Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

This reminds me of the dark humor last read in My Sister, The Serial Killer. It's been years since I've found something to scratch left from that book. I loved every minute of this novel and will not stop recommending it.

A satirical look at the western inteference in the world and how their policies effect the politics of the region.
Honestly was unable to finish as I did not appreciate the sterotyping and the messy satire!

super cute diverse, and funny read.
Thank you to ma bestie Simon&Shuster and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun satirical novel that brings light to the failures of US foreign policy. Absurdity makes it very humorous, and action keeps you hooked to the page.

My main exposure to Zarqa Nawaz has been through the CBC show Little Mosque on the Prairie of which she was the writer and creator. At the time of this review, she has another CBC TV show debuting called Zarqa which I intend to check out.

Somehow the satire and comedy in Little Mosque didn't quite carry over to Nawaz's new book Jameela Green Ruins Everything. The frivolousness and shallowness of Jameela's character was a huge turn-off. Her thought processes and prayers read like Sophie Kinsella's. Her husband and teenage daughter treat her with kid gloves, like she's the immature impulsive adolescent of the house. The earnest naïve imam Ibrahim from a small Egyptian village with an OCPD propensity for cleaning didn't fare much better. Many characters seemed to be caricatures, including the CIA female agent <spoiler> who turned out to be the daughter of the head terrorist </spoiler>, rebelling because her father wouldn't let her watch some Western trashy show or follow some celebrity.

The plot is full of absurdity, which I gather may have been the message (American foreign policy is dominated by paranoia). I did find informative the 'jihad literacy' project that the CIA spent millions of dollars on to radicalize Afghan schoolchildren for resisting Soviet occupation. It's undeniably brave to tackle terrorism, ISIS and Muslim representation at this point in time, doubly difficult to shape into a witty sharp satire. While I agree with the political points of the novel and sympathize the mistreatment that Muslims have had to endure since 9/11, the juxtaposition of serious moments like beheadings onto frivolity and frippery like the wife of main terrorist being entranced by the cosmetics that Jameela's daughter has in her bag was very jarring. For that matter, Jameela and Murray are oddly relaxed about their daughter Lee being in Syria consorting with terrorists, but it's okay because the enterprising teenager is winning the dangerous terrorists over with her gluten-free baking 🙄 Around four-fifths into the book when the flame retardant material of Jameela's wedding dress came in useful was the first time I found the book amusing. Similarly, the reason for why Jameela's parents were so protective of her growing up evolved into a poignant moment but this came toward the end of the book.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for providing an eARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this, but sadly I just didn't. Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an e-ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

As a fan of Little Mosque on the Prairie and Zarqa Nawaz’s Laughing All the Way to the Mosque, I was curious to see what Zarqa does with her debut novel. Jameela Green Ruins Everything doesn’t shine away from racial inequality and the trauma and fear from religious hate crimes, and it was an interesting decision for a satirical novel about ISIS to put the women characters at the forefront of the story in a way that is almost empowering?

Read the rest of my review at the link attached.

I received an eARC from NetGalley for a review of this book.

At first I wasn't sure I was going to like this book but then I got really into it. It's very different. A satirical novel following the madcap adventures of Jameela as she tries to make a deal with God to make her book successful by helping others. It goes horribly wrong and she has to go off to infiltrate a terrorist organization in order to save her imam. Hidden in the funny situations is some interesting history of the impact of American foreign policy on the Muslim world.

An interesting, sweet, thought provoking and funny book.

Zarqa Nawaz’s debut novel was described to me as being a dark comedy. Between that and the cover, I thought, hey this could be a good read. And it was. Jameela Green Ruins Everything is completely bonkers in the best way but underneath the excellent writing and entertaining story, the novel also takes a look at the issues between the US and the Middle East. It’s heavy and light all at the same time and it’s a great read.

