Internment

Internment by Samira Ahmed is a dystopian novel, but it’s not your usual aliens-have-invaded one. Instead of focusing on technology, space travel, or wars, Samira Ahmed focuses on another relevant topic in our society; hate. She takes the racism and xenophobia that is present in today’s world, and the experience of people such as the Japanese during World War 2 to create a horrifying yet very real story set in near-future America.

The main character of this story is Layla Amin, a strong-willed Muslim girl living in America. Her character is well-written, with many unique traits, and a developing personality. She’s a breath of fresh air after over-used and stereotypical Muslim characters. America is a country running high on Anti-Muslim and Islamophobic ideas and the setting of this story is very similar to how the world would have been for Japanese people in America and Canada during World War 2 or for Jews in Germany during the same time.

Internment by Samira Ahmed gets 8.5/10. There was your usual romantic subplot (sigh) and some of the things were slightly exaggerated, but it was a compelling read nonetheless. The ending was breathtakingly good, but not realistic enough, again, to be perfect. Overall, it’s a book I enjoyed, and one that I would recommend.

P.S. The cover is GORGEOUS.

P.P.S. The library doesn’t have a hard copy of this book, but there is an audiobook, and an ebook.