Love, Hate and Other Filters (Ahmed) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
Ahmed authentically and expertly tells a story relevant to today's climate. More than that, it's a meaningful #OwnVoices book about identity and inner strength that everyone should absolutely read.
Buzzfeed


Heartfelt.… Ahmed deftly and incisively explores the complicated spaces between "American and Indian and Muslim" in modern America.
Teen Vogue​

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​This intriguing coming-of-age debut will rival Thomas’s The Hate U Give with its sensitive and must-read tale of an Indian-American Muslim teen and her battle with Islamophobia.​
HuffPost​


A​n entertaining coming-of-age story that tackles Islamophobia​.
Paste Magazine


(Starred review.) In an astute debut, Ahmed intertwines a multicultural teen’s story with a spare, dark depiction of a young terrorist’s act. The characters are fully dimensional and credible, lending depth to even lighter moments and interactions. Alternately entertaining and thoughtful, the novel is eminently readable, intelligent, and timely
Publishers Weekly


(Starred review.) Maya's voice is pitch-perfect; funny, warm, and perfectly teenaged​. ​Sweet and smart with a realistic but hopeful ending, this novel is a great examination of how hatred and fear affects both communities, and individual lives. —Beth McIntyre, Madison Public Library, WI
School Library Journal


The book is wonderfully constructed. Maya’s voice is authentic, providing readers with insight into her life as an American Muslim teenager.… readers will find much to digest here and will be totally engrossed from page one.
VOYA


(Starred review.) Ahmed crafts a winning narrator—Maya is insightful, modern, and complex, her shoulders weighted by the expectations of her parents and the big dreams she holds for herself. Brief interstitials spread evenly throughout the text key readers into the attack looming ahead, slowly revealing the true figure behind its planning with exceptional compassion. Utterly readable, important, and timely.
Booklist


High school senior Maya Aziz works up the courage to tell her parents that she's gotten into the film school of her dreams in New York City, but their expectations combined with anti-Muslim backlash from a terror attack threaten to derail her dream.… A well-crafted plot with interesting revelations about living as a secular Muslim teen in today's climate. (Ages 13-18)
Kirkus Reviews