Here’s the book’s description:
Jameela Green only has one wish.
To see her memoir on the New York Times bestseller list. When her dream doesn’t come true, she seeks spiritual guidance at her local mosque. New imam and recent immigrant Ibrahim Sultan is appalled by Jameela’s shallowness, but agrees to assist her on one condition: that she perform a good deed.
Jameela reluctantly accepts his terms, kicking off a chain of absurd and unfortunate events. When the person the two do-gooders try to help is recruited by a terrorist group called D.I.C.K.—Dominion of the Islamic Caliphate and Kingdoms—the federal authorities become suspicious of Ibrahim, and soon after, the imam mysteriously disappears.
Certain that the CIA have captured Ibrahim for interrogation via torture, Jameela decides to set off on a one-woman operation to rescue him. Her quixotic quest soon finds her entangled in an international plan targeting the egomaniacal leader of the terrorist organization—a scheme that puts Jameela, and countless others, including her hapless husband and clever but disapproving daughter, at risk.
I honestly wasn’t expecting to laugh as much as I did when I started reading this book. It is funny and so well written. The circumstances aren’t funny – Jameela’s imam is being forced to infiltrate a terrorist group. But that group goes by D.I.C.K. Like, come on. How can you not snicker?

Nawaz’s characters will stick in your mind for a long while. Not just Jameela and Ibrahim but the terrorists they encounter as well. You won’t feel sympathetic for those men, not exactly, but by meeting a large number of the residents in the community, you’ll be reminded that human nature is complicated and not as black and white as we like to think.




Jameela isn’t a particularly likeable character as she’s pretty self-centred and comes across as a bit abrasive. But, over the course of the novel, the reader learns why Jameela is the way she is and, again, is reminded that there are layers to people and reasons for their actions that we may never know about. Jameela dealt with a hugely traumatic event when she was a teen and hadn’t appropriately dealt with it, though she thought she had. It was really lovely to see her work through some issues and have some closure by the end of the book.

I was honestly on the edge of my seat as I was reading this book. I had no idea how Jameela was going to save herself and Ibrahim from D.I.C.K. And then her daughter shows up and my stress levels skyrocketed. Her daughter is a force to be reckoned with though – she was so fun to read. I truly couldn’t have predicted the ending (though I knew what I was hoping for, the details were fuzzy) and I really appreciated that.

As serious as some of the topics in Zarqa Nawaz’s novel are, Jameela Green Ruins Everything still manages to be lighthearted and you’ll find yourself laughing at some of the circumstances Jameela and friends get into. It’s worth a read!

*An ARC of this novel was provided by the publisher, Simon & Schuster Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*

Madcap and blackly funny are the descriptors that kept coming to mind as I read this funny, satirical book by Zarqa Nawaz.

This is a story about a woman reconnecting with her family and her faith, and it’s also an examination of being a Muslim in a country where racist and Islamophobic words and actions are often excused as white supremacy is the bedrock of the culture and government of the US.

Jameela Green has written a book, and wants it to hit the bestseller lists. After a disastrous launch where a self-centred, white, high school enemy hijacks the event, Jameela breaks with her longstanding aversion and goes to her town’s mosque to petition God for her success.

The imam, Ibrahim, a sweet, naïve man, says she has to demonstrate her worthiness and commitment, and directs her to help a homeless person as a start. She does, unwillingly, as she has negative feelings about the homeless and her faith, as her devout and kind elder brother was killed years earlier by a homeless man.

The whole effort backfires, and when she and Ibrahim report the homeless man to the police for theft, the police immediately see Ibrahim as a terrorist, and the imam is swiftly scooped up by some unnamed party and disappears. Jameela fears he’s been deported to Syria by the CIA to be tortured, and she swiftly finds a way to get herself sent after him.

What follows is a frequently hilarious misadventure for everyone involved, including Jameela’s daughter and husband, and a CIA agent tasked with taking Ibrahim to Syria. Jameela gets into the heart of terrorist organization DICK (no doubt a jab at ISIS and various other similar organizations), and deals with both death threats and amorous attention, her sarcastic humour and understanding of politics and international relations alternating with panic.

