Islamophobia. Maya and her family have done nothing wrong to receive this type of mistreatment, but they have still suffered as a result of it.
I preferred the second half of the novel. While I did not enjoy seeing the damages of Islamophobia on Maya and her family, I did not necessarily enjoy Maya's relationship with her crush. He was a decent character, but I did not find him particularly charming or endearing. Their romance was fine, but it was not something I wanted to continue reading about. While the rest of the novel was rather depressing and made me wish for the romance, Love, Hate, and Other Filters was an extremely powerful novel and the contrasts within the novel nicely distinguished the story. The novel still would have been powerful without the beginning, but the first part of the novel complimented the second part of the story perfectly.
Love, Hate, and Other Filters is a groundbreaking debut novel that I highly recommend. Samira Ahmed captured me with her powerful story-telling and I am extremely excited to read her next novel, Internment, which is slated for release in March of 2019. Love, Hate, and Other Filters was one of my favorite novels of 2018 and I am ready for her next emotional read.
In Samira Ahmed's debut novel, she explores the presence of Islamophobia in American society. Love, Hate, and Other Filters follows Maya, a Muslim American teen, dealing with normal high school problems, such as where to attend college, overprotective parents, and love issues. All of those problems, however, are diminished when a terrorist attack in a different city by an apparent Muslim American man that shares Maya's last name occurs. Her entire world is turned upside down and all the hopes she has are put aside because of societal opposition to her religion.
One of the most powerful aspect to Love, Hate, and Other Filters is the switch in tone that occurs within the novel. While the chapters alternate between Maya and a mysterious person seemingly planning a terrorist attack, the tone for the mystery person is continuously ominous; however, the tone in Maya's chapters drastically changes. If you were unaware of the synopsis and read this novel, it would appear as though the novel was a typical contemporary romance from the first half of the novel. It mainly focuses on Maya's love life and typical problems of high school students. The terrorist attack, however, transforms the tone and focus of the novel. The story no longer follows her typical life. It follows a wave of Islamophobia against her and her family.
While I was aware of Islamophobia before reading this novel, I never realized how quickly it could escalate. The man responsible for the attack was not even confirmed, but the attachment of a Muslim American to it made the town turn on Maya and her family. They were not even related to him, but they were targeted because they were Muslim and shared the same last name, which is common for people of most backgrounds. This is not the first time people have shared the same religious faith and last name without being related. There is only so much originality in the world. I will spoil part of the novel, which is the fact that the Muslim American man did not even commit the attack. He was an innocent bystander killed by a psychotic white man. No white people were harmed because a white man committed this crime, but Muslim Americans were harmed because a Muslim American's name was attached to it. He was not even confirmed to be the perpetrator, everyone just assumed.
In addition, not only was the livelihood of Maya and her family endangered. The attack led her parents to forbidding her from attending her dream school, NYU, because they were worried for her safety. Her parents rationalized the decision because their family's business and Maya was attacked because a Muslim American man was thought to have committed the terrorist attack, but what if another attacked happened and a Muslim American was actually responsible. She disregards her parents and attends NYU anyway, permanently damaging her relationship with her parents, specifically her mother. While I had hoped there would be a happy ending, there really was not. Maya may be attending her dream school, but her family is somewhat estranged from her because of Islamophobia. Maya and her family have done nothing wrong to receive this type of mistreatment, but they have still suffered as a result of it.
I preferred the second half of the novel. While I did not enjoy seeing the damages of Islamophobia on Maya and her family, I did not necessarily enjoy Maya's relationship with her crush. He was a decent character, but I did not find him particularly charming or endearing. Their romance was fine, but it was not something I wanted to continue reading about. While the rest of the novel was rather depressing and made me wish for the romance, Love, Hate, and Other Filters was an extremely powerful novel and the contrasts within the novel nicely distinguished the story. The novel still would have been powerful without the beginning, but the first part of the novel complimented the second part of the story perfectly.
Love, Hate, and Other Filters is a groundbreaking debut novel that I highly recommend. Samira Ahmed captured me with her powerful story-telling and I am extremely excited to read her next novel, Internment, which is slated for release in March of 2019. Love, Hate, and Other Filters was one of my favorite novels of 2018 and I am ready for her next emotional read.
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