The story of the shooting, presented over a series of short chapters spread throughout the novel, provides a frame for a much more interesting narrative — an account of A The Beauty of Your Face is the debut novel of prize-winning short-story writer Sahar Mustafah.
From a purely literary perspective, the novel is hardly groundbreaking. There are no technical shenanigans and no formal experiments. However, it is still a significant book because it presents us with a perspective with which many readers might be unfamiliar — that of an intelligent, contemporary Palestinian-American woman, who is also a devout, committed Muslim.
There is nothing wrong with that, of course, as these are part of the spiritual experience. Yet, I found it refreshing to read a novel which, overall, projects a much more positive view of religious practice. The Beauty of Your Face tackles big ideas, but ultimately, what is most engaging about it is the fact that it is also a very intimate family drama, about characters who try to find love and meaning even in distressing circumstances.
Sahar Mustafah is herself the daughter of Palestinian immigrants to the US, and the story she tells brims with authenticity.
Nov 28, The Book Club rated it it was amazing. Sahar Mustafah is an amazing story teller, and her debut novel is the perfect reflection of her talent. The Beauty of your face has become quite easily my favourite read, the topics covered are pertinent, extensive and important - with xenophobia, complexity of familiar relationships and immigrant experience at the forefront. We read about Afaf Ra Sahar Mustafah is an amazing story teller, and her debut novel is the perfect reflection of her talent.
Sahar has succeeded in writing about the Muslim identity in its simplistic and truest form. This is a book which everyone should read, so that we can all educate ourselves! Thank you NetGalley and Legend Press for providing me with a free copy of the book. May 30, Jan rated it really liked it. The present-day plot line felt grafted on and some aspects were implausible, but I enjoyed the time I spent with Afaf and appreciated the role Islam played in her life.
Aug 20, Neelam rated it it was amazing. Thank you to Legend Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review. This book was incredible and so poignant and just made me feel all the emotions. Highly recommend this book! This is such a profound book, a book where I felt so seen on so many levels.
What it means to be a child of immigrants. One of having t Thank you to Legend Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review. One of having to prove you are not stupid, one where you have to watch people sexualise you based on the colour of your skin, where you are treated less because of it. It was a book I could relate to being a child of parents and grandparents who moved from their home countries to the west to try and build a better life for their kids. The conflicting feelings of a child from two worlds not knowing where they fit in, not enough for either their family culture or of living in the west spoke to me deep in my soul.
This whole book was something I felt deep in my soul, how Afaf is lost as a teen and then slowly finds her path and her faith and how it anchors her and gives meaning to her life was so beautiful to read. We see what she feels and thinks as there is a shooter terrorising the school and she is stuck in the prayer room. We also see a little from the shooters point of view and how his blind hatred lead him to murdering innocent teenage girls. To see how blind hatred can cause so much death and destruction.
This book is such an important and relevant book and I really need you all to read it. Feb 15, Kimba Tichenor rated it it was amazing Shelves: fiction. Beautifully written, this book seamlessly moves backward and forward in time to tell the complex story of one Palestinian-American woman's efforts to create a life for herself and her family in a country whose ideal of equality and freedom of worship do not always match its reality.
The opening scene of this novel is a school shooting at all-girl Muslim high school outside of Chicago. As Afaf hears the shooter progress through the school at which she is the principal, she remembers her painful c Beautifully written, this book seamlessly moves backward and forward in time to tell the complex story of one Palestinian-American woman's efforts to create a life for herself and her family in a country whose ideal of equality and freedom of worship do not always match its reality.
As Afaf hears the shooter progress through the school at which she is the principal, she remembers her painful childhood and her path to her faith. Through these recollections, the reader learns of her mother's mental illness, her father's retreat into alcoholism, her sister's disappearance, the bullying and bigotry she confronts on a daily basis at her high school and beyond, and her promiscuity in response to this painful childhood.