James Bond she is not, but Jameela rather handily deals with one dangerous, outrageous situation after another, realizing that her hours watching Netflix and being a writer have taught her to be inventive, despite the escalating danger. She also gains needed insight into her fears, failings and feelings for her daughter and husband.

I laughed out loud many times while reading this. On the surface, the story and characters are all pretty silly, but Zarqa Nawaz has a lot of great commentary about Western nations’ simplistic desire to see everyone coming out certain areas in the world as terrorists. As well, she points out how the US’ international policies, based as they are on facile assessments of complex situations and other cultures, as well as a mistaken belief in white superiority, a hatred of Communism and an unfounded fear of Islam, have been responsible for a terrific amount of suffering, destruction and death in the above mentioned places, and responsible for the arming and training of terrorists. Nawaz bases her analyses, caricatures and humour on research, which she describes in an introduction to this incisive and funny book.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Mariner Books for this ARC in exchange for my review

Things I Loved About JAMEELA GREEN RUINS EVERYTHING (#gifted @simonschusterca @netgalley | out Mar. 8):
💣 It was HILARIOUS. I mean, the terrorist organization in the book goes by its acronym, DICK. I have the maturity of a 12 year old boy. The characters also got themselves into the craziest situations!
💣 The characters are complex and multidimensional. The protagonist, Jameela, originally wants to become closer with God so that her book will make the bestseller lists, but she slowly grows into someone whose Muslim faith brings her through difficult moments. Also, the many members of the terrorist organization aren't just radical extremists; they have other interests such as dancing and wedding planning.
💣 Though this is a novel, it's still quite informative in explaining some of the reasons behind why there is so much political turmoil in the Middle East. As such, there is some smart commentary on America's role in establishing the roots of terrorism in the region and I appreciated that the US government and the CIA are seen as just as problematic as the terrorist organizations that they are fighting against.
💣 The tone of the writing made it so easy to read! I felt like I was reading a romantic comedy except the only romance in this novel involves a terrorist with a tea and biscuits fetish.
__________
I absolutely loved this book and recommend it to everyone! It was funny, educational, and heartwarming.
#asiancanadianlit

I laughed out loud at the opening of Jameela Green Ruins Everything. As an aspiring writer, I chuckled at Jameela's prayer to have her new novel appear on the New York Times Bestseller list, her rivalry with her successful high-school nemesis, and her pant-suited, lipsticked publicist. So easy to relate!

Jameela's Muslim identity is well-defined in the first chapter. I loved her tongue-in-cheek self-portrait: "If Anne of Green Gables had been brown, with a unibrow and a moustache, Jameela would have been her doppelgänger."
She lives with her dentist husband, Murray and hyper-responsible daughter, Lee-Lee, in Liverspot, North Dakota. As the novel opens, she is still dealing with the death of her beloved brother at the hands of a homeless hitchhiker, along with the inevitable problem of being an American-born Muslim after 9/11.

Jameela is funny, sarcastic, and prone to blurting out her ideas without thinking of the consequences. There's lots to set the reader giggling, including a prayer for God to send a sign in the form of a grilled cheese sandwich. Readers will relate to her insecurities as a writer, a daughter, and a mother.

When Jameela decides she must visit her local mosque to deal with her problems, the improbable plot begins to take off. We meet the new imam, Ibrahim, whose two great loves are cleaning and Allah, not necessarily in that order. Then Ibrahim is arrested as a terrorist, and Jameela decides she must save him. This sets of a crazy chain of events in which Jameela and her daughter Lee-Lee end up captives in a terrorist camp in Syria.

The humour is pretty broad. There are a ton of slapstick sequences, including a massive food fight involving a gluten-free wedding cake. The recurring silly joke is the name of the terrorist group: The Dominion of Islamic Caliphate and Kingdom, DICK for short. This leads to a million sniggering adolescent puns throughout the novel. It's funny in a Get Smart kind of way. In fact, the whole novel is reminiscent of comedies like Get Smart and Airplane, in which a good-hearted, but bumbling hero (or heroine) manages to outwit the villains without actually having a clue how to do it.

