After her debut novel Like Home, Louisa Onomé returns with her latest book, Twice as Perfect. In her sophomore novel, Onomé centers on a Nigerian-Canadian family split not only by generational divides but the conflicting hopes and dreams that threaten…
‘Lulu and Milagro’s Search for Clarity’ review: Angela Velez takes readers on a cross-country road trip in her heartfelt debut
In a dual POV novel, Angela Velez takes readers on a road trip with the Zavala sisters. Lulu & Milagro’s Search for Clarity is a humorous and heartfelt debut about sisterhood, coming of age, and piecing together the aftermath of…
‘You Truly Assumed’ review: Laila Sabreen’s diverse debut highlights the importance of online communities as safe spaces
Laila Sabreen’s debut novel, You Truly Assumed, follows the lives of three Black Muslim teens in the aftermath of a terrorist attack that results in rising Islamophobia. The book largely draws from Sabreen’s own experiences with Islamophobia, especially in the…
‘An Emotion of Great Delight’ review: Tahereh Mafi returns to realistic fiction to explore collective and individual trauma
After the completion of her Shatter Me series, Tahereh Mafi showcased her versatility as a writer by shifting gears from speculative fiction to contemporary fiction. Her last YA novel, A Very Large Expanse of Sea, features a hijab-wearing Muslim American…
‘Misfit in Love’ review: S.K. Ali delivers a heartwarming companion novel to ‘Saints and Misfits’
Two years after the events of Saints and Misfits, Janna Yusuf’s story continues in S.K. Ali’s companion novel, Misfit in Love. While Misfit in Love can be read as a standalone book, Saints and Misfits provides more background for the…
‘American Betiya’ review: Anuradha D. Rajurkar’s book calls attention to gaslighting, manipulation, and fetishization
Anuradha D. Rajurkar’s American Betiya is an OwnVoices novel about Rani Kelkar, an Indian American teen who enjoys photography, volunteering to work with kids, and intends to pursue pre-med in her goals of becoming a pediatrician. Her world comes crashing…
‘Yolk’ review: Mary H.K. Choi’s timely novel about grief, illness, and authenticity in collective experience
In her newest young adult #ownvoices novel, Mary H.K. Choi writes about two Korean-American sisters struggling to cope with individual illnesses. As Choi discusses in a Refinery29 interview, Yolk delves into the “shame around illness, the idea that being sick…