It's All About The Books

Here you'll find book reviews, anticipated reads, and wrap ups - all things book-related. Come join me, my book-loving friends!

More Than A Pretty Face by Syed M. Masood

I received a free e-ARC of this book thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

In this story we are following a high school senior, Danyal Jilani, as he prepares his entry for Renaissance Man. He’s always had a crush on Kaval Sabsvari, the beautiful sister of his friend Sohrab. But when Danyal’s parents try arranging a marriage for him with Bisma Akram and he starts spending more of his time with her, he realizes maybe his heart belongs to someone else.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked Danyal’s character and liked the humor that Masood infused throughout the story. Some parts actually made me laugh out loud. Danyal wants to become a chef, which is considered a less-than-honorable profession in his culture. I liked the descriptions of food that were in the story, but I also liked that Bisma was supportive of Danyal and his dreams. 

The inclusion of Churchill and British colonization was interesting and I liked learning about it. I think it was also important for Danyal’s character to do this topic for his project because he was always seen as a slacker and it forced him to decide whether to play it safe or go with his gut and talk about what he felt was important. 

The relationship between Danyal and his father was intriguing. In the beginning we see that they have a rocky relationship. His father does not approve of Danyal’s dreams of becoming a chef and feels that he is more or less a failure to him. We see their complex relationship and struggle to communicate throughout the book. By the end, however, it’s clear that the relationship between Danyal and his father has changed. I liked how Masood showed this change at the end of the book.

I didn’t like the fact that people were constantly telling Danyal how dumb he is or how little potential he has and he just agrees with it. I also wanted to know more about Bisma. We find out something important about her past on their first meetup, which has important repercussions for her and her family and plays a role throughout the rest of the book. She seemed like such an interesting character and was good for Danyal, I wanted more about her. She was such an integral part in Danyal’s character growth so a little more about her as a character would have been nice.

I can’t speak to the muslim representation in this book. One thing I did notice was that there was the typical stereotype of the “hardcore” religious worshipper. When one character practiced his religion the majority of his time, he was seen as the killjoy and too serious and multiple characters wanted him to “chill out” and I didn’t really like that aspect. 

If you’re into YA contemporary books with more serious topics seamlessly woven in or want a humorous diverse read, definitely check this book out! I’ll be keeping Syed M. Masood on my radar for other books. Publication is set for August. 

Letters From The Light by Shel Calopa

Recently I was given the opportunity by Inspired Quill to read Letters From the Light by Shel Calopa in exchange for my honest review. The synopsis sounded intriguing so I was excited to read it. It is a sci-fi dystopian book set in futuristic Australia where the world is divided in light and dark. Only the privileged have access to the light. The dark is for those who are meant to serve the upper class. The lower class all have some type of limitation. Some are blinded, some are made deaf and mute.  

The book had a Hunger Games-type feel to it. We’re following a war between two “players:” The Master, a power-hungry corrupt man who is determined to keep the world as it is no matter the cost; and an artificial intelligent feminine-esque being known as The Light, or Illustria, who wants to help unite all. The Solarans typically follow the Master as he helps ensure things stay as they are and the Solarans benefit from that. The Light, or Illustria, is working to help the lower classes, or Damarans, to bring light to everyone. In order to achieve her goal, Illustria needs to unite five manifestations, or “chosen ones.” 

There were a few different main characters and they were all pretty well developed. In the beginning of the story it was confusing being introduced to them all but once you were able to get them sorted out, you got pretty invested in their journey through the story. Calopa did a great job eliciting anger or sympathy for certain characters when appropriate and when the characters felt betrayed or torn between sides in the war, I felt the character’s pain and confusion.

There were inclusions of important topics, such as racism, misogyny, politics, and classism, just to name a few. Calopa’s descriptions were vivid and I particularly liked how she discussed the communication system of the deaf community, calling it “foot noise.”

One thing that confused me was that this was considered a futuristic society but a few members of the elite classes hadn’t even heard of some of the technology that we have in today’s society. I also wanted more from the ending–what that would be, I don’t know. The ending was not bad and perfectly satisfactory, I just was expecting more.

Despite the slow start with all the characters, this was an interesting and fun read. If you enjoy Sci-Fi or Fantasy Dystopian novels, I recommend checking this book out. You won’t regret it!