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    The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali
    The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali
    The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali

    Written by Sabina Khan

    Narrated by Richa Shukla

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    With a welcome mix of humor, heart, and high-stakes drama, Sabina Khan provides a timely and honest portrait of what it's like to grow up feeling unwelcome in your own culture.

    Praise for The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali

    Featured on NBC News and the BBC

    A Junior Library Guild Selection

    A Teen Indie Next List Pick (IndieBound)

    An Amazon Best Book of the Month for February

    Oprah Magazine's Best YA Books You'll Love in 2019

    Seventeen.com's Best YA Books of 2019

    B&N Teen Blog's Most Anticipated LGBTQAP Books of 2019

    Hypable's Most Anticipated LGBTQ YA Books of 2019

    Parade's Buzzworthy YA Books to Read in 2019

    BookRiot's Most Anticipated 2019 LGBTQ YA of 2019

    Paste Magazine's Best YA Books of January 2019

    Short-listed, Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize (BC), 2020

    Short-listed, OLA White Pine Award, Fiction, 2019

    Commended, Best Books for Kids and Teens, Canadian Children's Book Centre, 2019

    Commended, OLA Best Bets: Honourable Mention, 2019

    "An intersectional, diverse coming of age story that will break your heart in the best way." -- Bustle.com

    * "With an up-close depiction of the intersection of the LGBTQIA+ community with Bengali culture, this hard-hitting and hopeful story is a must-purchase for any YA collection." -- School Library Journal, starred review

    "This book will break your heart and then, chapter by chapter, piece it back together again. A much-needed addition to any YA shelf." -- Sandhya Menon, New York Times bestselling author of When Dimple Met Rishi and From Twinkle, With Love

    "Heart-wrenching yet hopeful, The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali is an insightful and honest look at the tangled web of identity, culture, familial loyalty, and love. Sabina Khan crafts a powerful, poignant story about finding yourself, about speaking your truth, and about stepping out of the shadows and into the light." -- Samira Ahmed, New York Times bestselling author of Love, Hate and Other Filters

    "A daring and timely novel, The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali delves head-and-heart-first into the universal complexities of navigating duty and desire, tradition and modernity, and friends and family -- the one we are born into and the one we choose; the friends who are family, and the family we strive to befriend -- all through the prism of multicultured identity. Political, personal, page-turning. Sabina Khan is one to watch." -- Tanuja Desai Hidier, author of Born Confused and Bombay Blues

    "Bold, heartbreaking, yet hopeful. A story that will stay with you for years to come." -- Sara Farizan, Lambda Award-winning author of If You Could Be Mine

    "The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali unapologetically explores the complex ties between families, friends, and intersectional diversity. Khan brings talent and voice in this brilliant novel that will keep you reading until the very last page." -- Nisha Sharma, author of My So-Called Bollywood Life

    "[The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali] takes LGBTQ fiction to another level and will help open readers' eyes to the realities that many face in these changing times." -- Shelf Awareness

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherScholastic
    Release dateJan 29, 2019
    ISBN9781338352870
    The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali

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    Reviews for The Love and Lies of Rukhsana Ali

    4.5/5

    115 ratings8 reviews

    What our readers think

    Readers find this title to be an excellent and addictive story that explores important themes and tackles dark topics. The book is praised for its portrayal of a queer teenager navigating life in an Indian-American family and the transformation she undergoes. It is described as a rollercoaster ride that is both entertaining and heart-wrenching. The story is recommended for its relatable characters and its ability to dismantle outdated concepts. Overall, readers highly recommend this book for its beauty, addictiveness, and depth.

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      TW : racism, domestic abuse, rape, violence, hate crimes

      Rukhsana is navigating life as a queer teenager in an Indian-American family. It was such an intense rollercoaster ride, super entertaining as well as heart wrenching. This book explores various forms of relationships (friendships, romantic, family, etc.) and works hard on dismantling outdated concepts (ex : Rukshana's worth as a bride is measured by her looks and possessions, while she fights to be recognized for her accomplishments. & to like also not be married off against her will.)

      I could NOT put this book down. But even if this story ended well for Rukshana, it's the real-life story of so many girls out there. Who aren't as fortunate.

      Also, the audiobook narrator (who also narrated Don't Read the Comments) is absolutely amazing!!
    • 5/5
      This book was excellent and it was all I could think of when I was not reading it. I loved seeing into another culture and how something so unfamiliar intermixed with a community I am a part of. There were some rough topics and dark parts to the story that mentally and emotionally I was not prepared for and found myself crying over at times. Trigger Warning for emotional abuse, physical abuse, rape, homophobia, and hate crimes.
    • 5/5
      Being an outsider to Bengali culture makes it hard to provide an accurate review of this book in terms of how realistic it is. However, I did find it to be an interesting and enlightening intersectional exploration of what it could mean to have a 2SLGBTQIA identity within the Bengali community. The story was nuanced, resisting the need to pigeon hole people as good or bad, while always believing in the possibility for change.
    • 5/5
      Amazing book!! Spoiler...the parents were atrocious but it was beautiful to read there transformation
    • 4/5
      Lots of great themes and a relatively quick read. I recommend!
    • 5/5
      Traumatic transformation for queer youth and their families across a bicultural landscape of Bangladesh and USA. Written in a simple tone easy to read and slow at times but always keeping the tension so you want to keep reading. The good news is the book has a happy ending. Trigger warning for those with abusive parents, rape survivors or homophobia discrimination and bullying experiences.
    • 5/5
      Such a beautiful and addictive story. I couldn’t stop listening. It was fun, deep and heart wrenching. Highly recommend!
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this audio book! When I wasn't listening to it, I found myself wonder what was coming next.