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Fascinating story. Easy to read in a day. The past narrative is slightly more interesting than the present but both are good reads.

** spoiler alert ** Imagine your sibling is suddenly gone. No notes left, no phone, no internet existed back then. How would your family handle this? Is it a situation that will bring you closer together? Or draw you apart? In The Beauty of your Face Afaf‘s sister is suddenly gone. A few days and weeks turn into years and decades. No one knows where she is. Only Afaf and her dad try not to break completely and, unlike their mother and brother, they hold on to their newly discovered faith; because if it doesn‘t give them hope, at least it gives them patience. We read about Afaf‘s life in form of flashbacks: she is stuck in little chamber in her school. Face to face with a white supremacist mass shooter who decided to k*ll as many girls from the Islamic School. Will she escape? Spoiler, starting from here: I actually really liked the story but it needed to be at least a 100 pages longer for it to make sense. There were so many important aspects left out that were - imo - necessary to the story. We never learn why Afaf is really holding on to her new faith. She was suddenly accepted and suddenly she was part of a community her own mother villified at home for the longest time. I wanted to read more about how it was more or less the last straw to hold on during such a misery. Spoiler, Spoiler, Spoiler: Also Nada‘s story line was very disappointing. If a disappeared sister appears again after 30 years, I freaking NEED entire chapters about what happened. Five pages ARE! NOT! ENOUGH! I really didn‘t like how it was quickly wrapped up as if forgiveness is the only solution to the solution to an pretentious sister who was apparently living her LIFE all those years. NO! I also have to admit that I didn‘t really understand why the part with the mass shooter was included. But other than that, it‘s a good and quick read.

Complex and gorgeously written, THE BEAUTY OF YOUR FACE by Sahar Mustafah follows Afaf Rahman, the daughter of Palestinian immigrants and principal of a Muslim school for girls in the suburbs of Chicago, as she grapples with the terrifying reality of a radicalized school shooter. The novel switches between Afaf’s present and past, facing prejudice, racism, and xenophobia as a child amidst her sister’s devastating disappearance. I think it’s pretty clear from the synopsis that there’s a lot going on this book, but the author does a great job of balancing everything out in a very seamless, organic way. Both the flashbacks and flash-forwards were equally compelling, and overall the entire book is just incredibly moving. Thought-provoking, heartbreaking, and an absolute must-read in the world we live today. Thank you to W. W. Norton Company & NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!