After The Rain, a review by Di

posted in: Di | 0

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AFTER THE RAIN
Leila Ibrahim

Storm Publishing
March 22, 2024
312 pages

Bookshop.org

I have read a couple of Ms Ibrahim’s books previously. I enjoyed them immensely. I was happy to see this new book with a theme that is so relevant to our times.

The subject of the story is Josh, a teenager who is trying to hide his homosexuality from his very religious family. Religious is the keyword. I did not expect religion to be front and centre in the story. We sit through family prayer time at breakfast, the mother goes to pray in her room right after breakfast, she prays when she hears on the news that marriage licenses have been issued to homosexuals in San Francisco. The prayers go on and on.

The storyline was actually good. I think the presentation of it could have been done differently. Religion could have still played a large part without prayers on almost every page. I can only imagine the strife a family in this position would go through. And Josh’s inner turmoil is devastating. But, I cannot imagine a mother choosing religion over her own child. I realize that it happens but, to me, that borders on cult-like behaviour.

The story takes place in the early 2000s. Even though society still has a long way to go, it is heartening to see that progress has been made in the last 20 years.

I’m sorry that this book fell flat for me. The subject matter had promise but I could not handle the praying. I have rated it 2.5 stars, raised to 3 stars because of the storyline.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

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