This novel was a beautiful debut. I wasn’t expecting this at all but I thoroughly enjoyed it. The plot had been entertained throughout and I loved the main character. The ending felt like it was cut short but it was really real

I discussed this on the December 5 All the Books episode. This is a rough transcript.

Razia is a Pakistani American girl growing up in Queens in the 80s.
She’s the child of immigrants, and her parents expect her to behave in a certain way.
As a teenager, she starts taking part in small rebellions with friends, like wearing mini skirts.
When she’s accepted in a prestigious Manhattan high school, it feels like a whole different world than the Pakistani neighborhood she grew up in.
She spent her childhood in the bubble of that neighborhood, surrounded by families similar to hers.
At the high school, she falls for a girl, Angela.
But when their relationship is found out, she’s forced to make difficult decisions about her culture, her faith, her identity, and her future.
The reviews say this is a character-driven coming-of-age story with a strong setting of Corona, Queens in the 80s,
And that it doesn’t simplify the struggle Razia has with reconciling her faith, family, and queerness.
It’s told in layered stories, a collection of vignettes, that all build that characterization and show how Razia ended up here.
Some of the reviews mentioned the audiobook being especially good.
This looks like a great option if you like books that really explore a character in depth,
Or coming of age stories, especially of young women and the friendships between girls,
About queerness and religion, and books that explore the nuances of that.
I’m really looking forward to reading this one.

Deeply emotional and achinglu beautiful So well written and the fact that it's a debut makes me want to pikc up this author's other works the second they come out <3

3.5 stars. Thank you to Net Galley and Flatiron Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. I saw this author speak about this book and it made me excited to read her book. For some reason I thought it was a memoir but realized it was a novel. I was confused when I first started reading as the names didn't match up. This story focuses on a Pakistani-American, Muslim teenager as she finds her way - immigrant parents who are strict about practicing their faith and culture, friendships with other Pakistani-American teenagers and breaking rules and judgments of what is right as they navigate their dual identities, and experiencing a world outside her community. Razia grows up in Corona, Queens NY in a tightly knit Pakistani community with her best friend Saima. When there is a rift between their families, Saima's family forbids her to spend time with Razia. Razia then finds Taslima and they rebel and test the boundaries their community. Razia is then accepted into Stuyvestant, a prestigious high school completely outside her community and is exposed to many things her parents and community would not condone. She meets Angela and feels things for her that open Razia to different relationships. An Aunty in the community finds out about this relationship which forces Razia to choose between her community and her future. There were interesting moments but I found there was something missing in the telling of this story. It felt a little flat.

This book was okay. Not bad, not great. Honestly the story didn't really stick that well for me and the plot was forgettable.

Thank you Netgalley for this amazing book to read in exchange for an honest review.

This book was beautiful, sad, and so real in its emotions.

I cannot wait to recommend it to everyone I know!

This is such a sweet coming of age story set in 1980s Queens, centering on female friendship and (queer) self discovery. Razia, a Muslim Pakistani-American girl, cycles through close friendships as she grows up and tries to balance her identity and desire with her love for family and religion. Recommend for fans of Jacqueline Woodson & Elena Ferrante! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

It was beautiful, and I enjoyed more than half of it! I think I would need to revisit it in a better headspace, but overall it was enjoyable to read and interesting enough to keep me wanting to read more!

An excellent coming of age novel that highlights the intersection between growing up, sexuality, immigration and belonging. While there is so much to think about and examine in this novel there are so many elements of fun, light and love sprinkled throughout. The girls obsession with music stars, games and their social relations really bring these young women to life. There was a great deal of nuance worked into the story and your heartbreaks with the characters as they deal with many a hardship.

I love a good ol' fashion teenage rebellion that doesn't hurt anyone. If A Tree Grows in Brooklyn was written today it would mirror this gem. I love the religious aspect that allows us to learn more about a community maybe we do not know as well as others. Excellent!

