The Royal Abduls by Ramiza Shamoun Koya

Adult. Realistic Fiction. Family. Islamophobia. Xenophobia. 

Found through Forest Avenue Press publishing house 

Rating: 3/5 

Pages: 304

Started: 30 December 2023

Finished: 2 January 2024

Summary:

    Amina doesn't want a family, and though her new research position in DC incidentally brings her close to her brother Mo and his son Omar, she's determined not to get attached. Yet the closer she gets to Omar, the more she sees his need for stability and a connection to his Indian heritage. And the closer she gets to him, the more she is forced to question what, precisely, she wants from her own life. 

Thoughts: 

    The Royal Abduls is a gritty and painfully realistic depiction of a set of difficult social issues, seen through the eyes of a very unique narrator. Ramiza Shamoun Koya did not shy away from topics such as the impact of both islamophobia and the risk of a curious child, sexism in the field of science, and the weight of familial expectations. Amina's narration was a pure and intimate perspective on all these issues; it makes perfect sense that editor Laura Stanfil chose to publish this book because of the protagonist's voice. 

    I did struggle with the more literary side of this book. There were lots of topics covered, and lots of metaphors started (especially  via each character's academic interests) but those topics and metaphors didn't seem to create any sort of overall message. The book did an excellent job intimately demonstrating how bigotry such as xenophobia or sexism can impact a person, and how that can in turn impact an entire family, but there didn't seem to be any connection to a larger cohesive point. Perhaps that was the intention--to simply show the personal impact of such vast societal issues--but a little more cohesion and attention to the why of metaphors and actions would have been helpful, especially considering the lack of closure in the end of the book. 

    That being said, the realism of Amina and her family was astounding, and very engaging. Furthermore, there is a lot of value in simply examining the way issues impact real people, and this book provided some incredible examples of that. Despite the slight lack of literary cohesion, this was a very valuable book.