4,5* Dieses Buch reißt einem das Herz raus und setzt es gebrochen wieder rein. Ja, jeder sollte es lesen und man sollte diese Geschichte an Schulen durchnehmen. Noor und Sal waren so tolle Charaktere und ich habe bis zur letzten Zeile mit ihnen gelitten, geliebt und gebangt. Viel mehr kann und will ich gar nicht dazu schreiben, andere Menschen haben viel bessere und ausführlichere Rezensionen geschrieben. Hier z.B. die von meiner Freundin Bine: klick CW: Rassismus, Mobbing, häusliche Gewalt, Tod/Trauer, Alkoholismus, Drogenmissbrauch, Polizeigewalt, Behördenwillkür, Gaslighting, sexueller Missbrauch

"If we are lost, God is like water, finding the unknowable path when we cannot." This was such a tough book, but incredibly beautifully written. Lots of issues are being touched upon (maybe one or two too many? Idk, I prefer books with a stronger focus), like Islamophobia, drug and alcohol abuse, racism, abuse, financial issues, death of a parent and the struggles of being a teenager and deciding being decided for what to do after college btw, this book included one of my favorite poems ever throughout the different parts - One Art by Elizabeth Bishop. And it actually fits very well with the content of the story, as the poem talks about losses in life and that they will get easier to bear over time. "The art of losing isn’t hard to master; so many things seem filled with the intent to be lost that their loss is no disaster."

4 stars. This was good. I liked reading it, liked the way the story was told even though Misbahs chapters sometimes interrupted the storyline a bit for me. I also feel like there should have been more about her, just because she appeared like this perfect angel and I would’ve liked more depth about her character. Overall the book talks about many very important and real topics, it doesn’t shy away from talking about hard and traumatic experiences (please check out the trigger warnings in the book before reading!). The story was well paced and kept me interested through the whole thing, even though it‘s YA and I don’t always like those anymore. Where the storyline went was a bit too much for me. All the things that were happening and everything that was hinted at and talked about from the past of the characters plus those new traumas felt a little over the top for me. It was not unrealistic, but just a bit much for me at the time of reading it. The story with Jamie was a bit too high school-ish resolved for my liking and felt very convenient. This is a very important story and I enjoyed reading about experiences that aren‘t talked about enough in my opinion - growing up in a small town when you‘re somehow „different“, dealing with difficult family situations and circumstances.

muss dringend mit jemandem über dieses Buch reden, weil da noch zu viele angestaute Gefühle sind, die auch Tränen nicht haben rauslassen können. So viel Schmerz dieses Buch auch transportiert hat, so wundervoll war es. Sabaa Tahirs Schreibstil glänzt auf jeder Seite und ich werde nicht genug Klebezettel haben, um alles zu markieren, was etwas in mir ausgelöst hat. Ich kann nicht in Worte fassen, was Noor & Salahudins Geschichte in mir ausgelöst hat und wie allumfassend ehrlich dieses Buch ist. Aber wenn ich euch ein Buch dieses Jahr aufschwatzten kann, dann dieses. Weil wir Bücher brauchen die unsere Perspektiven erweitern, uns Mitgefühl lehren und uns verständlich machen warum wir unsere Gesellschaft ändern müssen. Damit nie wieder eine Widmung denen gewidmet sein muss, die nicht überlebt haben.

4 stars. This was good. I liked reading it, liked the way the story was told even though Misbahs chapters sometimes interrupted the storyline a bit for me. I also feel like there should have been more about her, just because she appeared like this perfect angel and I would’ve liked more depth about her character. Overall the book talks about many very important and real topics, it doesn’t shy away from talking about hard and traumatic experiences (please check out the trigger warnings in the book before reading!). The story was well paced and kept me interested through the whole thing, even though it‘s YA and I don’t always like those anymore. Where the storyline went was a bit too much for me. All the things that were happening and everything that was hinted at and talked about from the past of the characters plus those new traumas felt a little over the top for me. It was not unrealistic, but just a bit much for me at the time of reading it. The story with Jamie was a bit too high school-ish resolved for my liking and felt very convenient. This is a very important story and I enjoyed reading about experiences that aren‘t talked about enough in my opinion - growing up in a small town when you‘re somehow „different“, dealing with difficult family situations and circumstances.

4 stars. This was good. I liked reading it, liked the way the story was told even though Misbahs chapters sometimes interrupted the storyline a bit for me. I also feel like there should have been more about her, just because she appeared like this perfect angel and I would’ve liked more depth about her character. Overall the book talks about many very important and real topics, it doesn’t shy away from talking about hard and traumatic experiences (please check out the trigger warnings in the book before reading!). The story was well paced and kept me interested through the whole thing, even though it‘s YA and I don’t always like those anymore. Where the storyline went was a bit too much for me. All the things that were happening and everything that was hinted at and talked about from the past of the characters plus those new traumas felt a little over the top for me. It was not unrealistic, but just a bit much for me at the time of reading it. The story with Jamie was a bit too high school-ish resolved for my liking and felt very convenient. This is a very important story and I enjoyed reading about experiences that aren‘t talked about enough in my opinion - growing up in a small town when you‘re somehow „different“, dealing with difficult family situations and circumstances.