Welcome back to Rosalie Reviews! Today I'm very pleased to post a review of Sufiya Ahmed's YA novel, Secrets of the Henna Girl.
I'm delighted to introduce my new guest reviewer, Heena Pala, aged 13, who lives in Coventry. Heena is a keen reader and writer and has had many reviews already published in local newspapers. I'm sure you'll give her a warm welcome to Rosalie Reviews.
Over to you, Heena:
Secrets
of the Henna Girl is a book full of a mixture of feelings; sometimes you laugh,
sometimes you just sit in shock and sometimes you cry.
Zeeba
Khan was just a regular sixteen-year-old girl from Yorkshire. She spent her
time revising for exams, relaxing in the park and watching films with her best
friend, Susan. But an unexpected trip to Pakistan leaves her thinking her life may
not turn out the way she planned. It was supposed to be a holiday but Zeeba's
parents seemed to be acting suspiciously. She can sense tension in the air but
things turn out to be a thousand times worse than she thought. It is a few days
into the “holiday” when she finds out the truth: she is forced to marry someone
of her dad’s choice to protect his honour. Will she follow her instinct and
escape while she can or will she accept that she will never live the same
Yorkshire life again?
Personally,
I think that the book was an eye-opener. Young girls who live lives of freedom
don’t realise how lucky they are. It was the kind of book where you couldn’t
wait to get to the ending to see what happens. Sufiya Ahmed has done a
marvellous job in creating such a realistic environment. A criticism of the
book would be that it is not a unique story. There are many books which are
about forced marriages that follow the same storyline. The book could have done
with a slight twist in the tale. The book is for more of a mature read. If you
already know about the field of forced marriages then this is the book for you.
RATING: 7/10
AGE RANGE: 13+
RRP: £6.99
PUBLISHER: Puffinbooks
Thanks, Heena. You can view this book on Amazon (UK) at:
Or on Amazon.com at:
Happy Reading and more soon!
Ros