These challenges she overcomes by finding her place within the Islamic community to which her father turned after a car accident that nearly took his life. Her embrace of Islam is a gradual process, and the author paints a complex picture of this process that defies the stereotypes so often embraced in this country about Islam and muslim women. It is her decision to wear the hijab, a sign of her commitment to the faith that she has chosen a faith that her father also comes to embrace, but not her mother, brother, or sister.
It is through her faith that she finds the strength to forgive her mother whose love she never felt as a child, and it is through her faith that she find the courage to confront the shooter. A poignant indictment of the ongoing demonization of Muslims in this country and a powerful call to recognize our common humanity before it is too late -- this book should be a must-read for every American, as it is a much-needed reminder of the cruelties we perpetrate when we deny our common humanity by building walls between us according to religion, ethnicity, class, and race.
Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher, and the author for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I gave this a 4. But as I wrote this review, I decided on 5.
There is no way of spoiling the story because its all out there in the synopsis. Palestinian, mass shooting in all I gave this a 4. Palestinian, mass shooting in all-girls Muslim school, these two keywords sold me. This book easily falls into my most favourite books of I do not expect a debut to be this good. Sahar surely knows how to lure readers deeply into the story while playing with their emotions.
Its an important read for not just Muslims themselves, but people of all races and religious backgrounds because the messages it brings could open up our minds and hearts towards being a better human being. I believe, love and kindness knows no skin colours, races and beliefs. It's been a while since I read this book and circumstances are such that my brain forgets more easily than usual. Afaf, the child of immigrant parents, is the principal of a Muslim school in the suburbs of Chicago and as we are taken along a day in her life, we realize how difficult it must be for her to sustain the school in the face of all the hate being directed the school's way.
A shooter makes his way into the school one morning and attacks it. And as Afaf listens in terror, trying to think It's been a while since I read this book and circumstances are such that my brain forgets more easily than usual.
And as Afaf listens in terror, trying to think of ways to stop this, her life comes flashing and we are shown glimpses into the things that shaped her into who she now is while not diminishing her Muslim culture, something that I really liked. This is a book that I was super excited about and it did hold up my excitement to a certain level. It's powerful voice is a must read. I wish I had read this earlier, but better late than never learning more about different cultures and perspectives.
Before she could fathom His great bounty, she had loved these women first, could touch and gather their kindness in her hands, could wrap herself in their grace until she could start to love herself again. It starts with a school shooting at the Nurrideen school, a Muslim school for girls in Tempest, Illinois. School principle Afaf Rahman is in the basement when the first shots are fired and she hears the tragedy unfolding overhead in real time just as we do.
A police investigation follows. The depiction of his gradual reconnection with Islam, and that of Afaf, was beautifully written. Apr 02, Mikaela rated it it was amazing. Sahar is a friend of mine; we were in the same MFA program. I knew this book would be good but it was wayyyy beyond good. It was beautiful, haunting, heartbreaking, hopeful, and so much more. The characters were so real, so utterly human. More to come. Just do yourself a favor and read this.
Oct 06, Umama A. Talha rated it it was amazing Shelves: everyone , grab-a-book , everyone-fiction-islam-muslim-st , muslim-story , fiction , american-muslim , immigrants , west-and-islam. We cannot give in to fear habibti. Muslimeen have endured worse in the history of man.
We cannot lose faith. She has a complex childhood with a mother longing to go back to her homeland and a father who starts drinking after the devastated disappearance of h "Nothing can stand in our path towards God. She has a complex childhood with a mother longing to go back to her homeland and a father who starts drinking after the devastated disappearance of her elder sister Nada Rahman.
The narrative becomes more compelling when Afaf struggling with ceaseless obstacles and challenges of life uplift herself and find refuge in God and practicing muslim community. The writer has a very artistic approach with her words and know exactly how to make her readers feel through characters. This is simply one of the best debut novel written and added to one of my all time favourite books.
