All-American Muslim Girl by Nadine Jolie Courtney – Take Me Away… On the Pages of Your Story

ARC, 432 pages

Release Date: November 12, 2019

Published by: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
Read from: November 18-22, 2019

Stand-alone

Source: Publisher

TW: Islamophobia, Anxiety, Heterosexism, Discussions of Homophobia, Discussiins of Racism, Discussiins of Misogyny, Death

For fans of: Romance, Contemporary, Diversity, POC MC, Contemporary Romance, YA

Allie Abraham has it all going for her—she’s a straight-A student, with good friends and a close-knit family, and she’s dating cute, popular, and sweet Wells Henderson. One problem: Wells’s father is Jack Henderson, America’s most famous conservative shock jock…and Allie hasn’t told Wells that her family is Muslim. It’s not like Allie’s religion is a secret, exactly. It’s just that her parents don’t practice and raised her to keep her Islamic heritage to herself. But as Allie witnesses ever-growing Islamophobia in her small town and across the nation, she begins to embrace her faith—studying it, practicing it, and facing hatred and misunderstanding for it. Who is Allie, if she sheds the façade of the “perfect” all-American girl? What does it mean to be a “Good Muslim?” And can a Muslim girl in America ever truly fit in?
ALL-AMERICAN MUSLIM GIRL is a relevant, relatable story of being caught between two worlds, and the struggles and hard-won joys of finding your place.

MY THOUGHTS

At first I decided I wasn’t going to review this because of how Macmillian is with holding e-books from libraries, and as a librarian, I wanted to do some type of boycott as well. But as a blogger, I do have an obligation to read and review these titles because they were sent to me and because I don’t want to do anything that may hurt the sales on a diverse book.

“People are scared of what they don’t understand. Fear brings out the worst in them.“

pg. 11

Allie is a high school studnet who makes good grades, has good friends, and has a really great guy who seems interested in her. But she’s hiding a secet from him…Her family is Muslim. And Wells is a conservative All American jock. She wants to do all she can to keep her secret from her. That is, until she begins to start learning more about her religion. She begins asking questions she has no idea how to answer. But that doesn’t stop her from exploring and trying.

“For somebody who’s devoted his life to history, he seems pretty eager to forget his own.“

pg. 11

I REALLY liked this book. Especially the main character, Allie. So many things that happened to her I could relate to. Not that this was a good thing, because this is definitely not. I hated that she went through these things, but I also admired how she handled them. Allie was a smart, take no crap girl, and I really think YA needs more of those. We’ll never have enough.

“Bigotry is always horrible, but it’s especially awkward when somebody realizes you’re not a safe respectacle for their garbage.“

pg. 44

As for the plot, I did think it was a bit drawn out, but overall I did like is. It just seemed really long. I’m not usually a fan of long, drawn out contemporaries, but this one still worked for me. It was a bit to get through, but once you did, it worked fine.
As for the writing style, I loved it. It took me a while to read this, but that was because I was so into it. When something happened, I felt everything that Allie did. I was mad when she was, I was happy when she was, etc. As I’ve said many times, I know I was interested in it because of the many different emotions I went through. Some say that shouldn’t give me a good judgement, but I’m a believer that that means I was super invested in the book.

“Everybody has a backstory. Nobody’s is simple.“

pg. 139

This book was a good pic for me. It had some of everything that I love about diverse contemporary romances. I encourage everyone to go to your local library and grab one!

Overall, I give this

*MY THOUGHTS*

Take Me Away

MY THOUGHTS