Another great YA book that speaks to the need for stories about different cultures and people. This book should be paired with The Hate U Give as a must-read.

What a great read! I honestly didn't expect that. It explores issues of race and identity in a very approachable way for teenagers. It's easy to empathize with Maya who is torn between pleasing her parents and traditions and her pursuit of the American dream. I also liked the structure which takes into account the perspective other immigrants and even that of a terrorist. It plays a bit with our preconceived notions of Islam and terrorism, but it doesn't preach or simplify complex issues. There's also a considerable amount of romance, which is borderline cheesy, but I think the target readership will enjoy. A page turner about emancipation that remains optimistic despite some serious issues!

This is a fabulous contemporary YA title, focusing not just on an Indian-American teen, but also sensitively portraying the consequences of knee jerk Islamaphobia and deadly white supremacism.

Beyond this, however, Maya is a wonderful character, sarcastic and relatable. Her culture is portrayed lightly, but refreshingly—I loved learning about it. If this is a sign to come from the ride of diverse voices in YA, readers have wonderful books to wait for as they release.

Note: This unbiased review is given in exchange for an ARC from Netgalley. This review will not contain specific spoilers but does assume you've read the book. Includes Islamophobia.

I see here that there are some ~mixed feelings~ about the representation in this book. As a Muslim millennial, I'm going to add my two cents to that.

"Maya is only Muslim in name" makes me shrug, because her feelings on being Muslim were exactly like my feelings of being Muslim, as a teen. My parents don't go to mosque; they're Sufis. I've never been to a mosque. I am still Muslim. My parents know I occasionally drink. I am still Muslim. I've eaten pork before, though I avoid it as much as I can.

I. Am. Still. Muslim. So is Maya, because as a 17 year old, that's what she knows, that's how she identifies. Just because she doesn't go to mosque or discuss the conflicts of her also being American doesn't mean she's not Muslim. This isn't a book about how she feels about her faith, whether she really feels it at all. It's a book about being a child to immigrants, growing up in an Islamophobic world, and trying to balance her parents' expectations with her own desires.

Maya feels like a first generation immigrant, growing up in America, whose parents are Muslim, whose cultural identity is also hinged on Islam. She feels real to me. She feels like /me/ at her age. That resonated with me on a deep level.

I'm not Indian; I'm Iranian. My roommate for four years was Pakistani, and Maya's parents in this book are a splitting image of them. People are upset that Maya's mother is a stereotype; my response is to tilt my head and shrug. They might feel so. I can say that I know at least one person whose mother was represented to a T. I know that Maya's parents overlapped with my parents in many real ways. I know that the thoughts about marriage and Maya's conversations with her aunt about her future were ones that I've had with my friends.

Maya's relationship with her parents didn't come off as rude to me; it came off as a teen to immigrant, Muslim parents. Okay, maybe a bit rude, but again, /real/. I was just like her in many ways (minus the begin super hot and sneaking out). Could there have been some more guilt on her part? It certainly existed, and maybe there could have been more. The story wasn't about her relationship with her parents, though.

More than anything, this was a YA romance, which is why I took off a star. I mean, they felt spot-on for how I felt as a teen, having feelings for boys I knew my parents wouldn't approve of. But I'm not a big YA contemporary reader, and while those parts were fine, they didn't do it for me. I would say the same of probably any other YA book that has romance as a heavy part of it. I think I would have enjoyed the book more if it wasn't a romance, but that's only because, again, I'm not a big YA contemporary/romance person. (I was rooting for Kareem, though, because I'm wary of white boys. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Phil was fine as a character, but I wish Kareem had come back. That would be my only real criticism for the story on the page; I wish Kareem had returned.)

But I loved this book. I saw the Islamophobia around me printed on the page, the tangible fears of "will I be next" in words. I texted my mother while I was reading it and told her and my dad to read it. This isn't a "this is what it is like to be a Muslim teen struggling with parents and faith in America" book. This is a "this is what it means to be a child to immigrants who deals with Islamophobia" book. Those are different things.

I don't begrudge the Muslim readers who came in here hoping to see themselves on the page and disappointed that they didn't. I know that I did, and that I saw my very-real fears written there, too. I deeply appreciated and loved this book, despite the romance, because the parts that I connected with were ones I'd never seen written before.

If you're not a Muslim reader, don't go in here expecting to see a Muslim teen grappling with being Muslim in America. Again, that's not what this book is about. This book is a YA romance set in an immigrant household that deals with Islamophobia. Knowing that might temper your expectations in that regard.

I highly, highly recommend this book, especially for people who were the Mayas of this world—trying to balance being first generation with what the world presents to us. This is a book I needed more as an adult than I did as a teen, and that's okay with me. It was a joy and pleasure to read.

