I am always interested in discovering books with a multicultural topic, therefore We Can´t Keep Meeting Like This by Rachel Lynn Solomon, an author whose name often appeared on my bookish feed, sounded like a good recommendation.
To my shame, I´ve started the book five years ago, abandoned it - although was considering resuming the reading every few months, and was only able to finish it last week. I am a very compulsive reader and even though I am trying to keep my overactivity under control - including in its bookish manifestation, I often embrace my limitations.
Quinn, who is Jewish - her name isn´t though - is trying to part ways with her family´s wedding company, while finding out herself in playing harp and being tormented of the idea of comitting to a relationship with Tarek, the son of an Egyptian family owning a catering company. There are few, but not enough identity markers of the two main characters so for me it looked a bit make up. It sounds good to have inter-racial love, but it is not enough as long as the characters do not really belong.
However, other details regarding the characters are more fulfilling rendering them and their stories more relatable. Quinn´s transformation and the acknowledgement of her interests and need to follow her own dreams, happening at the same time with her fully acceptance of her feelings for Tarek, are important story pivots.
Better placed and developed than the inter-racial story, the struggle of the characters with mental health issues like OCD, chronical illnesses and family trauma do relate to topics of interests for the younger generation.
I think this book brings a lot of contemporary topics and I am very much glad of being able to finally finish it. In the meantime, would be more than happy to give more than one chance to this author in the coming months.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Disclaimer: Book offered by the publisher in exchange for an honest review
No comments:
Post a Comment