Kia Abdullah

Rough Read
This was a rough read – gang rape, facial disfigurement, abuse at home and school. My heart went out to Jodie This is the first time that I had a hard time reading a book with these trigger warnings. I went through lots of bullying when I was younger so I guess that part of the story hit too close to home for me.

Zara Kaleel, a former lawyer, takes on Jodie’s case. She is now working with abuse victims. While it seems that no one else believes Jodie, Zara does. Zara is also Muslim, as are the guys accused of raping Jodie. This creates a powerful subplot to the story – a Muslim prosecutor, a non-Muslim victim, and Muslim defendants. This leads to Zara being ostracized in her community. Zara in my opinion goes through a rough transformation herself which was also hard to read.

Surprisingly, I had a hard time getting into the book. I think it just tried to cover too much. Rape, abuse, religion, islamophobia, race. Perhaps fewer issues dealt with more thoroughly would have made it better. Just my opinion. While a good read just covered too much and didn’t give everything enough time to breathe in my opinion. Now let’s talk about the end…. Don’t get me wrong we all love a good plot twist but when it comes as the last two sentences it leaves the reader confused and needing more answers. A solid three star read just rough from start to finish.

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The Short of It:

It doesn’t matter how nice a house is, or how wonderful the neighborhood is, if you have horrible neighbors living right next to you, none of it matters.

The Rest of It:

The Khatun family move to Blenheim hoping for a better life for their teen son Zain. But after placing a BLM sign in their yard, the Huttons take matters into their own hands by removing it. When Salma and Bil relocate it to their window, they are beyond surprised when Hutton paints over their window to cover it up. To think that someone could step onto their property, vandalize it and then go about their day as if nothing has happened is too much.

To further complicate things, Zain has befriended the Hutton’s son so trying to navigate all that tension while maintaining a friendship proves to be nearly impossible.

This was an interesting read for me. It’s filled with tension and NONE of the characters are likable. At all. And yet, I had a really hard time putting it down and read it in one sitting during all my Thanksgiving prep. These types of books definitely have a place on my shelf. Quick, engaging stories that get you thinking.

If you are looking for a quick read to get you reading again, this might be the book for you.… (more)

Perfectly Nice Neighbors by Kia Abdullah is a 2023 HQ publication.

Salma and her family make the move to Blenheim with hopes of a fresh start amid some setbacks. But trouble begins right from the start when Salma catches their neighbor, Tom, knocking over an anti-racist banner in her yard. She takes the banner and puts it in her window instead, only to discover the next morning that her window has been smeared with paint. This prompts her to confront Tom, which immediately becomes tense and ugly and only escalates further from there, ultimately ending in tragedy.

This is another super taut novel of suspense by Kia Abdullah, that starts off with a feeling of foreboding that builds to an almost unbearable point as the story progresses. and just keeps getting worse and worse as the story progresses.

I love this author- but this was the first book that gave me a few niggles. The adults in this book made me uncomfortable- the way they spoke to each other- yelling ugly obscenities – etc., and some of the language was outside my comfort zone. Some situations were also highly improbable, but that didn’t seem to lessen the suspense elements- at least not for me.

Overall, this is a thought-provoking tragedy, rooted in racism, that tears away the ‘respectable’ veneer many people hide behind, exposing the dark ugliness beneath the surface…

While I had some mixed feelings about some of the content, the story itself was very effective, suspenseful, and a riveting page turner.

4 stars… (more)