Mark My Words in the story of Dua, a Muslim teenager in her final year of her GCSEs who is dealing with the stress of family, exams, being a teenager and on top of that, her school has recently created a shared learning co-operation between her working-class, comprehensive secondary school and a nearby middle-class grammar school. I received a copy of this book from MacMillan Kids as part of a blog tour and in exchange for my honest review. I enjoyed this book a lot and would definitely read more from this author. I also didn’t like the small aspect of two female characters arguing and falling out over a boy, I dislike that kind of love triangle so strongly and the petty revenge thing isn’t really something I enjoy. It took the narrative away from realistic in my opinion, and ruined my immersion. The storyline just got a bit extreme and it felt more like something dramatic you’d watch on a netflix series, rather than read in a book. While the story started off in one place, it felt like it ended in a completely different one which ultimately led my rating and enjoyment for this book to go down. It did make me laugh out loud a couple of times though as the humour was generally quite good honestly. Not completely off-putting, but enough to make me notice it. While at times it was believable for a group of young British teens, sometimes it was a bit too on the nose to the point I got slight secondhand embarrassment. While I enjoyed the writing for the most part, it was heavy on cringe pop culture references and slang terms. There was a lot to unpack in this book but it was all handled with care and I think these added a lot of dimension to the characters and their stories. There were elements of discussing problems at home and parental mental health struggles, but it felt a bit surface level for me and I would’ve loved a stronger focus on this aspect.Īs well as mental health we had a lot on cultural expectations, prejudice, classism, bullying, racism and islamophobia. Their friendship was so wholesome and the portrayal of it felt very realistic, I loved reading about them. We had some great banter between the main character and her best friend. This was a very honest portrayal of coming of age, while trying to deal with a million and one problems and ultimately do the right thing. The ending got a little bit far-fetched for me and it was hard to stay focused and engrossed in this world when I just couldn’t stop thinking ‘how are these characters doing all this at 15?!’ - it was confusing. It’s well written, it has a great cast of interesting characters, and it tackles some important themes - I just wish the story stayed realistic throughout. ![]() This book started off so strongly, and I honestly thought it was going to be a four or five star book for me. *Thank you Pan Macmillan for a copy of this book in exchange for review!* 'Khan has created a book steeped in drama and empathy, as well as providing two iconic superheroes' Nikesh Shukla on Kick the Moon 'A voice long overdue in British fiction' Alex Wheatle on I Am Thunder But when she discovers that some kids at school are being blamed for selling drugs when the real perpetrator is right in front of their noses, she can't keep quiet any longer. When her school merges with another to form an Academy, Dua seizes her chance and sets up a rival newspaper, exposing the controversial stories that teachers and the kids who rule the school would rather keep buried.ĭua's investigations are digging up things she shouldn't get involved with about family, friends and her community and as exams rattle towards her, she needs to make some hard decisions about when to leave things alone. ![]() With a silver-tongue and an inquisitive nature, a career in journalism seems fated. Isn't the truth as simple as black and white? Mark My Words is the searing novel from Branford Boase Award-winner and 2020 World Book Day author Muhammad Khan, asking who you can trust when all you see is lies.įifteen-year-old Dua Iqbal has always had trouble minding her own business.
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