The central characters are cartoonishly funny. Jameela's parents are interfering and judgmental. Her rival, Courtney Leland is a forty-something obnoxious cheerleader. Ibrahim is humble and faithful. Abdullah, Jameela's captor and suitor is reduced to a puddle of sexual desire by women who sip tea and nibble on cookies. The bad guys, Talal and Nusabaya, are irredeemably evil, and neglectful parents into the bargain. You can't beat that. The good, decent characters, Jameela's husband and daughter, are suitably forgiving and supportive. Again, it's an extended sitcom, peopled with simplistic characters who live in a very complicated world. In fact, this would make a funny movie or series. Nawaz is probably a better screenwriter than she is a novelist.

The problem is that Nawaz is trying to do too much. On the one hand, she's writing a very funny book. On the other, she is trying to educate her readers about Islam, and also to make political points about the U.S. intervention in Iraq. In her acknowledgements, she thanks her sister-in-law who apparently encouraged her to stop being so heavy with the teachable political moments. That was a good thing, because the preachiness is quite heavy as it is. Questioning readers will be googling Jihadist alphabet books and American bombing of Iraq.

One wonders why the novel is not set in Canada as there are lots of Canadian references. The obvious conclusion is that Nawaz really wants to highlight American mistakes in the Middle East, so Jameela has to be an American.

Like any good writer, Nawaz also wants her main character to evolve and grow, so every ridiculous, improbable, potentially hilarious scene must also lead Jameela to a new understanding of herself, her family, and her enemies. It happens, but it is a little difficult to believe. A wise-cracking Maxwell Smart character is not supposed to have any personal epiphanies.

In all, the book is fun to read, but a little uneven. Non-Muslim readers will learn something about Islam, but may also be taken aback by the deadly serious political points the author is making. There are a few bitter pills hidden in this sugary confection of a novel.

The latest release from Zarqa Nawaz, Jameela Green Ruins Everything, is due to be released on March 8, 2022, in Canada and May 10 everywhere else. Jameela is a writer who wants her book to top the New York Times bestsellers list. She does what anyone would do, get a man accidentally deported and then pretend to join a terror organization.

Jameela Green is a flawed character, but she is still relatable. She’s dealing with guilt and trauma from her teen years, thus leaving her unable to truly invest in relationships. Yet, she knows she does this and does try to make amends. Jameela Green is a woman who wants success, and who doesn’t? Many people turn to religion and their faith to help achieve success. But I don’t think many go to quite the same lengths as Jameela.

The book is heavy with political information. While politics isn’t something that I usually read about, I found some of the book’s information to be informative, and it has left me questioning what I thought I knew. But a good book should do that, shouldn’t it?

While a bit heavy on politics, and by extension racism and Islamaphobia, there is humor to be found in the book. Not much of it is laugh-out-loud humor, though there are bits of that, but more of a smirk or a smile kind of humor.

How can a book with terrorism and other negative things at its core have humor? How else would you explain going to a book club meeting only to find yourself in the middle of a spy network later that afternoon? Or going on an international adventure to save someone, only to find them helping to protect you? Trust me; there’s humor in the book!

Another thing that is in the book is personal growth. Yes, Jameela grows and develops as a character. But she’s not the only one. Almost every character named and several that are not, grow and change throughout the story.

I knew the moment I laid my eyes on this cover that this will be my kind of book. (oh if only dating was as easy) As my sleep deprivation this week can attest to, I was absolutely right. To say I inhaled this book would be an understatement. (my mid-40s body did need a few hours of sleep before I got to finish it) We all need a bit of Jameela Green in our lives.