4/5 stars
I honestly really enjoyed this one.
A character-driven coming-of-age story set in a Pakistani community in Queens. The characters and community are so well drawn that we understand well where Razia and her family fit within it. This is a child-of-immigrants story where the parents are all still very tied up with their home country, and to the American-born children Pakistan can feel like a threat or a dream depending on what they want from their lives. The setting is also richly drawn, as is the time period of 80's Corona.
This is a novel about the discovery of queer desire but it takes a while to get there. (Like at least 2/3 of the way there.) I didn't mind the wait, it feels true to life for many queer girls, the way there are small things all around you before you realize the truth about yourself.
While the happenings of the book are mostly the small rebellions of Razia and her friends and their repercussions with their parents, I found this very readable. Sometimes you don't really need a lot of plot because you enjoy spending time with the characters.
I can be very critical of novels that take on both queerness and religion, but I have no complaints here. Rehman sees Razia as a devout girl for much of her life, and even when she begins to encounter conflict between her Muslim beliefs and the world she wants to be a part of, it is not a simple choice. There are so many bigger questions she must answer along the way. Sometimes the decision isn't yours at all, it is made for you. The consequences feel real without feeling like Razia is lashing out against her family or her faith. The tricky path of being a faithful girl in a patriarchal religion is not so simple, Razia pushes against it but she often accepts it, there is push and pull, there is love and frustration. It is never just as simple as conflict, never a black and white.

Hey there! I'm not really sure what to say about this one. I didn't hate it and I love hearing stories from cultures other than my own, but this one just didn't hit for me. It was so slow in the beginning it took me almost a month to get through. Then the last 20% flew and I was like, this! This is what I wanted to hear about! Just wish we'd had more teenage Razia and less little kid Razia.

I love this queer, Muslim-American, coming of age novel that invites the reader to witness Razia's everyday life from childhood to teenager as a Pakistani-American in Corona, Queens in the mid-late 1980s. Following Razia's friendships and small rebellions within her neighborhood to her days in Manhattan at the prestigious Stuyvesant High School, where she cuts as often as she goes and finds an unexpected (and unacceptable to her family) romance with a new friend, the book never turns away from both the mundane and dramatic moments that make up these characters' lives. I did feel the pacing of the childhood pages to be slow compared to the teenage ones--where I would have preferred to spend even more time as a reader--but overall, a solid, moving and unforgettable novel.

More YA than something in the vein of Ocean Vuong or Elena Ferrante, this book is a heart-felt story of queerness in a Muslim American community of New York. The story is unique for its sense of place in Queens in the late 20th century. However, the book is more of a collection of stories than the plot of a throughline, with some more exciting than others. The book as a whole does slow down and get dark, which messes with momentum. Razia's story finally coalesces in an affecting final chapter that ends in searing fashion. One wonders whether in fact too much happens too quickly in the last chapter, but it is forceful. Overall the writing is good and promising.

DNF - This read like a collection of essays and was hard to hold my attention. I made it to the 23% mark before DNFing. I’m sure this would 100% be the right read for someone else, really beautiful writing.

This is a beautiful but slow-to-get-through book with excellent character development and lyrical prose. I struggled to keep on reading. I wanted more plot. But I’m sure this is just the right read for so many!

Rehman’s novel is a coming-of-age story of a young Pakistani-American girl, Razia. The book is a collection of stories from Razia’s youth, almost like snapshots from her life. The book explores what it means to be Muslim and Pakistani in America in the 1980s, the difference between first and second-generation immigrants, the necessity of friendship, the role of religion and family, and how to navigate becoming your own person despite family and societal pressures.

I truly enjoyed this novel. Rehman did a lovely job drawing the reader into Razia’s world and seeing life through Razia’s eyes. She balanced sorrow and loss with light-hearted moments, and while there were many things left unsaid and unknown, Rehman offered hope at the end of the story. I highly recommend this novel—there is much to discuss and reflect on in this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the ARC!

DNF
As much as I wanted to get into this book, I just could not. I got about 25% in which I try to do before deciding to abandon a book. It read like essays but I wasn’t sure exactly who I was following or what I was following and it just could not hold my attention when I have so many other books to read.

Poetically written, a 1980's love story to the vibrant Queens NY neighborhood of Corona. Protagonist, Razia navigates friendships, faith, family and coming into her own with humor and deep.

An emotional, heartbreaking look at the life of a lesbian Pakistani teenager in 1980s New York City. I loved the descriptions of the city and community that Razia is a part of. Despite our differences in culture and time in history, I could relate all too well to loving my father and not being the daughter he wanted.

At the end of the book, I was left wanting to know so much more. would have loved to see more of Razia's life once she arrived in Boston and would be more than interested in a sequel to this story.