Amal Unbound Book Review by: Raheem Ahmad

Amal Unbound Book Review by: Raheem Ahmad

Aisha Saeed’s Amal Unbound is about a girl named Amal who lives in pakistan and goes to school. Her mother, Mehnaz, is pregnant, her father owns land and grows sugarcane and her sisters, Seema, Safa, and Rabia go to school and are very young to be helping their mother. Amal stops going to school to help her sick mom and is tired of doing the work. She goes to a shop nearby and sees a pomegranate. She buys the pomegranate but another man says he wants it but she refuses to give it to her. She goes home and later realizes she talked back to the landlord, Jawad Sahib. She is now forced into indentured servitude and serves for Jawad Sahibs mother, Nasreen Baji. There are other people in the house like Nabila, Fatima, Ghalib, Mumtaz, Bilal, etc. that work for Jawad Sahib. Amal reads poetry books she steals from the library and also teaches Fatima how to read. An adult literacy center opened and Amal befriends the instructor Asif, by learning and teaching how to use a computer. She goes to her best friend's sister, Hafsa, her wedding and later finds out Jawad Sahib murdered a diplomat’s son. He is later arrested and Nasreen baji will go to her other sons in Islamabad and the rest of the members go back to their families. 

My Rating:

I LOVED this book and would give it a 10/10. There are a few reasons; I am Pakistani so I am able to relate. Aisha Saeed’s story is based on Malala Yousefzais story of young women/girls in Pakistan being raped. She also mentions the desserts, clothing, and bazaar items that you can find in Pakistan. Saeed also uses good examples of imagery, similes, metaphors, and other literary terms in her book which you can see as you read. I definitely recommend this book, you will love it; it has comedy, relatable scenes, etc.