Saints and Misfits is a beautifully written, thought-provoking story that offers both entertainment and meaningful reflection. S. K. Ali’s skillful handling of complex issues, along with her rich, authentic portrayal of Muslim-American life, makes this novel a standout in the YA genre. It’s a story of resilience, finding one's voice, and accepting both the light and dark parts of ourselves. It will resonate with readers of all backgrounds, especially those looking for diverse, impactful narratives.

Thank you, Netgalley and publisher, for giving me an early copy for review.

This book was a great, quick read. The pacing was on point, and I'm so glad I got a chance to read an early copy. I can't wait for book 2!

There was a ton I loved about this book. I appreciated the idea of saints, misfits, and monsters, and how Janna incorporated it into her perception of the world. But I do think that boiling everyone down to an individual label can be harmful. For example, the way Janna perceived “Saint Sarah” was challenging, but it allowed for some development over the course of the book.

I also really loved how Islam was broken down in simplistic terms through the newsletter Q&A Janna helped her uncle with. It was educational while also fitting into the storyline seamlessly.

What I didn’t love was the pacing of the novel and some of the writing, which I found choppy at times and tough to read through. I definitely struggled through the book at times, and found myself really just trying to push through it.

I also really struggled with some of the pieces related to how the hijab was written into the story. I loved that Janna took ownership of her decision to wear the hijab, which made it that much more frustrating when she didn’t try to hide her hair when a boy saw it. I’m certainly not an expert on Muslims or Islam, but my understanding of the hijab is that males cannot see a hijab-wearing female’s hair (with the exception of immediate family). So I was just surprised with how that whole scene was handled and how Janna’s long-time friend posted a picture of Janna’s hair online for all to see. If they had been friends for so long, it doesn’t matter if the friend doesn’t fully understand her religion. I still think she’d really understand the importance of keeping her friend’s hair covered.

So overall, I thought this book was mostly enjoyable and informative without being preachy. It was a great way for me to better understand Islam in easy terms. It would be a great read for Muslim teens to see themselves in pop culture or for non-Muslim teens to get a better understanding and perspective of the religion.

I liked that I learned about Muslim culture. At times I felt like I was on a rollercoaster; sometimes going fast and other times felt like it was chugging toward the top of a high part of the coaster before dropping back down. Janna was a Muslim teen who had something dramatic happen to her. Unfortunately, when Janna spoke up, no one believed her. Who would believe that a respected member of the Mosque would do something terrible? This is what Janna was dealing with in this book. Nuah was a great friend of Janna's throughout the book. At times, I wonder if he wanted more. Mohammad was Janna's older brother, who would do just about anything for his siblings. Good book that really delves into the like of a Muslim teen and takes you for a ride. There are some situations that could be trigger warnings for some. This will be a book that I get for the classroom.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

A wonderful book! Our heroine is a regular teenage girl. She is given to emotional turmoil; she swings between believing her friends are wonderful and not wanting to speak to them ever again. She likes a boy; she doesn't like him. But amid all the normal teenage angst is her religion and the comfort it gives her. But then something happens that, unfortunately, too many young women are forced to deal with.
The author captures what this character is going through perfectly! I loved this story and the realism of a young woman finding her voice to scream.

I appreciate the diversity and representation. Unfortunately the actual story was not engaging for me so it was a dnf.

A poignant and fast read.

I thoroughly enjoyed the main character, Janna. She had such an authentic voice and her concerns were so wonderfully explored.
She has to juggle concerns for her family, her friendships and her faith all while trying to survive high school.

I loved her friendships. They were dynamic and none of them were straightforward or easy. But that's exactly how high school friendships are.
And her relationship with both her mother and her brother were so amazingly explored and fleshed out.

I really enjoyed how she interacted with the world around her as she tried to find herself and the courage to be authentically herself.

Overall I think I liked this, and I definitely think it tells a different, interesting story. I found the writing a little disjointed--or maybe the style just didn't resonate with me as much.

Read! Read! Read! This story's worth a shot on your reading list for its honesty and realism. Who doesn't relate to feeling out of place?

I apologize but I was not able to finish this book. I was in a different headspace at the time of requesting / recieving this book and the time I got it.

- thanks to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with the ARC in exchange for an early review.

The layout of the book was so well done. The pacing was even and engaging and I adored the protagonist. Can’t wait to read the sequel!

3 stars — I’m not in the best reading mood, but all things considered I was hoping for more from this book. If it hadn’t been a NetGalley, I probably would have DNF’d and moved on as it just wasn’t a match for me.

