Love from A to Z: A Novel by S.K. Ali

As an 18-year-old hijabi, Zayneb is no stranger to weird comments about her religious and personal identity, but the final straw comes from her Islamophobic teacher at school.

Next thing she knows she’s on her way to Doha to spend her now extended holiday with her mum's sister - Aunt Nandy. A journey that should be absolutely uneventful turns interesting when she meets Adam on the flight to Doha. Adam is also on his way to Doha to reunite with his family for spring break. He has a secret that he cannot share with anyone and is dreading having to keep such a secret from his family. Fate reunites Zayneb and Adam in Doha, and what ensues is a sweet innocent love, and a journey of self-discovery and coming to terms with identity and self-power.

I really enjoyed this book, it was heartfelt, sweet, sad, and also just a beautiful coming of age story. I particularly liked the fact that the author had a range of characters who were not the typical sort of characters in books that lack representation. Zayneb is half Pakistani and half West Indian. Adam is Canadian, Chinese, and of Finish Descent. Both of them are Muslim and are happy to identify with their faith. I also really liked that the narrative did not centre around Zayneb needing some form of liberation from her religion or the Hijab.

Other themes that this book addresses are illness, grief, and anger. Both of our main characters are dealing with issues around these themes, and we get to see how they deal with them and come out on the other end. In all, I really enjoyed this, and although at times I wanted to shake both of them hard and get them to snap out of it, I realise that both characters are teenagers and this book accurately captures some of that teenage angst.

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