Release & Review - Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed

Title: Love, Hate & Other Filters

Author: Samira Ahmed

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Release Date: January 16th, 2018

Publisher: Soho Teen

A searing #OwnVoices coming-of-age debut in which an Indian-American Muslim teen confronts Islamophobia and a reality she can neither explain nor escape--perfect for fans of Angie Thomas, Jacqueline Woodson, and Adam Silvera.

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.

Goodreads

Buy Link: Amazon

3.5 “More #OwnVoices” Stars

I wanted to love this book, but I ended up having problems that I can only describe as  a “It isn’t You, It’s Me” sort of thing.

First, let me just say that this book made me feel a lot of things—they were not all good, but feelings are feelings, and lately not a lot of stories have managed to give me that.

During the first half, I mostly went from really liking the voice to getting my hopes up with the romance to getting annoyed by the romance and the protagonist (Maya). Anyone who knows me is aware I will hardly ever complain about a book being romance-focused, but in this case, the romance didn’t work for me at all.

There’s a love triangle for a few chapters, but it doesn’t last. My problem, though, is that this triangle only served to introduce a character I liked as a LI a lot more than Maya’s pick. For me, the author gave Kareem, the Indian guy who gets all Maya’s jokes and references, a lot more personality than she gave Phil, the white guy Maya has had a crush on since forever.  The first scenes between Maya and Kareen had chemistry and built a connection that the rest of the book didn’t achieve for Maya and Phil. Honestly, I’m still wondering why Maya liked Phil in the first place. What was so appealing about him other than the fact that Maya seemed to make it her life’s mission to like everything her parents disapproved of?

Phil wasn’t a remarkable enough character and the two of them seemed to have no common interests beside him teaching her to swim.

And, the most important thing of all (for me, at least), Phil was taken. Yes, Phil had a girlfriend, not that Phil or Maya seemed to care too much about it. I honestly don’t understand why the author chose this specific “obstacle” for the romance. They had other things going for them, mainly the fact that Maya’s parents would never approve of Phil. Still, the girlfriend trope was thrown in there and both Maya and Phil didn’t react in a nice way about it.

I’ve talked about this over and over. When I read about a protagonist who’s hoping to be kissed by a boy who has a girlfriend, I tend to immediately dislike said protagonist because of her lack of respect for other people’s relationships. I understand having a crush on someone who is in a relationship. I understand struggling with those feelings and daydreaming about what could’ve been. What I don’t understand is openly flirting and leaning into a possible kiss when the guy is still dating someone else. Same goes for the Love Interest who’s flirting with someone else behind his partner's back. Get your act together, people!

So, yeah, the romance did not work for me. And the problem is, the romance was a HUGE part of this book. Like, much bigger than I expected it to be. From the blurb, I’d hoped to see a deeper approach on the islamophobia aspect, since it’s such an important topic. It was there, but it wasn’t as deep as I’d hoped.

That is also kind of sad because the little we got from this was so well-done. Everything  about the attack, the mistaken identity, the consequences to both Maya and her family broke my heart. There was suffering and hatred and doubts. I understood Maya’s point of view and her parents’ worry, and it was so sad that those good people had to go through that.

Speaking of Maya’s parents, this was another aspect of the book that made me dislike Maya. I’m not Indian, but when it comes to overbearing parents, it seems our cultures are similar. In Brazil, parents also act as if their children are small kids no matter how old they are. They want to have an opinion on everything and sometimes it feels like teens/young adults/even adults can’t breathe. So I got Maya’s struggle with wanting to follow her cinematography dream and going to NYU while her parents wanted her to stay close to home and become a doctor/lawyer/etc. Having said that, Maya dealt with this whole thing in a very immature way.

I wasn’t a fan of how she disrespected and disregarded her parents’ feelings at every turn. Does that mean I wanted her to give in to what they wanted? Of course not, but I also didn’t see how being rude to them constantly would help her case. Maya needed a lesson on how to pick her battles. It seems like she wanted to fight her parents in every aspect of her life, and it didn't seem productive. She hardly ever used reason to talk to them (leaving that job to her aunt, who was a saint). She pretty much refused any show of affection from her mother, which broke my heart. She pushed away their worries over her well-being even when it was obvious any parent would worry. And her little disappearing act? *rolls eyes* Maya could’ve handled the whole situation a lot better, in my opinion.

So, despite my lack of connection with the romance and some of Maya’s choices, I enjoyed the cinematography approach, the immersion in the Indian culture and the approach on important subjects, like islamophobia. Love, Hate & Other Filters was worth the read. 

*If you liked this review (or not), if you read the book (or not), come say hello and leave your comments bellow.