The thing that disappointed me the most is that the characters felt like caricatures. There was no nuance to them, no subtlety. The writing felt that way too. Everything was just very flat and black and white.

I was not a fan of Janna. In some ways it’s because she’s probably a bit more realistic teenagery, and so she came across very brat like. She was mean a lot of times, and I wonder if we were supposed to be noticing her reactions to her trauma, but it just wasn’t written well enough for that to come across. The things she said and did and thought about her loved ones (Tats, her brother, her mother, Mr. Ram), and even people who were kind (Nuah) made me really not like her. Even other people weren’t very nice (Sausun). I think the problem is that if we’d seen some of that nuance, there would be more underlying a lot of those actions/words. But as written, it wasn’t there.

I found it hard to feel for Janna and all she was going through because of all her brattiness. Which is a shame, because what she was going through was huge and there was a big lesson there. It’s like this book had the bones of a really important book tackling really interesting subjects, but it failed to deliver.

There were great things I learned about Islam in this book, and I loved seeing some different perspectives on things from an Islamic character/author POV. It helped me learn and grow. In particular, I enjoyed the perspectives surrounding women’s choice to go hijabi or niqabi, and how they have kind of made it their own — which is a very different perspective from the only one we see where it is not their choice. I also appreciated her Uncle trying to balance the conservative and liberal folks in his mosque — he amused me. But, as I do when I read strongly Christian books, I felt uncomfortable with the views on morality that stem from the religion. But that’s a me thing. I think it’s hard to read diversely religious books, particularly when you aren’t religious, b/c you always end up reading about people who judge the way you live your life. But it only cropped up in a few tiny areas, and in general it wasn’t outwardly judgemental, just how they choose to live *their* lives. It just rubs up against my own views in some areas, and it’s hard to set those aside and just read.

Mr. Ram was cool, but I saw where that story was going from a mile away and kind of wish we’d seen more of their relationship…but maybe that’s the point for Janna.

Occasionally the author chose to forego dialogue tags — like just “Muhammed” “Mom”, etc, instead of “Mom said”. Maybe that was a stylistic approach, but I personally wasn’t a fan.

I listened to part of the story, and the narrator was okay. I don’t know how she would have been with different writing. Her delivery felt less nuanced, but when I switched to reading it myself, I don’t know how she could have read it differently. Her emotions were okay, her pacing was good. Her voices weren’t too diverse, but that can be a rare skill.

So yeah, I was a bit bummed. When I requested it, I saw the old blurb, and I was more interested in it than in the current blurb. I probably wouldn’t have looked into it with the current blurb. *shrugs*

Jenna is a teenager trying to tackel the world of high school, crushes, mean girls, and something much more serious. On a good day that is hard enough but she is a Muslim American hijabi teenager and people don't really understand her. When she falls for the cute non-Muslim hunk life throws all the curves. As this is the first book that I have read that has a Muslim girl as the main character, I really enjoyed getting an insight into this lifestyle. Unfortunately, for me the book just fell a bit short. I do feel it dealt with some serious issues well and did portray teenage life in a very insightful manner. I would definitely use trigger warnings for this book. Thank you, NetGalley for the eARC. 3.5 stars

I just couldn't connect with this book at all, I really liked S. K. Ali's novel Love From A to Z but Saints and Misfits felt so disjointed and messy. I am disappointed by this novel, it dealt with a difficult topic of sexual assault but I think the overall delivery could have been a lot better.

This was an absolutely brilliant read; the Muslim representation was brilliant and the cover is so cute and adorable!!

I received a free digital copy of this book through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. This was such a great contemporary with the right amount of fluff, heavier topics, and diversity!!

I actually was not expecting this book to handle such heavy topics like rape & sexual assault, but I felt like that really added a lot more to the story and made it even more poignant.

This was a cute quirky tale about a girl who believes she is a misfit. Anyone who doesn’t assimilate to whatever we push down our kids as social norms.
I find this topic so overdone and it actually highlights the separation of classes of kids. We need more books where everyone is unified and not judged nor labeled.
Stop the labeling even if there is that light at the end of the tunnel. Sorry, but often times kids expect for it to happen immediately and when it doesn’t hurt is in play. People can show hurt many ways, but oftentimes it’s felt with anger and rage.

I think for me personally the writing style isn't my cup of tea, However, I can definitely see this as something someone else would really enjoy. Because of these points, I have to give this a 4 out of 5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.