Author: Sabina Khan
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Publication date: January 29, 2019
Pages: 336
Source/format: ARC // Rachel at Rachelwrites007
Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Synopsis (from goodreads.com):
Seventeen-year-old Rukhsana Ali tries her hardest to live up to her conservative Muslim parents’ expectations, but lately she’s finding that harder and harder to do. She rolls her eyes instead of screaming when they blatantly favor her brother and she dresses conservatively at home, saving her crop tops and makeup for parties her parents don’t know about. Luckily, only a few more months stand between her carefully monitored life in Seattle and her new life at Caltech, where she can pursue her dream of becoming an engineer.
But when her parents catch her kissing her girlfriend Ariana, all of Rukhsana’s plans fall apart. Her parents are devastated; being gay may as well be a death sentence in the Bengali community. They immediately whisk Rukhsana off to Bangladesh, where she is thrown headfirst into a world of arranged marriages and tradition. Only through reading her grandmother’s old diary is Rukhsana able to gain some much needed perspective.
Rukhsana realizes she must find the courage to fight for her love, but can she do so without losing everyone and everything in her life?
M Y T H O U G H T S
"We must be the masters of our own destinies. I did not learn that until it was too late. You have to fight to take back control of your life. Sometimes you will hurt the ones you love the most. But in the end, it will always have to be your choice."
Rukhsana Ali is struggling to live up to her conservative and traditional Bengali parents' expectations. She listens to most of their rules for the most part but she harbors secrets such as Rukhsana being in a relationship. And not any relationship. She has a girlfriend, a non-Bengali girlfriend. Rukhsana applies to Caltech even though her parents rather have her stay close by Seattle, where she resides. Her dream is to work for NASA. When her parents finally caved in to let her go to school in Seattle, they also find out about her secret relationship which causes her parents to send Rukhsana to Bangladesh.
I love how Sabina Khan showcases Rukhsana to be opinionated and knows where her passions lie. Rukhsana stands for what she believes when it comes to whom she loves. She also is fairly smart since she is accepted to Caltech with a scholarship. Not only is she accepted to a prestigious school but Rukhsana wants to study astronomy or physics. Yes for girls in the STEM field!
Also, when reading The Love & Lies of Rukhsana, I am glad a couple people in the Bangladeshi community are open-minded about Rukhsana liking females. Her brother Aamir is supportive and even their family friend's son, Irfan, has a similar situation in which he is in a relationship with a non-Bengali girl.
Rukhsana's parents trick her to visit her grandmother saying that Nani is sick but in reality, they are trying to marry her off in an arranged marriage. In Bangladesh, Rukhsana turns to Shaila, her cousin, for support and later her Nani for comfort. Sohail, a potential suitor, ends up being good friends with Rukhsana. I enjoyed reading about the friendship between Rukhsana and Sohail. They have similar values and beliefs although they are not romantically interested in each other.
When readers have a glance at Nani's diary, you can see how much she had to go through when she was younger getting married to a man she didn't want to marry. A man who was cruel and her parents married her off at such a young age. She only tells Rukhsana the ordeal she had to go through and how it was her secret for many years. The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali is a contemporary novel that incorporates pieces of historical fiction within the novel through Nani's diary entries. Nani tells Rukhsana that she must fight for her beliefs. She doesn't want Rukhsana to give into being unhappy.
And so Ruksana fights for what she believes for even though it seems like no one is on her side. Some of the actions depicted in the novel may be hard for some people to read about but some of the things do happen in the world. We need to understand why someone doesn't ask for help and how they stay strong through dark times. As a warning, the novel includes sexual assault, child marriage, hate crimes and cases of people doing things against others' will.
Khan takes readers on a roller coaster ride where you fall in love with the characters but then your heart breaks when you read about people being ridiculed for who they love. People get back together again but then tragedy happens. There is so much emotion in this novel!
The Love & Lies of Rukhsana not only talks about coming out but how friends and family view the LGBTQIA+ community, interracial relationships and keeping traditional religious and cultural beliefs. The Love & Lies of Rukhsana is emotionally charged and it's a book I recommend everyone to read.
Rukhsana Ali is struggling to live up to her conservative and traditional Bengali parents' expectations. She listens to most of their rules for the most part but she harbors secrets such as Rukhsana being in a relationship. And not any relationship. She has a girlfriend, a non-Bengali girlfriend. Rukhsana applies to Caltech even though her parents rather have her stay close by Seattle, where she resides. Her dream is to work for NASA. When her parents finally caved in to let her go to school in Seattle, they also find out about her secret relationship which causes her parents to send Rukhsana to Bangladesh.
I love how Sabina Khan showcases Rukhsana to be opinionated and knows where her passions lie. Rukhsana stands for what she believes when it comes to whom she loves. She also is fairly smart since she is accepted to Caltech with a scholarship. Not only is she accepted to a prestigious school but Rukhsana wants to study astronomy or physics. Yes for girls in the STEM field!
Also, when reading The Love & Lies of Rukhsana, I am glad a couple people in the Bangladeshi community are open-minded about Rukhsana liking females. Her brother Aamir is supportive and even their family friend's son, Irfan, has a similar situation in which he is in a relationship with a non-Bengali girl.
Rukhsana's parents trick her to visit her grandmother saying that Nani is sick but in reality, they are trying to marry her off in an arranged marriage. In Bangladesh, Rukhsana turns to Shaila, her cousin, for support and later her Nani for comfort. Sohail, a potential suitor, ends up being good friends with Rukhsana. I enjoyed reading about the friendship between Rukhsana and Sohail. They have similar values and beliefs although they are not romantically interested in each other.
When readers have a glance at Nani's diary, you can see how much she had to go through when she was younger getting married to a man she didn't want to marry. A man who was cruel and her parents married her off at such a young age. She only tells Rukhsana the ordeal she had to go through and how it was her secret for many years. The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali is a contemporary novel that incorporates pieces of historical fiction within the novel through Nani's diary entries. Nani tells Rukhsana that she must fight for her beliefs. She doesn't want Rukhsana to give into being unhappy.
And so Ruksana fights for what she believes for even though it seems like no one is on her side. Some of the actions depicted in the novel may be hard for some people to read about but some of the things do happen in the world. We need to understand why someone doesn't ask for help and how they stay strong through dark times. As a warning, the novel includes sexual assault, child marriage, hate crimes and cases of people doing things against others' will.
Khan takes readers on a roller coaster ride where you fall in love with the characters but then your heart breaks when you read about people being ridiculed for who they love. People get back together again but then tragedy happens. There is so much emotion in this novel!
The Love & Lies of Rukhsana not only talks about coming out but how friends and family view the LGBTQIA+ community, interracial relationships and keeping traditional religious and cultural beliefs. The Love & Lies of Rukhsana is emotionally charged and it's a book I recommend everyone to read.
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