This YA Contemporary was recently a Read Now option on NetGalley. I’m so happy I downloaded it because this book ended up being my favorite read last month! It follows Janna Yusuf, a 15 year old Egyptian/Indian, Muslim hijabi who ended up being such a fantastic lead. She’s sarcastic, smart, obstinate, attracted to high foreheads and just so darn realistic.

I love that this story introduces readers to the practices and customs of the Muslim community. Many scenes take place at a mosque and we watch several teens find their place within their culture and religion. From wearing hijab, niquab, burkini, to talking about being vegetarian and following the customs surrounding dating - all topics have a wonderful theme showcasing how the teens aren’t forced into these practices, but make their own decisions to follow them, which is such a positive outlook compared to many other novels. I like how Janna’s uncle was used to playfully answer questions about Islamic law. It ended up being such a refreshing coming-of-age story that follows Janna as she tackles numerous, different friendships and romance.

There were plenty of serious issues addressed as well: divorced parents, bullying, sexual assault, and death of a friend. Each added to the storyline showing how secrets, regardless of the severity, can affect a person’s mental health and become such a negative hindrance for the person burdened with them.

I am so looking forward to reading the sequel, Misfits in Love!! I can’t wait to visit these characters again and perhaps see if Janna is ready to fall in love.

Saints and Misfits
By: S. K. Ali

Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing

Salaam Reads/ Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers

Teens and YA

Published Date June 13, 2017

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I not only own this book but I was given the chance to review an e-arc of it through net galley.

I gave this book 4 stars. I wasn't sure I was going to like it but it read fast and it surprised me.

This book is about a high school girl who is from a divorced family and her brother moves back home from college for a year. Her brother is changing majors and their dad refuses to pay for this major changes so he has to move to go to work so he can save up money to finish out college. She has to give up her room and share with her mom and she isn't happy about that.

She is Muslin and finds she has an interest in a non muslin boy and her best friend tries to help her. She is still learning about herself and dealing with family issues.

She is also dealing with a situation that no teenager let alone a girl should have to do. This comes out near the beginning of the book so it isn't a spoiler but another friend has a boy cousin who tried to rape her but likely was stopped by her friend's mother unknowingly.

There is a lot of normal high school stuff going on and it brought back some memories for me.

Janna is a pretty typical teen - her parents are divorced, her father has remarried, and, oh, yeah, about the time of her parents divorce, she decided to wear a hijab like her mother, over the objections of her father, who is considerably less observant. Now in high school, Janna is one of the few students in her high school who wears a hijab, as most of the more observant Muslims attend a nearby private school. Janna is a bright student, one of only two girls in her advanced math class, and also providing elder care for a neighbor's father, who discusses poetry and literature with her. Things are going along well, until her best friend's brother takes his attraction a little too far - an act that is interrupted but which will still have long-term repercussions for Janna, as, like many victims, she doesn't report it right away and continues to have contact with him through various community events. A well-written story with a good understanding of how teens relate around religion and sexuality.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had a hard time putting this book down. I really like how it showed that there can be two sides to people: what we see and who they really are.

Saints and Misfits by S.K. Ali follows Janna Yusuf, a Muslim teen struggling with her own identity. Living with her Egyptian mother after her parents divorced and her father remarried with an American woman, Janna is a part of the Islamic community in her area. However, Janna has a big crush on Jeremy, a non-Muslim guy. And if that isn't enough, a praised member of the Islamic community has attempted to rape Janna...

I was so HYPED to start this book! This would be the second book for me with a Muslim MC so I couldn't wait to read more about the Islamic culture. I can't say how well it was represented in Saints and Misfits, as I'm not Muslim, so I won't. I just hope it was well done.

What definitely stood out in this book is that Janna being a hijab wearing Muslim isn't all there is to her. She had hobbies and preferences. It was emphasized in the very first chapter that Janna chose to wear a hijab, so it wasn't something the reader could ignore. Janna was very well written in Saints and Misfits. She makes mistakes, and just like any other human, she has both strong and weak moments.

What bothered me a little, was that I couldn't connect with any of the other characters in the book. It was clear Janna had a real support system around her, but I never had a "OH MY GOD THIS CHARACTER IS BACK" feeling. Wait. That's not true, I absolutely LOVED Nuah. But unfortunately he's the only one. :(

In short, Saints and Misfits is a well-written YA contemporary. I think it's a good book if you want to learn more about the Islamic culture and if you want to read a book where the main character deals with attempted rape in a realistic way. I'm excited for the next book!

I have heard so many good things about this book and I'm sad that I couldn't down load it. I think there was a issue with my NetGalley widget that prevented me from reading it.

However, I have seen that there are some great reviews, and that this is the first book that most people have read where the MC is muslim. I'm going to keep trying to download or I'm going to go to the library and read it!

