Love, Hate and Other Filters

An enjoyable read and definitely an important book for its Muslim and Indian representation but the book also focused too much on romance, a romance I did not feel at all. The author tackled the issue of islamophobia and its effects really well and I wish she'd delved into that topic a bit more. I also struggled with Maya as the protagonist. While I love how passionate she is about film and how she wants to pursue that dream with no stopping her, but I felt that she relies too much on boys to define her happiness. Moreover, I couldn't get behind Maya and Phil as a couple. I felt no chemistry at all between them and I never warmed up to Phil, I don't even know why. The secondary characters were awesome, though, Violet, Hina and Kareem captured my heart so fast, I love them! And all the food mentioned throughout this book made me so hungry and my mouth water! This is a solid debut novel and I definitely want to check out more of her work in the future.