"A Woman Is No Man" by Etaf Rum

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐✩

A hauntingly beautiful look at what it feels like to be an Arabic Muslim woman coming of age. The story of Isra takes place in the 1990’s. She is a young Palestinian woman who moves to America with her new husband and his family to start a family of their own in New York. Isra loves books but reading is frowned on so she reads in secret. She dreams of being loved by her new husband and his family and of finally being treated like she has value. The story of Deya, Isra’s oldest daughter, is set in 2008 and she is just starting to entertain potential suitors. Both story lines are woven together from a third perspective, that of Fareeda, Isra's mother-in-law and Deya's grandmother. A Woman Is No Man takes an inside look at what it’s like on the inside of an Arab-American Muslim family through three generations and how challenging it is to be a woman coming of age and finding your voice in a patriarchal culture. Ugly cry potential: Medium LOL:  Low Character development: Good Unputdownable-ness: Medium-High Originality: High Quality of Writing: Good Intellectual Depth: High Emotionally Trying: Medium