It's incredible how we can relate so much to the characters specially Afaf even if we aren't in her place, and it makes you feel home how she heals herself from resting her trust on God. Even if we know that the incident was preplanned by America, writer has done a brilliant job in drawing a line between terrorist and Muslims. And yes she perfectly infused Arabic greetings, phrases and name of things which added the taste to the storyline!
If you haven't read the book, go and grab it now! This is just the beginning and from here onwards we follow her childhood journey to the present shooting day.
Young Afaf was lost in an empty world. A child yearning for acceptance, affection and happiness within the four walls of her house. Born and brought up in Chicago without any family pressure to practice religious rituals or speak Arabic, she felt like an outcast in her community too. As the story progresses, we are introduced to other family members, imperfect characters fighting their own battles.
And one incident that wounds the entire family. I was at the edge of my seat while reading it. Apr 29, Tzipora rated it really liked it Shelves: fiction , library-books , read-in , chicago , ebooks , immigrant-experience , islam , palestinian.
And it feels a bit odd to say this but I think there needed to be a bit more attention to the actual school shooting part of this book.
The book opens on an adult Afaf going about her day as principal at an Islamic girls school in a suburb south of Chicago. We like Afaf right away but I found myself full of tension because from the get go we are aware a far right racist shooter will enter at some point.
Nada is 17, born in Ramallah before the family immigrated to Chicago where Afaf and her younger brother were born years later. The disappearance is a hugely transformative event for the family, and leaves each of them broken in their own ways.
But of the just over pages of this book, maybe 10 or 15 hard to say, I read an ebook copy are about the shooting. Really, this is a story about Afaf. I am maybe more sympathetic to Muslim Americans than many. I majored in Middle East Studies. Know a lot more about Islam than most Americans. But then Similarly as a lesbian. I assume the people most likely to pick up this book are liberal, educated white folks like myself and perhaps not the people who most need to read this.
I would be curious who the author thinks her audience is here. Especially with how the shooting is dealt with. And on one hand I think all hate and violence is at its root senseless.
But we either get too much or not enough of the shooters back story. Too much for the details offered to be satisfying and to bring home that point of it all being senseless.
And not enough for us to understand a reason. Frankly speaking, the most interesting thing I got out of this book by far was a chapter where Afaf, her husband, and her father go on Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca that is one of the five pillars of Islam, a requirement of the faithful.
Definitely not what I expected to gain from this one but I appreciate it. I read to experience other lives and this book gave me that. I am curious if some of the language and Islamic details may go a bit over the heads of a reader who is unfamiliar with Islam which again brings to mind my question of exactly who this books target audience is.
And in that story as well, I think the book has broader appeal than maybe even the author realized. I think many of us, regardless of our background, come to religious faith of some sort in our teens or young adult years and there are many similarities there. But all of this seems beyond the point from the blurb and the whole school shooting thing. I just got a very different story than the one I expected. So uh It already vaguely feels like the school shooting was tacked on to get this book noticed so what with the Palestinian detail playing a bigger role in the blurb than the actual book as well, just something I wondered.
And I have no idea how difficult it must be to publish a book like this with a mainstream publisher. Feb 04, Heather Fineisen rated it really liked it. Authentic depiction of a Muslim woman in America. A principle at a private school for Muslim girls, a gunman enters the school.
The parts that follow alternate between her life story and her current situation. Detailed and well written. Copy provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. Apr 30, romancelibrary rated it really liked it Shelves: gen-fiction , , own-voices-review. The Beauty of Your Face is a moving story about family and the lived experience of being labeled "The Other.
She is the school principal at an Islamic school for girls, which becomes the target of a terrorist attack. The narrative is woven in the present and the past. As the attack on the school is happening, we are thrust into the past to learn more about Afaf during her childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.
Before and after a terrorist attack. We step into Afaf's shoes as she tries to get her parents' attention, as she finds acceptance in the arms of a loving community, and as she takes the steps to connect with her faith.
