Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for an opportunity to review this title. I will absolutely be purchasing this for our library and definitely throwing it at people to make them read!

I'm a sucker for a sweet love story. But when the book turns out to be so much more I know it's a necessary book to have in the world. This is how I feel about Love from A to Z. I am grateful to S.K. Ali for letting us into this story. For letting readers look inside these characters to understand the religious choices they have made and are willing to stand for. For showing teens as such remarkable, strong characters that do have voice and power. A great choice for teens and anyone working with them.

This is a book the YA community has been needing! The diversity and honest portrayal of the main characters is beautiful.

An amazingly diverse contemporary romance that also touches on social justice, intolerance, and serious health issues. I loved getting to know Zayneb and Adam and learned a lot about what dating and relationships look like through a Muslim lens. This book is important - it is some much needed Muslim rep in ya, and it actually talks quite a bit about religion and faith - but it’s also really good. Something I love about books is the ability to walk in someone else’s shoes for a bit and better understand an experience outside your own, and this really delivered on that front for me. However, I am even more glad that this book exists for Muslim teens who need and want to see themselves represented authentically in YA.

This is definitely a character driven novel and both of our MCs were well developed. It can be difficult to have a unique narrative voice for different POVs, but each character’s journal entries feel uniquely them. They felt like people I might actually know! Zayneb’s anger riled me up - she makes you want to get up and scream at injustice and intolerance alongside her. Adam’s family (and his desire to shield them from his struggles) is precious. The cast of friends around him acted as a foil to Adam’s quiet seriousness. I was deeply invested in watching their relationship unfold and seeing how they tackled serious life challenges and how their faith impacted their decisions. I actually found myself googling cultural and language terms throughout to better understand certain things that are mentioned throughout. I definitely walked away from this book with more understanding and insight! I think any teen looking for a clean romance would like this, not just Muslim teens. The spark between Adam and Zayneb is adorable and watching them fall for each other was everything.

The only thing I wasn’t a fan of were the weird bits with an omniscient narrator - the device was used so infrequently that when it shows up it was a little jarring. Also, a glossary of Arabic words or religious terms in the back would make this a little more accessible to everyone (because I truly think this is a great, important, and fun book that has appeal beyond the target audience who may know these words already).

I am not an own voices reader for this novel but I have read the reviews of a few and I love that they believe this story so closely mirrors their own lives and is a reflection of themselves, their culture, and their struggles with Islamaphobia and navigating the world we live in. It honestly makes my heart so happy.

"Never, ever quake in the face of hate, Zayneb."

At the core of this story is Zayneb, a Muslim girl from Indiana whose father is from Pakistan and whose mother is Guyanese and Trinidadian. She has a loving family, great friends, and an incredibly problematic and Islamaphobic teacher who frequently uses her religion and culture as an example of oppression and what's wrong in the world. Zayneb's mother wants her to behave, to not make noise at school, but one day she can take no more and her outburst gets her suspended from school prior to a scheduled break and so she leaves early for her aunt's place in Doha (Qatar). It's on her way there that we meet Adam, a Muslim himself (who converted and is Asian by heritage).

"Here's one thing I CAN figure out and that's how much I don't know. How I don't know what you went through at school. With your teacher. I don't know about the extent of the Islamophobia you've faced. I don't know what it feel like to be you. But here's another thing: I DO want to know."

We also get Adam's POV in this novel, Adam who is returning to his father and sister in Doha on break from University in London. Where Zayneb is fierce he's quiet and thoughtful. He's the soft but sturdy love interest that teenage girls may overlook but wiser women know you cherish. He loves his sister, is protective of his father, and incredibly loyal to those he loves. He's dealing with his own guilt and issues throughout the novel and turns to creating things and art to help himself through. That and Zayneb's smile and her bright blue hijabs. He's fallen for her, hard, and it's so touching to see. Throughout the novel, he is so respectful of her culture, their shared beliefs and religion, and the way that dating and courtship needs to proceed for Zayneb. He's open, he communicates, he's thoughtful and caring...the least toxic of men and I love him for it.

"I'm not a violent person. I'm not advocating violence. But I am an angry person. I'm advocating for more people to get angry. Get moved."

We see over and over throughout the novel how Zayneb is treated by those who are too closed minded to open their eyes to other cultures and religions. Whether it is her decision to wear a hijab, to wear different swim attire, or to speak her mind when she sees injustice (there's a scene where she confronts a fellow teen about wearing a Native American headdress because it was "trendy" and I legit cheered, guys!) Zayneb doesn't know how to sit quietly by when she sees something wrong in the world. I adore her for it! She's strong, she's passionate, and even when it scares her she's not going to let those things slide. She battles a lot with her mother's expectations of her and the fire burning inside her to do something, to get angry and to act. It's so real, so raw, and it's beautifully handled with angry and sad tears and lots of honest communication.

"Human rights. For everyone. Because that was the only way the world made sense. When the arc of care went far and wide, it journeyed and battled to exclude none."

This is a stunning look at friendship, at first loves, forever loves, family relationships, racism, loss of loved ones, hate crimes, injustice, and hope. It's a beautiful and important story with themes that I think will speak to everyone. I HATE when people compare new books to other popular books-and I won't say this is the new The Hate U Give, but I will say that it read very similarly to me. It's heartbreaking and heartwarming, hurtful and hopeful and I really really enjoyed it. I defy anyone to read this and not fall in love with the spirit that resides in Zayneb.

Trigger warnings for loss of a parent, illness, terrorist attacks, and racism in the form of both subtle and outright comments.

S.K. Ali does it again! I really enjoyed her other book and this one didn't disappoint either. It is a fun book and has some teenage romance, politics, and some valuable lessons in it. I really liked the depth of the characters. I will be adding this to our libraries collection.

I really liked this eye opening story. Romantic and real characters in a story that I enjoyed. Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved S.K. Ali's first book, but I might love this one more, if only because love is at the very heart of the story. Adam and Zayneb are lovely, flawed characters whose lives intersect because of their love for one manuscript and their near-identical marvels and oddities journals. I can't wait to hand this story to many people.

This book was fun, eye-opening, and sweet. Teens looking for a love story that is charming and politically conscious will be enamored!