A Review of Love, Hate and Other Filters

I like how Maya is shown
to be using her camera
on the front cover!

Love, Hate and Other Filters is the debut novel by Samira Ahmed. Maya Aziz is in some ways a normal, American teenager, and in other ways inhabits a world totally different from her classmates. She is of South Asian descent and a Muslim, so she is trying to balance the weight of her parents expectations with the reality of life in 21st-Century America. After a terrorist attack on a civic building, in which one of the suspects shares her last name, Maya finds her safety and her future plans are both at risk.

Firstly, please, please read the reviews and opinions from people of Muslim descent about this book, and listen to their own experiences. I just want to add my voice to the people singing the praises of this book and telling everyone who will listen to buy it.

Maya gets my instant appreciation for having a dream. I liked how how dream of becoming a director is central to the plot, rather than in the background, too. It's also shown, constantly, through Maya's thoughts and conversations. She discusses film terminology in depth and often plans her life as a movie shot. She's determined, stronger than she knows and braver than she thinks. She's also delightfully sarcastic. I also liked both of her love interests. Kareem stays friendly with Maya, and offers her a brotherly relationship, which helps her often to sort her thoughts out. Phil is a little more of the traditional YA boyfriend - football player, in a relationship with someone else, pals with the jocks - but he has some real hidden depths. And Violet makes a very good supportive best friend - she doesn't get a lot of development, but she is always there for Maya.

There is a love triangle, but I feel like it works in this particular case. Maya sorts her feelings out quickly, and deals with it in a grown-up manner. I liked how Kareem, although he seems perfect for Maya on the surface, and would be considered ideal by her family, just isn't quite right for her. And then, as I said, he remains on good terms with her, after they break up. I loved Phil's dream to be an EMT, and the reasons behind it.

I love that there are lots of different sort of Muslim-American families represented. Not everyone of South Asian descent is the same, not every Muslim is the same, not everyone who practices Islam will practice it in the same way. I feel like this shouldn't need to be said, but it is sometimes good to have a reminder. One example of this is the difference in lifestyle between Maya's parents, and Hina, her Aunt.

It's a short book, a fast read, and I also feel like the story itself doesn't fully pick up until the half-way point. However, I feel like it needs the set up so that we could get invested in Maya, and her dreams and relationships. This way, we know exactly what she stands to lose from the attacks and the growing fear from her parents.

Spoiler: I did also appreciate the fact that the terrorist wasn't Muslim. It drove home the point that if horrible things can happen because the first suspect was Muslim, how much worse will it be the next time there is a terrorist attack from so-called Muslims? The suspicion was on Kamal Aziz solely because he was present at the scene, and a Muslim, showing how quickly they fall under suspicion. Afterwards, we find out more about the bombers home life, he gets a standard "troubled home life, quiet loner kid" backstory that is all too common when terrorists are found to be white. /endspoiler

So, where are all these YA protagonists finding these good jobs that relate to what they want to do, or are at least tolerable? When I was their age, I worked on my feet under fluorescent lighting in an ugly Domino's Pizza uniform, taking phone call orders. Where was my bookshop job?

This book does have many standard YA book tropes, such as love triangles, but I feel it will also appeal to fans of more serious YA, such as The Hate U Give. However, it needs to be said that it is a lot fluffier than The Hate U Give.