I struggled with this book for a lot of reasons. It wasn't the idea of the book that was an issue, but I think that there was just too much going on, making it hard for me to connect to any aspect of the book. I appreciate the perspective of different religious and cultural groups but just did not connect with this one.
thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copy

Mia’s has been keeping her comedy career and forbidden office crush a secret from her Palestinian American Grandparents. Her media fact checking job is much more in line with their conservative values. But when a bold neighbor, a viral video of her comedy, and a long held family scandal comes to life, Mia’s life suddenly gets turned upside down.

This is a heat felt coming of age book. Told in dual timelines, New York today and 1947 Palestine, this book highlights a time period and culture that I have only been briefly acquainted with. I enjoyed the smattering of the historical perspective. I enjoyed the growth of the main character and the side characters that are used as catalysts for growth. Overall a good coming of age book that is sprinkled with deeper themes woven throughout.

What Will People Think is a tender-hearted and engaging coming-of-age story that offers a thoughtful look at the second-generation immigrant experience. Sara Hamdan captures the nuances of cultural expectation, identity, and self-discovery with warmth and insight. Mia’s journey—navigating family pressures, romantic missteps, and career uncertainties—feels both specific and universally relatable. Her foray into stand-up comedy adds a delightful layer of humor to the narrative, and her sharp, self-deprecating wit makes her an endearing narrator.
The novel strikes a lovely balance between heartfelt and humorous, making it an enjoyable and meaningful read. A charming and empathetic debut.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

This was a wonderfully narrated multigenerational story about a Palestinian-American family. There was a "story within a story" element to the novel, which I am a sucker for.We heard Mia's view and opinions about her present-day life, and watched her recognize how often it mirrored that of her relative's back in the 1940's.

As an aspiring comedian, there was definitely some funny dialogue from Mia which brought some necessary levity the book. Many social and cultural expectations were questioned throughout the book, and overall I think it was handled very well. I'd recommend this one!

Compelling and sharply written, What Will People Think is a heartfelt story about staying true to yourself while honoring your roots. The dual timelines paired well together, and I found the switch between perspectives natural and easy to follow. Hopping between 1940s Palestine and present-day New York City, Hamdan skillfully explores themes of identity and belonging across generations.

Reem Edan does an excellent narration on audio.

4.25 stars

Sara Hamdan's debut novel is beautifully written and so full of emotion and heart. It tells the story of Mia, a young accomplished woman who is starting her professional career but dreams of being a comedian. Mia doesn't want to disappoint her grandparents, whose Arabic traditions believe she should marry a doctor and settle down. As Mia pushes the limits of her secrets, she discovers how far she's willing to go to protect her family and become the person she wants to be.

A second part of this story is Mia's grandmother's diaries, which tell the story of Zeina in 1940s Pakistan, struggling with similar questions of identity, love, and family. Told in alternating timelines, these stories are woven together to bring Mia and her grandmother closer, helping to create parallels between the narratives and providing some unexpected surprises. Narrator Reem Edan had a perfect voice for this book, bringing humor to Mia's story, especially the comedy scenes, and emotion to Zeina's story.

This book is about forging your own path, respecting your family and traditions while building your own unique identity, and the strength of love in all its forms. The immigrant experience and stereotypes for Muslim-Americans are also covered heavily, and are an important aspect to understanding this story. While these are heavy topics, the book is ultimately hopeful.

I will be sharing a review of this book with my Instagram followers on Monday 5/19. It will remain on my grid and will not expire.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the audiobook of What Will People Think?-it’s a heartfelt and sharply funny coming-of-age story that beautifully explores identity, family, and the courage to pursue your dreams. The narration by Reem Edan brings Mia’s journey to life with warmth and authenticity, making it easy to connect with her struggles as a third-generation immigrant balancing cultural expectations, a secret comedy career, and a forbidden romance. The dual timelines, including the evocative historical thread set in 1947 Palestine, add depth and resonance, while the witty dialogue and unexpected twists kept me hooked from start to finish. This audiobook is a standout for its immersive storytelling, relatable characters, and the way it seamlessly blends humor with powerful themes-highly recommended for anyone looking for a moving and memorable listen.

I feel like there are a decent amount of stories out there now about young women becoming comedians. It feels a bit over done. I did enjoy the cultural aspects of the book, especially the grandparents. It felt like there was too much focus on her love interest. There seemed to be a lot going on and not all of it tied together. Overall it was an OK read, not my favorite.

Mia is keeping a secret from her traditional Palestinian-American family, she’s moonlighting as a comedian and she’s gaining some traction. Mia has always been a good grand daughter, she enjoys her job as a fact checker, but her passions are always just simmering at the surface and before long she is in pursuit of the forbidden things, but the slow revealing of a long hidden family secret may be the ticket she needs to understand herself and finally be honest.

I love when a story has dual time lines like this, where our MC is rooted in the present but is learning piece by piece about her own families past secrets. Hamdan blends humour so well, it almost becomes the healing component for the story that also circles issues around immigration, identity and forbidden love. She hits the sweet spot of family saga mixed with coming of age and self discovery.

The characters are memorable, and while there is alot going on in this book it didn’t suffer from over saturation, it all tied together nicely and held its focus in the parts that matter and allowed sub plots to play out in fun and interesting ways.

After reading the book description of What Will People Think, I was expecting a cross between The Marvelous Mrs Maisel and something crafted by Isabel Allende or Jeanine Cummins, perhaps a work about finding one’s voice as a woman with a cultural twist. What I got instead was a romance novel. Had I known this was chick lit, I never would have picked it up, as I do not enjoy this genre.

