A good book. I think it's a little young for me, but there are important themes for people of all ages. I really liked Noor and Amal and their fight against injustice. It shows how people can be truly blind to their racism and homophobia because it hides behind 'our culture, our way of life.'

This is a spoiler free review! ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

“Hope is an act, not just a feeling. Hope is a choice. So are hate and cynicism and silence. Every day I have to think about what I’m going to choose.”

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☆ Synopsis

After her dad abandons her family and her mom relocates them to a small, predominantly white town miles away from home, Noor is forced to rebuild her broken life away from everything she has ever known. At her new school, Noor discovers hundred of books, mainly written by authors of colour and queer authors, have been banned due to “obscene content”. Feeling she can’t ignore the issue, Noor and her new friends, Faiz and Juniper, rebel against the school board and begin reading the books aloud while off-campus. As Noor gains notoriety, she finds herself going head-to-head against some very powerful people.

☆ My thoughts

✻ This book is not for everyone

As much as I’d say this is a book I’d recommend to everyone, I’d be lying, this book is not something Conservatives would enjoy or even tolerate. This is not for right-wing, MAGA hat-wearing people who believe that “snowflakes” are destroying freedom of speech, this is young teenagers who see the injustices occurring in the world and feel powerless. Especially the young people of colour that feel their words mean nothing and carry no weight in this world. The politics of this book are not subtle, they’re heavy-handed and unavoidable, so if this doesn’t sound like your kinda thing – it probably isn’t.

✻ My rating

More of a tentative 3.5 stars than 4, as I really struggled to get into it at the beginning, I almost thought I would mark it as DNF but I’m so glad I stuck it out because I was pleasantly surprised. Once I got into the book and started enjoying the characters more, I did fly through it. It was also a little cringey at parts, words like “adorkable” and “lowkey” made me roll my eyes a little bit but I acknowledge that this is probably because I am not the book’s target audience. I would argue it’s probably veering towards the older end of middle grade/younger end of young adults in terms of who I think will enjoy this book the most.

I’m rounding it up to 4 stars just because the ending was lovely and for the most part wrapped up the story nicely. Whether it was entirely believable is another thing, but it’s important to have hope so I do understand the author’s choice to wrap up the book in the way that she did.
Ultimately, books like This Book Won’t Burn are important, they leave you feeling enraged at times about the events occurring in the world, specifically America, but also feeling empowered by the strength of Noor and her friends. I know if I’d read this book as a young teen, I would’ve felt empowered to enact change and that’s why books like this are essential.

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Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book raises very current issues in our society and tackles them in ways that fit in with the modern era.

There will be many who will hate this book. Precisely because it tackles head-on the growing rise in bigotry that is showing itself in many places. Unflinching, uncompromising and unashamedly vocal in its condemnation of those who would seek to curtail freedom on the grounds of protecting minors, This Book Won't Burn is the kind of book that should be on every library shelf and that every student should be encouraged to read.
Our main character, Noor, is a senior. She and her family move partway through the school year from their home in Chicago after their father leaves them. Having grown used to a certain amount of freedom, the new school - where she and her sister are in the minority - is a shock. Within a short time, Noor learns that her school librarian is being forced to withdraw hundreds of books as objections have been made as to their suitability for teaching.
Coming from an environment where we are able to signpost books on all topics without fear of reprisal, this is a tough read. Noor, along with her new friends, decides to make a stand. They set up their own FREADom libraries and meet off school grounds to share passages from the books their school claim to be inappropriate. It's not long before their behaviour is challenged and causes major upset across the town.
While a key focus of the book is the restrictions many find themselves working under, and how unfairly these are justified, the book also focuses on Noor developing as she comes to understand her parents and the choices they made.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this before publication.

Noor Khan’s life takes a reset when her Dad suddenly leaves the family. She’s forced to go to another school in another part of Chicago. At the new school, she takes opposition to the banning of books (or ‘book boundaries’) in the library. A high school protest led by her goes statewide and also puts her life in danger.

It’s a YA book with a serious message: this is happening now in America. Unfortunately, this message is muddied with the tropes of teen literature: families, dates and study. Ahmed’s focus seems to be on that, rather than the contemporary issues. See also, the change in tone in the final third when the polemical style of the book becomes epistolary.

Ultimately, this is a book about banned books (all the titles Noor reads are all ‘under review’ in some states). It won’t stop the insanity of censorship disguising itself as safeguarding, but teenage audiences will love its passion. It’s published by Little Brown on May 2nd and I thank them for a preview copy.

After moving to the small town of Bayberry following a family meltdown, Noor Khan is trying to adjust to the new normal, living with just her mother and sister. That's easier said than done, and the last thing she wants to do is make waves in this new location.

But in the library, which is her safe haven, Noor notices large numbers of books being removed from the shelves - apparently, in some kind of purging exercise. Disturbed to learn that these are all books that are being banned,
Noor finds herself in the uncomfortable position of questioning whether she should make a stand. The problem is, that would require a willingness to stand out and commit to a higher-profile school life than she has planned...

This story not only conveys the authentic angst of teenage life and the challenges of high school, but also raises some timely issues of what it means to be a POC in a society which includes people who seek to ignore (or erase) the past in order to live in what they considered to be a more "comfortable" - and decidedly more homogeneous! - version of the present. Definitely worth a read.