Book Blurb:
Lahore, Pakistan. Then.
Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Cloud’s Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start.
Juniper, California. Now.
Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, which destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding.
Now, Sal scrambles to run the family motel as his mother Misbah’s health fails and his grieving father loses himself to alcoholism. Noor, meanwhile, walks a harrowing tightrope: working at her wrathful uncle’s liquor store while hiding the fact that she’s applying to college so she can escape him—and Juniper—forever.
When Sal’s attempts to save the motel spiral out of control, he and Noor must ask themselves what friendship is worth—and what it takes to defeat the monsters in their pasts and the ones in their midst.
My Review: 4 stars
All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir was a beautiful and equally heart-wrenching story about the American dream, overcoming tragedy, coming of age, spirituality, and addiction. This book is considered a YA (young adult) book due to the character’s ages, but it definitely read as regular adult fiction.
There is a current day storyline about two teens, Sal & Noor, Sal’s parents, and Noor’s hideous uncle who is raising her. There’s also a storyline from the past that explains a lot about Sal’s mother and father and their attempt to make the American Dream a reality.
This book won the National Book Award, which is an incredible achievement. Its themes are ever present in today’s society and speaks volumes on classism and race. It’s about the legal system, the prevalence of addiction to drugs and alcohol, and as a teen – trying to get a break in life. Book clubs will have a heyday with this one. Tons of discussion topics. The story touched me and has stayed with me for some time.
Quotes I liked:
The landscapes of our youths create us, and we carry them with us, storied by all they gave and stole, in who we became.”
“…love is a matter, to be nurtured, and even mourned, between two beings alone.”
“Sorrow tried but did not claim me.”
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