Ah, and what filters they are! Samira Ahmed’s “Love, Hate & Other Filters” starts like a classic YA romance...the pressures of senior year, the crush on the All-American (whatever that means) football star, the sarcastic BFF. But things get turned upside down when shaped by the filters of protagonist Maya’s identity as an Indian-American Muslim in the 21st century. She experiences Islamophobic threats, pushes back against her smothering conservative parents....and learns how to swim, damn it! Maya is strong, passionate and easy to root for as she traverses this tough emotional terrain.

That being said, I did feel that the presentation of Islamaphobia as an isolated incident by a clear “bad guy” could have been made a bit more complex. I did appreciate that the many, varied pressures made her a sympathetic (but by no means weak) character in this context though.

A great #ownvoices pick for any YA shelf or discussion group. Bonus: swoony romance.

An interesting read, I enjoyed the focus on her conflicting identity as Maya deals with family, education and her future. There’s important dialogue within the story but the romance and plot didn’t grip me as much as I thought it would. But I'll recommend to many.

3.5/5 stars

Maya is an Indian-Muslim senior in high school who wants to be a filmmaker. She tries to do her best by her parents, but when a terrorist attack attack happens in the big city to their suburb, her parents --in their concern for her and her safety-- tighten the rather loose strings of freedom (for desi immigrant parents, anyway). Maya feels so constricted by the strings that she lashes out and the consequences lead to a very difficult decision.

I appreciated and enjoyed the peek into Maya's culture. Although her family isn't very strict in their Islamic faith, it does hold some sway over the family, especially when confronted with danger. Additionally, it is so imperative for us hegemonically white Americans to see the point of view of the oppressed when faced with white supremacy. It's books like Love, Hate, and Other Filters that will help spread compassion for people of diverse backgrounds and ethnicities.

Finally, Maya's obsession with filmmaking add a flair to the story that helped bump up its interest-level. Without that underlying motif, Love, Hate, and Other Filters would have felt flat. In fact, I would have liked to see the motif show up more often and more strongly, not just as a easy solution to the [spoiler].

A needed voice in YA literature today and well deserving of all the attention it is getting. Review to be posted on Goodreads and Litsy!

eh? It was fine, if it need of an editor. Maya is the only Indian and Muslim girl in her midwestern town. A good daughter who's willing to make nice with the boys her parents introduce her to, even though she's hoping to go off to New York to film school instead of becoming a lawyer and marrying a nice Muslim boy like her parents want. And then there's Phil, the cute white boy in her class who she's had a crush on for years. Her story is intercut with scenes of an anonymous terrorist planning an attack: we're not told who he is, or what his motive is, but it won't be that surprising. The story-telling gets muddled following the attack, and it feels like Ahmed is trying to combine too many ideas into one book, and short-shrifting all of them.

3.5 stars

Second-generation Indian immigrant Maya experiences the highs and lows of American high school life while enduring the additional struggle of being Muslim in the midst of an islamaphobic event.

This is a great primer for teens and new young adult readers who want to delve into tough topics and current events like abuse, discrimination and immigration. There were often times where I thought that Maya’s typical high school boy trouble dulled the more serious plot lines in the book, but on the whole I thought it was a great example of writing for present day teens.

For fans of: coming-of-age stories, current events, film, secluded beaches

DNF

I was expecting more from this book. It was all romance... I stopped at 50%. I just didn’t care about Maya quite as much... nothing seemed to be happening. I like the idea of it, but the execution was done poorly.

So this is being compared to The Hate U Give and I can totally see the comparisons. Both feature POC protagonists struggling against there heritage and American part of their life. And both are facing a huge tragedy. Unfortunately I found The Hate U give to be a much better book. It has more passion and daring and found it speaks to a lot of what is happening in America. Love, Hate and other filters is not a bad book.
Love, Hate and Other Filters is told from the point of view of Maya she is just your average teen wanting to date and kiss boy and work on her photography. Unfortunately her parents are very strict and want her to follow traditional ideals. But after a bombing hits and one of the bomber has the same last name as Maya and her parents they are thrust into the spotlight. I really enjoyed Mayas culture and how it references to some Muslim ideals as dating and arranged marriages. This book also deals with bigotry and islamophobia. And I found that highly engaging and relevant. It was also brave to point out that just because a POC is maybe involved with an aggressive act they are labelled terrorists where as if white people do the same nothing happens and it shows the huge racial privilege. All in all this is a good addition to the own voices in the YA community.

I often tell our students that reading a book can give them a unique opportunity to walk in someone else’s shoes. Books can teach you a lot about people, places and cultures; “Love, Hate and Other Filters” is one of those books. This book has many facets, one being, it is your typical YA coming of age romance with fun and silly times. Yet at the heart of it, there is a story about prejudice and what it is like to grow up a Muslim American teen in a time where Islamophobia is real. Maya lives the life of a typical American teenage girl except when she is sometimes a target of hate because of her religion. A little stereotypical at times, I still feel this book is relatable to anyone that has ever felt as if they don’t fit in or anyone who wants to learn to stop the hate.

