Thursday, May 4, 2023

Love from Mecca to Medina

Love from Mecca to Medina 
By S.K. Ali 
Salaam Reads, 2022. 344 pages. Fiction 

Adam and Zayneb embark on the Umrah, a pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, in Saudi Arabia, but as one wedge after another drives them apart while they make their way through rites in the holy city, Adam and Zayneb start to wonder if their meeting was just an oddity after all. 

This was such a sweet story about two people trying to navigate their new marriage long distance, take care of each other, and figuring out how to communicate amid tough situations and misunderstandings. I learned a lot about what this sacred pilgrimage could look like, and the expectations for going on the journey. Adam and Zayneb are charming characters and I really liked that the story alternated between perspectives. It definitely serves as a reminder that sharing our experiences and feelings is essential to a relationship. 

If you enjoyed LOVE FROM A TO Z, this is definitely something you’ll want to pick up because it’s the continuation of Adam and Zayneb’s story, although you don’t need to have read the previous book to enjoy this one. While this was marketed to young adults, this book feels more like New Adult fare to me because of the life situations the protagonists find themselves in. Overall, it was a very sweet story that I could easily recommend. 

If you liked Love from Mecca to Medina, you might also like: 

By Zoulfa Katouh 
Little, Brown and Company, 2022. 417 pages. Young Adult 

Eighteen-year-old Salama Kassab, a pharmacy student volunteering at the hospital in Homs, is desperate to find passage on a refugee boat for herself and her pregnant best friend, but first she must learn to see the events around her for what they are--not a war, but a revolution. 

By Uzma Jalaluddin 
Berkley, 2019. 351 pages. Fiction 

Ayesha Shamsi has a lot going on. Her dreams of being a poet have been set aside for a teaching job so she can pay off her debts to her wealthy uncle. She lives with her boisterous Muslim family and is always being reminded that her flighty younger cousin, Hafsa, is close to rejecting her 100th marriage proposal. Though Ayesha is lonely, she doesn't want an arranged marriage. Then she meets Khalid who is just as smart and handsome as he is conservative and judgmental. 

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