3.25 stars - I am going to preface this review by saying I did another S.K. Ali book directly before this book that I really enjoyed. With that being said, I really did not enjoy this one as much. I think I had higher expectations after reading <i> Love from A to Z. </i> This book just fell flat for me.

The premise was pretty interesting with chapters divided into saints, misfits, and monsters. But there was just nothing keeping me drawn in with this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with an arc of this publication.

Over the past year, I've seen so many bookstagrammers recommend this book time and again, and after reading Saints and Misfits, I can understand why. This is such a profound, important and visually immersively told story that took my breath away. I went into this completely blindly (except, of course, snippets and quotes from these bookstagram recs) and I think you should, too. This is a story that should be read with an open mind and an open heart and I guarantee you'll find a great read in between these pages.

Hi--I don't know how else to give feedback but I cannot actually read this book since I can't send it to my Kindle. Too bad, because it looked great! Want to give this a "N/A" rating but I am unable to do so.

I swear I thought I had a review for this one. It either deleted itself, or I never ended up writing one during my first read.

Anyway...

This is quite a powerful, empowering book. It brings to light a topic that isn’t discussed enough in our communities. The idea that someone who is religious on the outside, is a good person on the inside (or in private) is quite flawed, and we see that with Farooq. I’ll admit, he made my blood-boil. Like, if I knew him in person, I’d strangle him. I remember feeling that way the first time I read this book, but this time around, seeing him twist Janna’s life and reputation to suit his own needs, to keep her silent and in his control, it made me so angry. Janna’s journey from being embarrassed and ashamed and guilty and confused to standing up for herself and speaking her truth was really well done. I wish we could have seen them destroy Farooq though. And I’d love to see how Fizz reacts. She really annoyed me this time around (I’m sure she did the first time too), but she’s the kind of Muslim we all know and hate. Someone who is quick to make judgements on other people’s lives, and who thinks her way of things is superior and correct. I’m interested to see where things are with Fizz and Farooq in Misfits in Love.

Besides that, Sausun kind of annoyed me. She’s very harsh and not super empathetic. And I guess her life and what happened to her sister made her this way. At the same time, she does give Janna the boost she needs to stand up for herself, I just wish she was a bit nicer?

The whole thing between Janna and Jeremy though...If I did write a review for this book the first time, I probably mentioned this. I totally understand that people struggle with their faith, but I honestly didn’t like how Janna removing her hijab for a boy wasn’t challenged in any way. We see Janna realizing that her life and her priorities probably don’t align in a way for her to date Jeremy, but that’s pretty much it. I wish there was something more.

I really enjoyed Tats character this time around though, and the end was super sweet. Also Nuh! I forgot this book doesn’t end with them together. For some reason I thought it did lol but now I’m excited to see what happens in Misfits in Love.

3.5/5 stars!

Pretty solid read.
I definitely learned a few things regarding Muslim traditions and practices so that is always a good thing.
The middle of the book lagged a bit and I got a bit bored before it picked up again.
I will pick up the next book if only to get more sweet scenes with Nuah.

Jenna, a Muslim relays her days at high school with her friend, Tat. Thoughts of who's a saint, misfit or monster. Jenna carries the guilt of her cousin trying to rape her, a person everyone thinks is a saint. Her mom and dad are separated and live very different lives placing Jenna in odd situations. Her bother Mohammed moves back home to their 2 bedroom apartment. He's also trying to follow Muslim culture with his girlfriend, who is a saint. Solid story in relaying relationships and cultural manners.

Saints and Misfits is a good story about a Muslim teen female trying to understand her own identity as she watches those around her find their own. The realistic portrayal of a modern teen who is faithful and committed to her faith is refreshing. I enjoyed reading this, and it gave me new insights into working with teen students who face similar dilemmas.

This exploration into sexual assault, broken families and coming into your own was both harrowing and beautiful to read. Though the topic is heavy and we see Janna struggling with the knowledge she knows regarding an upstanding member of her community, we still get the pleasure of following a patient and intelligent Muslim girl as she grapples with her faith and identity. I've had the pleasure of reading several books by the author by now and I can say that Saints and Misfits while different to her other books in both tone and characterisation, was still an enjoyable read. Janna is a typical teenager who makes mistakes and yet her character arc as she makes new friends was lovely to see.

honestly i know expectations going to this book since i only picked it up because i saw somebody on instagram talking about it. but, as i continue to reading, it honestly just got worse and worse. i honestly found this book to be kind of victim blaming with how everybody treated our main character after she said that she had been sexually assaulted. which honestly kind of just annoyed me. but I also feel like this but does kind of have a good standard and it was kind a decent the way that we did get to see how everybody was like so religious and they all treat their religion so well and they weren’t that negative about it. but, i also feel like their wasn’t enough emotion from our main character, which got to be a bit annoying at times.

I sped through this book in an evening. The characters were engaging and imperfect, and real. Janna is a high school sophomore, dealing with being in a gifted program, having a crush (on a non-Muslim boy!), bullying, her parents’ divorce and father’s remarriage…and being a victim of sexual assault.

