Book Review - A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum

Hello Readers!

Hope you all have been doing fantastic and aren't being a slug like I have been for the past few weeks. As much as I would like to be regular here on the blog and on the gram with regular content, real life takes priority, especially when it is about mental and physical health. 

Speaking of health, that has been the only priority I have focused on in the last few weeks. Getting in regular workouts, high intensity training and eating healthy - that is pretty much how my last few weeks have been. I'd love to do a detailed post on this some time in the near future but for now, lets get to a brand new book review. 

I picked up this book 2 months ago based on the insane 15 minutes of fame it was receiving on Instagram and now that its been more than a month since I read it, I am sitting here trying to recall what was all that hype about. Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those "critical" book reviewers. I reserve sufficient space and consideration for the efforts that go into writing a book and this allows for some cushioning of expectations. Fortunately, on rare occasions this also allows for some splendid reading experiences.

At 18 years of age, Deya longs for freedom. Freedom to dream, to voice her thoughts without fear and freedom to carve her life the way she wants to. Instead, she is being shepherded in front her community of Arab - American families for marriage proposals. Hailing from a conservative Arab - American family herself, Deya barely has a choice in any matter of her life, just like her mother Isra, her grandmothers and generations of women in the past didn't. As she cascades towards her eventual fate of being married off, a secret note from a woman she vaguely recognizes triggers a chain of events that change her life and throw light on her family's past, their struggles and their sacrifices. 

Honestly? This book is a decent read. It evokes a real sense of dread and misery as you read through the atrocities that the women in this story face, not to mention a bile-like rising anger. It puts into perspective the privilege some of us women who have been brought up in progressive families enjoy and at the same time makes us question how many more battles women need to fight to achieve that Utopian concept of gender equality. It has good intentions, this book and  The writing is powerful at times too.  But a bit too often the writing and the words become repetitive, almost like a chant, a call for literary help. And it is this aspect of the book that weakens it for the larger audience reading it. For seasoned book readers with frayed literary emotions, this may not hit the right spot. But for someone who picks this book up as a casual read, this would a reasonably memorable read. 2.5 points for the story and half a point extra for the twist in the end. 

Overall, I rated this book 3 stars on Goodreads! If you have read this book, drop a comment below as I would love to hear your thoughts about this book!

Happy Reading!

SSB