And yet where would she be without it? A family tragedy occurs during Afaf's childhood. This tragedy triggers a chain of events, which then changes and worsens the family dynamics. And I'm still sitting here trying to analyze everything. The author humanizes Afaf and her family through their flaws and their struggles. That being said, I do feel like Afaf's siblings were not as fleshed out as Afaf and her parents.
Majeed was written as an antithesis of Afaf, but only on a surface level. And Nada's story is still kind of a mystery to me. The author did an incredible job describing that inner peace and that noor — light — that I myself have experienced. And similarly to Afaf, it is also something that I continuously struggle to maintain every single day of my life. The feeling of being able to relate to a character on this level is just something else.
I can't even describe it. We also get to dive into the terrorist's POV, which disturbed me a lot. His motivation and his growing sense of anger and righteousness are prevalent in the narrative. It was hard reading about the irrational hatred that the terrorist holds for those he believes don't belong in his country. Online radicalization plays a role in all of this as well.
To me, it felt like the terrorist's good and bad side struggled with each other until the latter took over. Does the author humanize the terrorist? Kind of? But it's done in a way that doesn't diminish his terrible actions, the consequences, the pain he unleashed, and the lives he took.
At the same time, I would have rather spent my time learning about the victims instead. I felt very dirty after reading the chapters from the terrorist's POV. A couple of concerns: there is this one hadith that I personally believe was taken out of context.
Aside from placing this hadith in a situation that didn't fit, the author doesn't really expand on it. It's a bit ambiguous and I think it might lead to a misunderstanding for non-Muslims. There were also a few continuity errors, but nothing major.
Overall, this book took me on a journey of reflection, anger, despair, and hope. And I hope to read more from this author in the future. May 19, Nur Fatihah fatihahreads rated it it was amazing. Hands down a 5-star read. The storyline was raw and I loved everything about this book. TW: suicide, family problems, racism Afaf is a girl who turns to woman that faces challenges in her life as a practicing Muslim. As a Muslim myself, reading this story opened my eyes to the sacrifices others had made to maintain their religion outside of a Muslim majority country; from threats by the society to the judgemental looks you get from your own racist neighbours.
Sahar really has a way of i Hands down a 5-star read. Sahar really has a way of introducing the characters and their personality without complicating the whole story. There were the parents of Afaf, her sister Nada and her brother Majeed. I used to have a hard time remembering names but somehow the writing was so easy to be read that I felt as if I was in the book with Afaf herself.
The timeline was easily understood. The writer was very direct in differentiating the timeline. I understood easily when this and that happened. The plot itself was very unique and could stand on its own. In the very beginning, the writer slowly explained everything and as the story goes on, there wasn't really much loose ends which made it so smooth to read.
Totally a recommended book for beginners! There wasn't a lot of books that would get me thinking back to the story because I would always be so busy with my real life but the storyline keeps calling me back because I felt like I needed to know more and more.
Okay, back to the story? What is the book about? What will you find when you read the book? And this book is about how she faces the threats.
It also deals with family relationship, and the relationship that made my heart swell was between Afaf and her Father, Abba. Abba was a broken man, but he found faith in Islam and tried to change her wife's perspective in Islam. Afaf's Mum was also broken. And this is a story about how their lives had changed after so many heartbreaking events took over their life. Such a wholesome read during Syawal.
Dec 01, Elisabeth Manley rated it really liked it. Our first 7C Book Club success with a great discussion last night! I think it is more common to read stories of children defying their parents and turning away from their culture, so it was interesting to instead read about Afaf defying her non-religious mother to find herself within the Muslim faith. Overall a good book that I would recommend but think could only been made better by adding more story to the present day events.
Readers also enjoyed. Literary Fiction. Adult Fiction. About Sahar Mustafah. Sahar Mustafah. Sahar Mustafah is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants.
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