Sometimes a book just feels like a kick straight to your heart. All My Rage dealt with a lot of extremely tough subjects and really made you care for the characters before tearing them down. And for that I couldn’t help but love it. Any book that can make me that sad and angry is clearly doing something right. The things that Sal and Noor are forced to confront took immense courage and honestly I would not have known how to deal with their circumstances. The writing was beautiful and the characters truly felt real. For me, this was a 5/5.

If you like coming of age during catastrophes, relationships tested to their limits, or need a good cry, this is the one for you.

I received a digital copy of this book free from Penguin Young Readers Group and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

An incredible story of love, mistakes and learning, and growing up. This is an incredible book to adapt into curriculum for students to dissect in discussion.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Teen/Razorbill for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. This in no way changed my rating**

CW: This book is HEAVY and discusses a variety of topics that may cause discomfort in some readers. In order to properly review the book, however, I have to talk about them. So heads up this book and parts of this review will include discussion of grief/death of a parent, racism, racial profiling by police and other legal professionals, addiction to drugs and alcohol, dealing drugs, emotional abuse, domestic abuse and implied sexual abuse.

I have to start with an apology for how long this took me to read. When I initially started, I was in a weird headspace book-wise and this one was much heavier than I was initially expecting from having read AEITA, so I put it down. Not because of anything wrong with it, but fully because of me.

Today, trying to decide on a book and realizing I would be able to finish this with the time I had, I picked it up again. I'm SO glad I did! It *is* heavy, but it's beautiful and poetic and explores love, loss, grief, the immigrant experience in America, faith, and the above mentioned CW themes so well within the span of the novel. It also discusses the deep-seated rage these things can cause us to feel and how that impacts us.

The book is told from two main perspectives, Salahudin (shortened to Sal by everyone outside of family) and Noor. There are also some chapters from the perspective of Salahudin's mother, Misbah, which talk about her life in Pakistan before moving to the US, immigrating, and her life with Salahudin and his father. Salahudin's chapters are initially about his strained relationship with his father, who is a struggling alcoholic, versus his relationship with his mother, who has advanced kidney disease. Later, he deals with feeling like he has to parent his grieving father and trying to save the motel they run, as they are deep in debt. Noor's chapters are about her experience as an immigrant and her dream of becoming a doctor while living with an abusive family member who holds saving her from a natural disaster over her. They both have trauma from the past and their present situation, including racist classmates and community members. They start having had a fight prior to the beginning of the book and are finding their way to becoming friends again, if not more.

I cannot stress enough how beautiful the writing is. Tahir references songs and poems, but her writing is so visual and lyrical and profound. For example:

"Each moment joins the next, a murmuration of starlings exploding out of the rafters of my mind and into the heavens, moving as one, revealing a greater purpose."

Gorgeous. Sentences like this abound throughout the book and they all made me want to drown in Tahir's words. Themes aside, it's a master class in how to write poetically and make great use of literary devices.

If you are in a place where you can handle the themes discussed, I would highly recommend. This book handles its themes in such a deep, respectful way. The characters are so wonderfully written. It's well worth picking up.

5/5 stars

This was an absolutely beautiful novel about grief and loss and the ties to family.

I found myself not wanting to stop reading this book and was immediately enthralled by Noor and Sal's and Misbah's stories. I rooted for them, I cried with them, and I grew frustrated an afraid with them. It's one of my new favorites of the year and a book I'll be talking about for a long time.

I've also uploaded a spoiler-free video review of the novel if anyone wants to see all of my thoughts!

I love Sabaa Tahir writing. Her words always pull in and she did exactly that with her newest book. It pulled at my heart strings. Thank you PenguinTeen for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sabaa Tahir is a gifted writer. This is told in both the past and in the present in a way that can easily connect the two, while making the voices distinguished.

I feel like it’s a thing to be conscious of that when you go into a Sabaa Tahir book, you should be prepared to have your heart completely shredded to pieces. And yet nothing could have prepared me for what All My Rage did to me.

