I assumed I would love this one, based on the fact that I will never, ever turn down reading a road trip book. Especially when best friends come together to help one of their other friends, so this one sold me from the synopsis. Unfortunately, it didn't end up being as epic as I'd hoped. But alas, there were some definite high points, so let's start with those!
The Good:
- It deals with a ton of really important real-life issues, especially in our current climate. The characters face some pretty severe hate in certain parts of the country. These scenes were painful to read, but obviously incredibly important, too. Especially some of the more subtle instances. For example, they meet a woman who seems nice and understanding, but has a terribly racist bumper sticker. And of course, she thinks she's totally justified in her thoughts (which she isn't of course, but no one is going to convince her). The characters have to navigate these awful situations that frankly, no one should have to deal with.
- The closeness of the characters was really awesome. They had very solid friendships, and this was evident by the fact that they'd drop everything for a pal in need. I also really liked Mariam's relationship with her mother, as it was one of the healthier parent relationships that was shown in the book.
The Not-So-Good:
- The Muslim hate. Okay- I am not a member of this community, and I don't want to step on toes of course. This is all from my (outsider) perspective, but I feel like it is still worth mentioning. The characters are quite disparaging in regards to more conservative and more religious Muslims. And that seems... really not great. Like it was hard for me to read at times, because I was so wildly uncomfortable with all the hateful remarks about members of the Muslim community. I mean, don't get me wrong, of course there are members of any community who do the things the characters spoke about, but that is true of all human beings. To make these jabs about Muslim people seems incredibly irresponsible- especially because they're never addressed or corrected in any way. Again- outside my lane, but very uncomfortable with the disdain toward any group.
ANYWAY, my friend Rashika complied an awesome list of books by Muslim-identifying authors that you should check out! - The other random hate in general. I mean- obviously none of us is perfect, and I won't pretend to have never been a little judgey in my life. The thing is, it crossed a line for me. I felt like they just wanted to snark on everyone, and that made me sad. And again, there is no growth, no point where everyone is like "wait, no one is perfect, maybe we should spend less time judging all the people's actions and focus on the internal!" or something. It's just... what they did.
- I honestly just didn't feel a ton for the characters. Like, they were okay I guess, but they really weren't very fleshed out. They seemed a little.. blah, for lack of a better word. I never felt like I really knew Mariam, which was a bummer, considering she's the MC.
- I don't even fully understand what the point of the book was overall? I mean, a road trip, some discovery about family stuff, and about self (I guess) but I just never felt particularly riveted by the actual plot of the book.
Bottom Line: Great in theory, less so in execution. I could have overlooked some of the other flaws, but the straight up vitriol directed toward Muslims pushed me over the edge into Nope Territory.