Jameela Green reminded me a bit of Sophie Kinsella characters (the ones with right intentions who somehow always land themselves in outlandish situations) with a bit of Finlay Donovan is Killing It vibe. Jameela is all about her goal of getting her book to become a no.1 bestseller but things just don't seem to be falling into place. She decides to make a deal with God and enlists the help of a very young, inexperienced and newly arrived Imam at her local mosque. Somehow this unlikely pair gets themselves in an unexpected adventure involving CIA and a terrorist organization. Though Jameela doesn't appear very sympathetic in the beginning, I absolutely loved her character, as well as the dynamic between her & Imam Ibrahim.

Zarqa Nawaz managed to create a satirical novel that at first glance appears light and fluffy but tackles some heavy topics such as faith, religion, US international relations, as well as complexities of being a Muslim in modern America. As someone deeply interested in international political landscape & history I really appreciated this aspect of the story as well. There was also a cinematic aspect to reading this story that made me this what a wonderful movie it would make. This book also reminded me how much I loved Ayesha at Last and incidentally Uzma Jalaluddin also wrote such a lovely review of Jameela Green ruins Everything!

My gratitude to NetGalley & Simon & Schuster Canada for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I love Zarqa’s humour. She is so in-tune with pop culture and completely crushes stereotypes people may have about muslims. She does an incredible job depicting a unique story with a lot of humour. While you want to become Jameela’s best friend you also want to care for her broken parts. The only part i didn’t enjoy was it read more like a funny movie script. But I would still recommend this story for a good time!

There was something delightfully uncomfortable about this book by the creator of the amazing CBC show Little Mosque on the Prairie (if you haven’t seen it, go find it and watch it. Totally worth it.) It’s the completely over-the-top, comedy of errors story of Jameela, a woman who has one wish and, when it isn’t granted, visits her local imam to ask for guidance on how to get it granted. The imam is newly arrived, an innocent and simple man taken aback by Jameela’s request. So he makes one of his own: That Jameela must help someone in order to get her own wish granted. And thus an absurd set of events begins, which involves, quite heavily, the fictional Dominion of the Islamic Caliphate and Kingdoms, i.e. the D.I.C.K. (And of course the author has a lot of fun weaving dick jokes throughout the book.)

About that discomfort: It comes from the presentation of the consequences of American foreign policy on the Middle East. Weaved into quite an absurd story, these historical accurate conversations (as far as I know) between the book’s characters on American foreign policy underline how, well, absurd they were and are. I have been thinking a lot about how to contribute to the betterment of the world, which includes the elimination of prejudices. Prejudices about the Middle East and Islam in general have given way to some terrible foreign policy decisions. What would happen if we, the people, informed ourselves better about the realist in the Middle East and about Islam (even if it is through some really funny book like this one) and flood the discourse with accurate information rather than inaccurate prejudice-driven fear?

On a more personal note, as far as I remember, this is the first time I saw my name used for a character in a book. It was jarring and weird; what was I doing there? Books aren’t about me, right? Which made me realise how underrepresented I am. Now in my case, I don’t think it has really affected me negatively. But it does reinforce my commitment to discovering and promoting books about a broad diversity of characters, so that everyone feels represented.

Zarqa Nawaz created the popular CBC comedy "Little Mosque on the Prairie" so when I discovered that she had written a novel, I immediately requested it from NetGalley. The tv show was witty and warm and I assumed that the book would be similar. I was wrong!
Jameela Green, the main character, is an extremely shallow and immature character. I didn't like her personality and didn't care what happened to her. The writing, while trying to be farcical, was way too over the top and annoyingly repetitive. For example, the ISIS stand-ins in the novel had the acronym DICK. While mildly funny the first few times I read puns relating to the anagram, they quickly grew old and tired.
I really wanted to like this book, but it didn't work for me. The only positive thing I can say is that every now and then, the author would add a line or two about the reality of living as a Muslim in a Christian country. I would be more interested in reading about these insights in the future.
Thanks to NetGalley for offering me this ARC in return for an honest review.

This one wasn't for me. I felt the humour was dumb rather than intelligent, and I was concerned about stereotypes. It may simply be a case of reading something that is too new to me.