There are stories that hurt, stories that make us cry, stories that live through us and our own experiences, and yet- and yet All My Rage was an awakening. LIKE NOT TO BE DRAMATIC but this book devastated me and somehow healed me. This is why I read. To find stories that make me feel seen in multiple ways. To find stories that make reality feel like an escape.

I wanted to love this book. The concept was stunning and the story sounded so intriguing. But after reading curse word after curse word after curse word on every single page, I just felt fed up. The prose felt uncreative and I couldn’t push through. Some day, maybe I’ll try again, but I cannot today.

While many will know her as the author behind the An Ember in the Ashes series, she is so much more! Sabaa Tahir is a masterful storyteller with an ability to switch between genres that is rare and astounding. Told with the power and heart of an own voice author, she plunges us into the lives and experiences of a Pakistani-American family and their generational story. Filled with both loss and hope, we bear witness to the trials and triumphs teen Salahudin (Sal) walks through as his immigrant family struggles with overcoming the past and he with limiting his becoming to his circumstances.

This book took me on a roller coaster of emotions and while there were scenes that were not easy, the story was worthy of the time and tears spent. It exceeded my expectations greatly! I look forward to reading more from Tahir.

What a book! I didn’t know too much to expect from this book, especially since I haven’t read any of her other books or series, but this was completely amazing and really insightful. I cannot even express the whirling emotions this took me through, I’m,,,, wrecked! I loved it!

Read if you like: YA coming of age stories.
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This book follows Salahudin and Noor, two young teens living in California about to graduate from high school, but both are dealing with traumatic events that no child should have to deal with.
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This book deals with a lot. Salahudin is left to deal with his family’s motel after the death of his mother and his fathers alcoholism. Noor is forced to work at her uncles liquor store while hiding the fact that she has applied to colleges in order to escape him.
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Noor and Salahudin’s friendship is rocky. They have grown up together but the book starts after The Fight and I liked how the author used the rest of the book to show how they worked on repairing their relationship.
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We also get a look at the experiences of Salahudin’s parents and Noor as immigrants from Pakistan. They experience brutal racism at the hands of the local people, which is horrific.
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I love how the theme of rage is represented in the book through Salahudin and Noor’s experiences. The writing was beautiful and heartbreaking and I highly recommend this book.
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CW: death of a loved one, alcoholism, racism, sexism, sexual assault, domestic violence, drug use and overdose, police violence and incarceration.

This was a beautiful and powerful story about love, family and life. It visits themes about racism and loss that are sadly too relevant. Would highly recommend this one

A beautiful story of family, friendship, love, forgiveness and community. This is a book that I believe everyone should read. This book has very heavy and triggering themes that although hard to read, were explored eloquently. Sabaa Tahir's writing is beautiful and heart-wrenching and these characters will stay with me forever.

Sabaa Tahir tells the story of two couples:
-Misbah and Toufiq, who marry in Lahore, Pakistan and immigrate to the US, where they buy and run a motel
-Noor and Salahudin are high school students and friends since they were six-years old when Noor came to the US after her entire village in Pakistan was destroyed in an earthquake. Salahudin is the son of Misbah and Toufiq, and Noor is the niece of other immigrant from Pakistan, her uncle Riaz, who found her years earlier amid the rubble of her home, and brought her to live with him. Noor is also secretly applying to several universities, desperate to get out of their small, racist town and a very difficult relationship with Riaz.

After Misbah dies, all their lives spin out of control, with Toufiq staying firmly drunk and leaving Sal to deal with creditors and no money, and no idea how to pay all the bills. Noor becomes increasingly desperate to leave home and school, both of which are becoming increasingly toxic, with Noor’s uncle and a longtime school bully stepping up their attacks on her. Salahudin makes a critical decision regarding finances, and sets off on a path utterly different from what he, Noor or Misbah would have expected or condoned.


It seems almost silly to say the obvious about this book:
it’s powerful, and ferocious. It’s also full of fury, grief, intolerance and violence, and hits you hard right from its first page, not hiding the sadder, uglier parts of family and responsibility, and how grief and secrets warp behaviour and mangle hope. And how the American dream immigrants are sold on only seems to apply to certain types of people.

It’s also a love story.

I fell in love with this book and its flawed characters immediately, with Noor and Misbah capturing my heart.

