ARC Review: Internment by Samira Ahmed

Internment by Samira Ahmed (March 19, 2019)
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian
Length: 400 Pages
Publisher: Little Brown
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher. This did NOT affect my honest review. Thanks Little Brown!
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository
My Rating:

Goodreads Synopsis: Rebellions are built on hope. Set in a horrifying near-future United States, seventeen-year-old Layla Amin and her parents are forced into an internment camp for Muslim American citizens. With the help of newly made friends also trapped within the internment camp, her boyfriend on the outside, and an unexpected alliance, Layla begins a journey to fight for freedom, leading a revolution against the internment camp's Director and his guards. Heart-racing and emotional, Internment challenges readers to fight complicit silence that exists in our society today.

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My Review

Internment is the politically charged YA fiction title we all need to read. Although it hits painfully close to reality, making it a challenge to read, it's an important message of fighting back and speaking up against what's wrong. Islamophobia and racism are happening today, in 2019, and we need to be aware and speak up against those that say and do horrible things. We can't be silent.

Ahmed does an excellent job at creating a horrifying yet pretty believable near-future America where Muslim American citizens are forced into an internment camp. After reading this book, I am even more aware of the importance of speaking up against hate, to vote, donate what I can, be an ally, and pay attention to what is happening in our country. Readers will find many powerful passages inside the pages of Internment. The author's note at the end of the book shares the horrible shit our country has done in the past and what is currently happening in our country, and how this inspired her novel, a way to bring awareness to these events.

Layla Amin is a Muslim American teen who decides to stand up for her rights, and for those who were also forced into the internment camp that may be too scared to do so. I have seen some reviews floating around saying that Layla makes some rash decisions and cares too much about her boyfriend. I disagree. Layla acts like a teenager, which she is. Just a small reminder to those adults out there reading YA books, which is awesome and please keep doing it, (I too am one of those adults), that these books are written about teens for teens and that may just be why the main characters act like teens. Layla is brave. If anything, I was more annoyed with the parents in this book and their decisions, although I can also understand their point of view as well. I liked Layla, her family, the friends she makes, and found their story thought provoking. 

The pacing of the plot is steady and captivating enough that I read the book in one day. The setting of the desert is described in rich detail, emphasizing the conditions the people are forced to deal with in the camp. 

The Bottom Line: Buy it. Read it. Borrow it. Do whatever you must to give this book the attention it deserves, and which will in turn hopefully spark some important discussions about our current political climate.

My heart goes out to all those affected by the recent terrorist attack on Mosques in New Zealand. Support the victims here: United for Christchurch Mosque Shootings