When I decided to compile my list of young adult books to diversify your reading not that long ago, I stumbled upon Salaam, With Love by Sara Sharaf Beg. Truth be told, I actually forgot about this one. It happened to be on both my TBR and Kindle since late 2021, but I probably lost interest. As this book is set during the month of Ramadan, and it was Ramadan in February/March, I decided to pick this up before it vanishes from my mind again. Was this book still appealing to me?

About the book

Salaam, With Love by Sara Sharaf Beg
Published by Underlined on January 4, 2022
Pages: 266
ISBN: 9780593482629
Genres: Contemporary, General fiction, Young adult
Rating: 4/5

This heartfelt and humorous YA contemporary follows Dua, who spends the month of Ramadan making unexpected discoveries about family, faith, and first love.

Being crammed into a house in Queens with her cousins is not how Dua envisions her trip to New York City. But here she is, spending the holy month of Ramadan with extended family she hasn’t seen in years.

Dua struggles to find her place in the conservative household and to connect with her aloof, engaged-to-be-married cousin, Mahnoor. And as if fasting the whole day wasn’t tiring enough, she must battle her hormones whenever she sees Hassan, the cute drummer in a Muslim band who has a habit of showing up at her most awkward moments.

After just a month, Dua is surprised to find that she’s learning a lot more than she bargained for about her faith, relationships, her place in the world—and cute drummers. . . .

My review

Before reading

It’s no secret that I’ve nearly completely outgrown the YA genre. I’ve discussed this multiple times on this blog as well already. I still read one occasionally here and there as I still have a good portion of those books on my digital bookshelves and TBR. These are mostly contemporary novels, as they often address more serious themes and provide more depth to their story. Especially when it’s a diverse novel, like this one. However, I totally forgot about its existence until recently and since my reading preferences have shifted so drastically, I went into this reading experience with little to no expectations. I somehow thought I would end up enjoying it, but was simultaneously worried that the characters would act a bit too juvenile for my preferences. Well, I ended up being wrong.

Characters

Sharaf Beg chooses to tell this story solely from Dua’s point of view. This way, we get to know her well. At the start of this book she resists her parents’ plans to travel to New York to spend ramadan with family. Dua is sporadically in touch with her cousins and fears she has no common ground with them at all. If this becomes truth, she will have a pretty boring summer ahead. However, she gradually finds she does have common ground with her family members and before she knows it, Dua is part of their family and circle of friends. Furthermore, we see a muslim girl who hardly practices her faith. Since her family is more devout, Dua learns more about what it means to be muslim and how to make most of ramadan. Gradually, she starts to respect her identity more and even starts embracing her faith. This main character therefore shows major character growth, something I always value in my contemporary reads. This can’t be said for the secondary characters however, but for the role they play in Dua’s character development we get to know them well enough.

Writing

The writing style is characteristic foor novels within the genre. The smooth writing makes it possible to read this novel pretty quick and easy. Moreover, the language is not that difficult which makes it accessible to the younger YA readers as well. Since this is a single POV narration, there is no confusion to whose POV you’re reading from, pretty important whenever you struggle with this as well. Last but not least, the chapters are also pretty short.

Plot

Another element that is pretty characteristic for young adult contemporaries is the plot. Whereas this book focuses on the main character Dua and her growth, the author addresses several themes that help te plot moving forward. First of all, there is ramadan, the main focus of this book. In western society, we often have a one-sided image of this holy month for muslims. Most people think that it’s just about fasting between sunrise and sunset, but this story proves ramadan to be more than just that. This month is spent with loved ones as much as possible, and furthermore, used for self-reflection. This becomes visible when the family creates their ramadan checklist at mthe start of ramadan on which they write goals they want to work on during this month. Dua is confused and really has no clue what to write on hers. However, she finds some goals and turns out to be determined to reach them. Alongside this mean theme, Sharaf Beg touches upon the importance of family, friendship and love, as well as having to conform to parents’ expectations and culture. Racism is also a topic that cannot be denied as this is highly influencial to the characters. All these themes are common for YA books and elaborated in depth, without focusing too heavily on education.

Final thoughts

Salaam, With Love by Sara Sharaf Beg is a book I strongly recommend non muslim people to read. It educates on ramadan and what this month actually means to muslims, instead of confirming the one-sided image that is portrayed in western society. Don’t worry if you think that this book focuses too much on the educational aspect, because it doesn’t. Main character Dua is written well and shows significant growth which I always find important within contemporary novels. The smooth writing and the addressed themes totally fit the YA genre, which makes this novel a typical YA book. However, i didn’t mind this at all, although I’ve outgrown the genre. This is such a gem I probably wouldn’t have picked up if it wasn’t for that list I created recently, which is such a pity.