The author dealt masterfully with the complicated feelings many of the characters had about their faith and culture, and how reflexively bigoted the small town is about the main characters’ differences.

Tahir also broke my heart about a dozen times while I read this terrific book. There is so much struggle, anger and hurt in this book, and balancing these out, great love and compassion.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Penguin Young Readers Group for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I didn't know what to expect when I started reading this book, but I didn't expect what came from it. A story about two young people who are thrown into the mix of adulthood, parents who don't act like parents, and that gnawing feeling that you have to do something because who else will? There's so much to unpack in this story and it doesn't read like your typical YA contemporary story. I honestly think Sabaa Tahir's outdone herself with this one.

Sal (short for Salahuddin) is a young guy who's mother is really sick and his father drinks too much. They own the Cloud's Rest Inn Motel, but with his mother's illness and his father's drinking there isn't much of a hotel left. Noor is an immigrant from Pakistan living with her uncle. While things seem normal on the surface, Noor's uncle doesn't like her speaking in Urdu or Punjabi. He doesn't like her going to the local mosque. He doesn't want her to go to college.

On top of all that, Noor told Sal how much she loved him and he didn't say anything.

The story is told in dual perspectives and dual timelines. The timelines are about Sal's familiy and how they made their way to the US and the events leading up to the present day. I really loved the dual perspectives and the timeline for this book. You get this sense there's a lot of secrets shrouded in their past and as you read the book, these secrets slowly reveal themselves. You get a better understanding of why things have turned out so wrong for both Noor and Sal.

There's a lot of complicated emotions happening in this book. Love, loss, hope, grief, pain, sadness, and happiness are all prevalent throughout the pages. Most of the time, I just wanted to reach into the book and hug both Sal and Noor and tell them it's going to be alright. The book constantly pushes Noor and Sal into situations that require them to grow up much faster than they need to. It's one of those stories where the adults in their lives have failed them and they feel obligated to take matters into their own hands.

Of course, they're young. They're still in high school with a huge future ahead of them, so when you see the kinds of decisions they make you definitely feel a sense of regret for them. You want them to make "good" decisions, but then you remember that they're just kids and they're trying to do their best without much help from the adults in their lives. It will definitely complicate you and in good Sabaa Tahir fashion, you'll never see the ending coming.

Overall, this was such a great read filled with tons of heart, lots of emotion, and a real test of what Sabaa Tahir can do with a contemporary story. I loved reading every minute of it.

First thoughts: Beautiful. Tahir is the perfect storyweaver of "show don't tell" writing! Readers will empathize with the characters' pain and silent struggles and preconceived cultural notions will be reshaped. Final thoughts: Powerful.

I’ve been a huge fan of Sabaa’s work since her
An Ember In The Ashes quartet series. After finishing All My Rage, I can confidently say that this is one of the best YA contemporaries I’ve read in a long time and has easily become a 2022 favorite of mine.

All My Rage truly is a love letter of sorts. In true Sabaa fashion, the writing and the story is gut-wrenching and beautiful. Sabaa really knows how to create characters that you not only feel for but feel attached to and that clearly shows when it comes to Misbah, Noor and Salahudin. It’s hard not to find little pieces of yourself within them. They’re definitely characters I will remember forever.

The book perfectly captures the hardships of adolescence— having to deal with familial expectations and obligations and how hard it can be to break ties. There’s a lot of struggle, grief, betrayal, and of course, rage.
But amidst all that, there’s also faith and hope. Coming out of the other side and surviving.

There are so many great passages and quotes that I wish I could share in this review but I’ll
have to wait till I get a physical copy to include them. I seriously can’t wait to add a finished copy to my collection. I’m so glad I got to experience this beauty.

As noted in the book, CW: Drug/alcohol addiction, physical abuse, Islamophobia, mentions of repressed sexual assault, tense exchanges with law enforcement, death

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Oh my god! Sabaa what have you done to me!! 😭😭😭 Forever crying over this.

