This story is set in Saudi Arabia. If depictions of women being oppressed upsets you, then I would recommend skipping this book review.
This story was pretty hard for me to read. Growing up in the USA, I've definitely had more freedom than other woman around the world. This book really drove that home for me.
An amazon summary, "Sixteen-year-olds Leena and Mishie are best friends. They delight in small rebellions against the Saudi cultural police―secret Western clothing, forbidden music, flirtations. But Leena wants college, independence―she wants a different life. Though her story is specific to her world (a world where it's illegal for women to drive, where a ten-year-old boy is the natural choice as guardian of a fatherless woman), ultimately it's a story about friendship, family, and freedom that transcends cultural differences." AMAZON LINK OF JUSTICE
Leena and Mishie are best friends, and seek out small rebellions against the Saudi cultural police. The book opens with them and a few of the other girls removing their abayas, before taking pictures in their hidden western clothes underneath. They are reprimanded by their headmistress in, well, a strict by nice way as she understands their need to rebel.
Leena's father is in prison for speaking out against the rules in Saudi Arabia. This is problematic for Leena and her mother since they need a chaperone or permission from a man, to do, well a lot of things. So sometimes Leena dresses up as a man to help them do stuff like, buy groceries. Leena also has a passion for law, which, I suspect is because of a combination of reasons. Inheriting her father's passion, her determination to find her own freedom, or to find freedom for others.
...anyways. So Leena really wants to get an internship, to go to university, and to continue her fight towards some semblance of freedom. Her best friend, Mishie, is the daughter of the minister, and her life is very controlled. They make perfect partners searching out for their freedoms...that is until their school merges with another all girl's school and Daria shows up. Everything starts to change, and Leena's fight towards freedom becomes even more aggressive.
That's enough summary.
So, I loved and simultaneously hated this book. I hated reading about how oppressed women are, but I also loved Leena and Mishie's spirits through their hardships. I loved the show of the culture that women forged for themselves rather than only living how men tell them too.
However, I got a little too caught up in the dramatics between the girls to fully appreciate the story. I got lost a few times and had to back to previous chapters to glean a clue that would help with the current page I was on. It was a little maddening, and this felt like a book that should have showed a little more rather than let the readers extrapolate so much.
There's also a moment with Mishie towards the end that I don't think was given any of the gravity that it deserved. Like, it was just accepted and completely moved on, and I wholeheartedly disagree.
It was still a very refreshing in the sense of plunging headfirst into ice waters on a very warm day for just pure culture shock for me, but I don't think that outweighs the pitfalls.
Happy reading!
No comments:
Post a Comment