I also found the timeline confusing. The grandmother’s backstory takes place when she is 17 in 1947, which would make her 95 years old in 2025, but the modern-day grandma is much younger than that, given all the physically demanding tasks she and the grandfather accomplish daily, so I’m not sure exactly when the “present-day” storyline takes place.

Readers who enjoy light romances with a bit of historic fiction and a twist of multiculturalism thrown in may enjoy this work. I was unfortunately not the right reader to appreciate it. I would consider reading another book by this author only if it focused far more on historical fiction and/or what it’s like being an Arab-American in post-9/11 US.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

I sort of went in a bit blind to this one and wasn't sure what to expect, but there were a lot of things I really liked about it! The story alternates between Mia's life in the present-ish and her grandma's backstory in Palestine. Both timelines worked pretty well on their own, though I wish the book was longer to meld the two a bit better. Between the two timelines, I liked the historical portion in Palestine best - the characters in that timeline were so complex and interesting. It's also not a setting I knew a ton about so I felt like I was getting good historical context along the way. I loved how the pieces of the timelines came together but felt like the ending was a bit rushed. I felt like the timeline for Mia's comedy career felt a little bit rushed too but also she's been performing for years so maybe that's overly critical? Either way, this was a really quick listen and I enjoyed it the whole way through in spite of those minor issues. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the audio ARC!

Thanks to Macmillan and NetGalley for the ARC audiobook. I really enjoyed this book! What Will People Think? is such a refreshing, heartfelt story about figuring out who you are while dealing with family expectations and cultural pressures. I loved how the main character tries to carve out her own path—between love, career, and her identity—without totally turning her back on where she comes from.

Sara Hamdan writes with warmth and humor, and I appreciated how she showed a modern Arab woman’s experience in a way that felt honest and layered. I learned a lot about how strong cultural values can shape someone’s choices, and it made me think about how hard it can be to balance tradition with personal freedom. It’s a great read if you like stories about self-discovery and strong female lead

I LOVED THIS BOOK! The first third of the book read like a memoir. I felt like I was reading the story about a true person and her first hand account and I was eating it up! Then when the journal entries of her grandmother were added into the mix, I loved the back and forth between the settings and the mystery unfolding. I was not a huge fan of the ending of the past timeline but I still really enjoyed the book overall.

Mia is an Arab American who is living in New York. She has a job in fact checking by day and is a comedian at night. She keeps her night hustle a secret from her grandparents to meet the high expectations they hold for her. Things go amiss when her set goes viral. Now her life is in jeopardy and she finally gets to learn about her grandmother's background from a journal written in the 1940s.

Thank you Sara Hamdan, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen and review this ALC. Hamdan has a natural and authentic voice, which was able to merge the challenges facing families for generations after fleeing a war torn homeland and coming to the states without documentation with the prejudices, racism, and sexism that is encountered daily in America while keeping us entertained and fascinated by an uncovering of the MCs family history all while also discovering herself. Really loved the narration on this one, too!

What a brilliant book, “What Will People Think?” by Sara Hamdan and narrated by Reem Edan is! I’d give it ten stars if I could—I enjoyed it that much. The story is told in two timelines: Mia Almas, a budding Arab comedian, living with her Palestinian grandparents in 2011 New York. Mia’s father, a security guard, had been killed in the 2011 terrorist attacks. Mia keeps her dreams of becoming a secret from her grandparents, who have secrets of their own. The other timeline is in the 1940s, and is her grandmother’s tale to tell. By reading her grandmother’s journal, Mia learns that a life worth living is a life worth taking a risk for.

Many thanks to Net Galley and to the publisher for the opportunity to read this wonderful book. My opinions are my own.

From the very first page, this story drew me in and held me tight. It was rich in emotion, beautiful told, and surprisingly funny in all the right moments. A heartfelt, impactful journey that felt both personal and universal.

I connected a lot with Mia being a first-gen American we come from different backgrounds but the experience and embracing our roots are practically the same. The dual timeline with her grandmother telling her story was an emotional and loving. Great story and beautiful writing with themes of love, family and identity. Also it was funny, Mia secretly does stand-up comedy and is hilarious and real.

What Will People Think is an absolutely captivating read! The dual timelines are equally compelling, something that’s rare for me, as I usually end up favoring one. Both timelines pulled me in and kept me fully invested. Mia’s journey is heartfelt and powerful as she discovers not only the truth about her family but also begins to truly understand herself. I loved every word of this book and found myself fully immersed in both past and present. A beautifully told story with depth, emotion, and characters I won’t soon forget.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this title in exchange for my honest opinion.

The comparison between a woman’s life in Palestine in 1947 and a Palestinian American’s life in the US in 2025 was compelling. Zayna’s story was so heartbreaking. I would have read an entire book focused on her life. I felt I was missing some depth in Mia’s story.

The narrator was great, emotive and used different voices/accents to differentiate between characters. I was confused by the choice of accents used in the flashbacks at times.

Mia, a young Arab American, is a secret stand up comedian who is pulled between her loyalty to keeping up her “good” girl persona to protect her grandparents and the desire to find love and pursue her dreams 10 years after 9-1-1. When her grandmother finally invites her to read her story of her own desires of a young girl and how she broke apart from her family expectations, it gives Mia the courage to follow her own path.

The audiobook narrator did a great job conveying comedy and Mia’s POV as well as the other characters. Overall, i enjoyed the two timelines but found myself drawn into her grandmother’s story and wished that could have gone deeper. The current timeline was fun but felt a little too YA romance for my taste. Overall I enjoyed the unique cultural perspective, I was just hoping for something less surface level.