Angie Powers > Recent Status Updates

Ellison allusions? Yes please.

I know this is satire. But dang. Gotta take a break.

Wow. This entire chapter really was a mock academic paper.

So far, I am really liking my book but it's in a slow part right now. I loved getting to know the character and her inner turmoil but now she's working through therapy and it's just a long process. I am looking forward to how the author resolves (or doesn't resolve) her inner conflict. People who would like this book are those who are interested in learning about different types of cultures.

Did not THAT coming....

Why would scientists test drugs for women on men? So confusing...

I feel like I have whiplash after reading this last chapter. In the previous chapter, Yara and her husband had conflict, so much so that she "found it hard to believe in his love" (Rum 156). Just pages later, Yara is comforting him after a disagreement with his father and she tells him, "You're a good son. A good man" (161). This turnaround made me curious about why Yara and Fadi stay together through hard times.

In chapter 21, I had both a mirror & window moment as Yara and her husband attended a social gathering with couples. The mirror moment was that even though everybody at the event was Palestinian, there were aspects that felt very familiar. People bonded over eating, and the kids went off on their own. The window moment was how the couples met: they met a couple of times before families decided they would marry.

Yara is facing mental health struggles in this section of the book. However, she's not open about it. In fact, she's hiding it from others, especially on social media. When she was telling her mom how she really felt, she explained that the pictures she posts on social media "don't even feel true" (Rum 102). Because she tries to hide how she feels, others are judging her harshly for her odd behavior.

I made a connection to the real world in my book today. The main character, Yara, is checking into a counselor's office and filling out an intake form. She's asked to pick her race from a list of options, none of which are Middle Easter. She writes, "Other" under the list, feeling "reduced until . . . invisible" (Rum 89). I've never had this experience but I recently had a friend tell me a similar story.

OMG...this book illustrates the effects of generational trauma like nothing I've ever read before.