I cannot rave enough about this book. It takes the typical teenage girl coming-of-age story and turns it on its head. Protagonist Maya is torn between her parents' expectations and her own dreams. She handles this dichotomy with grace and maturity, while still coming across as a "real" teenage girl. The race and religion prejudices Maya faces in her community and in the USA as a whole are very relevant to what young Indian and Muslim teens face today. I loved how she chose to maintain her identity apart from the expectations of her friends, family, or even outsiders. Four and a half stars!

I am thrilled to have a book like this on the YA market. The perspective offered by Maya is one that isn't seen in enough teen literature, and it is handled quite well. The idea of being persecuted because of an arbitrary similarity, like a last name, is something that would absolutely happen in a high school. I did feel there was almost a split in the narrative that made this read like two connected stories rather than one novel. Maya's story transitions very quickly for one all about living a dual-culture existence and being in love with a boy from a different culture to one of persecution based on religion and race. It felt somewhat unsettling as a reader, but the experience would also be unsettling, so perhaps this was by design. Regardless of some structural concerns, I think this novel expresses some important concepts and I will definitely buy it for my library.

While i like this book and believe it is a first for the portrayal of Muslim characters i have some concerns. This book took a serious topic/underlying story regarding hate and Islamophobia and in some ways almost disregarded it. What could have been an amazing book got lost in a love story and often undermined Islamic beliefs. Drinking wine is just as frowned upon as drinking alcohol....So for me i can only give it 3 stars...

**I received a copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.**

Maya is stuck between two worlds. Does she become the obedient daughter her parents want her to be or does she pursue her dreams of becoming a famous filmmaker? Does she stick with Kareem (the dreamy guy her parents try to hook her up with) or is it Phil (the cute athlete that would not be on the approved list) that makes her heart beat faster?

Interspersed between chapters we see the inner workings of a hate crime unfolding that will have far reaching effects on Maya and her small town.

As I'm not Muslim, I can't speak to that part of Maya's experience. I can however, relate to the issues that living in a small town can create. Growing up in a small town and teaching in an even smaller town, it's easy to look at Maya's classmates and see people that you know in those characters for better or ill.

The only major issue I took with the book was the fact that to me, the first half felt very disjointed from the second half. While we get a brief look in between chapters at the incident that is coming, once the incident occurs the book takes an abrupt turn into different territory from the fluffy read it started as. That rapid change may be exactly what the author was going for, but it took me a minute to catch up and re-calibrate myself as I read.

This was probably just a personal issue, and once I readjusted, it didn't detract too much from my enjoyment of the book. Overall I enjoyed this title and will be trying to get it into the hands of my teen library patrons.

ARC provided by NetGalley.

Higher than 3 stars but not quite a 4. This was a fun, frothy romance with an unexpected twist about halfway through. That, and the unique lens of this book (a Muslim/Indian teenager growing up in a rural town), gives this book some freshness, even if the second half can occasionally veer into melodrama. For a first time author, this book is well written and well plotted, with a believable romance, a strong leading character, and an interesting dynamic with her parents (though I wish the consequences of her choice to move to NYC was lingered on more, it went right from her parents kicking her out of the house to possibly forgiving her a few months later, it would be interesting to have more insight into that decision and how it affected Maya). The “villain” in the story was one dimensional, and I kind of wish the book had spent more time developing the themes of the second half of the book (racial profiling, being the only Indian/Muslim in a small town, terrorism and reactions to it) in the first half, because it was a big tonal shock, almost becoming a different book in parts, but did add some interesting dynamics to the story. Love seeing diversity. More diversity in writing mean more opportunities to learn, hear different viewpoints, grow, give a voice to exciting, new ideas! I will definitely read more of this author in the future.

One of the most powerful and relateable coming-of-age stories I’ve read, Love, Hate, & Other Filters is simultaneously a cute, tender love story - while also being a searing and real look at what it’s like to be a young Muslim in (North) America.

Unfortunately too relatable - I loved how Ahmed painted a vivid picture of the everyday anxieties of being a Muslim in today’s world, and I loved her unflinching (but pretty well rounded) portrayal of Maya’s parents. Their anxieties and fears, and their conviction to stick to the values and expectations they grew up in is all too relatable for many first and second generation immigrants.

At its core, this was a story about a young (Indian, Muslim) girl, who experiences the world from behind her camera - as she comes to terms with the fact that she is the star of her own story.

The dialogue early in the book feels a little stilted, but the raw emotions of the characters and their relationships with one another make this a great read.