All My Rage is a generational contemporary about a family of Pakistani Americans and Noor, a Pakistani refugee. The story centers on Noor, Salahudin and his mother, Misbah. We see Misbah in Pakistan as she starts her married life with Toufiq and they come to the United States. Noor and Salahudin were best friends, until The Fight. Now Sal spends his time trying to save the motel as his mother's health fails and his father is lost in his alcoholism. Noor balances working for her wrathful uncle while also going to school and trying to apply to college where she can finally be free of him and Juniper. But when Sal tries something desperate to save the motel, he and Noor face far reaching consequences than they knew to prepare for.

This book was fucking incredible. The way Sabaa has shaped the story of Misbah, Noor and Salahudin was amazing. The emotional journey we go through with these characters has caused maximum emotional damage. I wanted to rage, to cry, to scream, to fight and so much more for these characters. The way trauma is explored in this story is incredible, there's no other word for it truly.

There were times I felt so down with these characters I didn't think there was any hope left. But Sabaa weaves a tiny seed of hope throughout this whole story. So much is thrown at the protagonists and while they don't always make the smartest decisions, they persevere through it all. I love that we get to see them all grow and learn through their mistakes. Many times we only see a tiny bit of behavior changes, but All My Rage goes above and beyond that.

The ending made me cry. I loved it so much. It's bittersweet yet brimming with hope. This book is amazing. I am so glad I read it. Tahir has established herself as someone who can easily leap genres and craft a compelling story and characters. I cannot wait to see what comes next for her.

Rep: cishet Pakistani-American male MC with PTSD and touch aversion, cishet Muslim Pakistani refugee female MC with PTSD, cishet Muslim Pakistani-American female MC with chronic kidney disease, white cis bisexual female side character with a small child, various Muslim and Pakistani side characters, Black Muslim female side character, BIPOC male side character, WLW side couple.

CWs: Islamophobia, alcoholism, alcohol consumption, bullying, domestic abuse, physical abuse, racism, child abuse, drug use, drug abuse (non-fatal overdose), drug addiction, panic attacks, racial slurs, chronic illness, terminal illness, xenophobia, medical content, grief, death, death of parent, religious bigotry, mental illness (PTSD). Moderate: police brutality, emotional abuse and manipulation, past sexual assault/rape.

I recently finished reading All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir. (It's out tomorrow -- Tuesday, March 1 -- thank you Penguin Teen for the gifted ebook.)⁣
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Salahudin and Noor are high schoolers who have been friends for most of their lives. They bonded at a young age because they were the only Pakistani kids in their school in the small town of Juniper, California. Salahudin's mother, Misbah, treats Noor like the daughter Misbah never had. Noor lost her parents in an earthquake and is being raised by her uncle.⁣
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This is not a spoiler because it happens at the beginning of the book: Misbah dies. After that, two people who were barely hanging on -- both Salahudin and Noor have struggles and secrets that are gradually revealed -- try to find solace in each other and their memories of everything Misbah taught them.⁣
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But their lives are falling apart. Salahudin's father is an alcoholic, so it's up to the son to keep their hotel in business. Noor desperately wants to go to college but her uncle is against it. Things go wrong, and then they go more wrong.⁣
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Also, things are awkward between the two friends because they're not sure if they want to try being more than just friends. The best part of the book, for me, was watching them interact with each other and seeing their relationship evolve.⁣
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This story takes on addiction, bullying, and racism. But there is a strong community of family -- biological and found -- at the heart of the story, and it is rich in Pakistani culture. Also, so much music. Surely someone will create a playlist of all the songs referenced.⁣
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This is the best YA novel I've read in a while. Highly recommend.

Sabaa does it again. I’m so in love with her writing, All My Rage hold especially true (after loving the Ember series).
This contemporary is raw, it holds truth, it holds heartbreak, it holds the story of every day lives of you and me. I am an immigrant, and when I read novels such as this, my heart aches, but I think, and hope that other souls that feel the same way know they’re not alone.
This topics, and feels from this book will stay with me for a long time, it holds topics that trigger me, like I imagine it does with many others, but it’s executed so beautifully, and with so much emotion, I can only imagine the way Sabaa was feeling when she wrote it.
All the stars, all the tears, with my whole heart, I recommend this book, even if it’s the one and only book you’ll read this year, choose this one.