Of course, the boy who assaulted her is much admired at the mosque where Janna’s uncle is imam. That’s why she’s afraid to tell everyone what happened, even though she lives in fear every time the boy is near, or even looks at her. Eventually, though, she finds the courage to speak out.

Janna’s friends and acquaintances play a part, and I love that their motives aren’t always pure, and that they sometimes disappoint her, because that’s what life is really like. Her mother and brother don’t always understand her, and it seems like they often treat her as if she can’t understand adult issues, which frustrates her.

I’m looking forward to the forthcoming sequel, Misfits in Love.

Who Might Like This Book:
People who like coming-of-age stories. People who want to learn more about cultures other than white-bread American.

Possible Objectionable Material:
Some sneaking around. Teenage drinking. Bullying. Sexual assault, briefly and non-graphically described. I would totally let my rather naïve 13-year-old read it.

I really enjoyed this coming of age story. I have not read a lot of books with muslim protagonists and it was fascinating to find out about Muslim culture through the day to day life of this young Muslim girl. I appreciated that there was a balance of things being explicitly explained for the audience as well as keeping things in context and allowing the reader to piece it together. A phenomenal story and I look forward to reading the sequel soon.

3. 5⭐. I loved the author's other book Love from A to Z, which was the second 5⭐ read of 2021. So I had high expectations going into this book. It semi-delivered. I certainly see how the author's ability to write a story got better from this debut novel to that masterpiece.

This isn't a bad book by any means. It deals with a lot of difficult topics, such as rape, sexual assault, bullying and death of a friend. And it delt it well for the most part. The main character has some very nuanced and interesting relationship with people in her life.

However, this book feels like it lacks focus. There was a llt of pacing issues as for a hundred pages we were just following the main character around in her daily life without a coherent narrative. It reads more like a day to day diary. Although the later parts definitely got more focused, still the meandering tune made emotional moments lacking strength to make me feel strongly for them.

Also I don really like one plot point, where a friend of the mc whom she told about her sexual assault basically uploaded a vlog video calling the friend a "dormat" and shamed the mc for not speaking out for herself. That was very jarring as it wasn't framed as wrong, instead as something necessary for the mc to speak up. That is not a good message, pushing victims to expose their rapist without them being ready is extremely disgusting behavior. As it is the victim who will bear with the reminification of the trauma. No one has the right to say the victim did wrong just because they didn't speak out about the sexual assault they endured, because that's ignoring their physical safety and mental health. Telling them they're "weak" or a "dormat" is just another form of victim blaming. Not to mention the victim trusted that friend by telling her a very traumatic event, it took a lot of trust just so her trust was crushed by that "friend" of hers. In real life that could just make the victim less willing to speak up because no matter what they do, they will have to endure ridicule.

Saints and Misfits is a teenage drama with a very sympathetic lead character. Jana is a Muslim teenage girl struggling to come to grips with her parents divorce and trying to find her place in the world. A misfit with a best friend who is not Muslim and a mom and brother who is always in her business. The Saints are the people who are trying to be good and holy while bettering the world. But a monster lurks in shadows of the Saints, a man pretending to be holy but who tried to sexually assault Jana. Jana's world narrows to trying to survive the monster's attempts at making her life miserable. An impressive list of supporting characters move the story along in a satisfying fashion as Jana grows to reclaim her power and find a semblance of happiness. The characters are complex and memorable to the point where you grieve and rejoice with the story for an emotionally good read. My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from Netgalley.

4.5 stars

I've been reading more #ownvoices types of books lately and I've read a handful of books from a Muslim point-of-view, although many of the others have been at a more elementary/middle school level. I am not Muslim, but I really enjoyed learning more about the Muslim faith, and this gave me a better understanding of their beliefs, if only through some of the choices made by the characters, but especially the letters that Janna helped her uncle to answer.

This one is definitely geared towards teens/high school and it addresses sexual assault in addition to other issues that the MC deals with because of her choice to wear a hijab, including bullying. She is also clearly seeking when it comes to her religion, which I really appreciated, as she tries to figure out what she can and cannot do, but that it comes down to choices. I also like that she was allowed to make mistakes, but that it did not make her a bad person. In my mind, this book was about her finding her voice and being able to thrive in her faith and that it is not meant to be a restrictive stifling thing the way the Islamic religion is often portrayed in the media. Besides speaking about the assault, it was also about setting boundaries with other people and speaking up against the bullies. While monsters lurk in every religion (just think about all the scandals that have cropped up even in the past year), this was a book with beautiful, but flawed people who are just trying to do the best they can, but it's also about speaking out when something is truly wrong. There were times I wish Janna could have spoken out sooner especially to her mother and brother, but with the divorce, I can understand why she started feeling it was she and her dad against her mother and brother. Overall, I loved this book and am really looking forward to the next one.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.