Please Note:  I received an advance audiobook copy from Libro.fm in exchange for an honest review.  This did not influence the opinions in my review in any way.

If you like audiobooks, Libro.fm is a great way to listen to audiobooks and support independent bookstores at the same time!  Why give more money to billionaires to fly into space when you can help keep independent bookstores afloat, instead!  When you go to Libro.fm, you can choose which bookstore you want to support, and a portion of the sales goes to that bookstore.  

Here is my unique friend code:

https://libro.fm/referral?rf_code=lfm75477

*Just so you know:  If you do wind up getting a membership, I will get a free book credit.

Lahore, Pakistan. Then.
Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Cloud’s Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start.

Juniper, California. Now.
Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, which destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding.

Now, Sal scrambles to run the family motel as his mother Misbah’s health fails and his grieving father loses himself to alcoholism. Noor, meanwhile, walks a harrowing tightrope: working at her wrathful uncle’s liquor store while hiding the fact that she’s applying to college so she can escape him—and Juniper—forever.

When Sal’s attempts to save the motel spiral out of control, he and Noor must ask themselves what friendship is worth—and what it takes to defeat the monsters in their pasts and the ones in their midst.

From one of today’s most cherished and bestselling young adult authors comes a breathtaking novel of young love, old regrets, and forgiveness—one that’s both tragic and poignant in its tender ferocity.

Review:  

Sabaa Tahir has got to be one of my favorite authors, having written the wonderful fantasy series, An Ember in the Ashes.  Even with magic, and fantasy settings like the afterlife, the author always made characters who were full of relatable emotions of longing, love, anger, and heartache.  When the series was over, I wondered what Tahir could possibly write next.

Well the wait is over.  And Sabaa Tahir goes in a completely different direction by creating a world so realistic, it's sometimes hard to want to delve into it.  But, All My Rage, her latest novel, has many of the same traits as her fantasy series, with characters full of the emotion.  This book was a tough read, with domestic violence, child abuse, rape and many other horrible things.  What makes it worth reading, though, is the hope we have for the characters, Sal and Noor, do have a better life.  With wonderful performances by the narrators, this was a beautiful book.  Expect to cry!

What I Liked:

Characters:

Sal's parents run a motel in the tiny, California desert town of Juniper, and it has seen better days.  This is mostly because Sal mother is very sick, and his father copes by being constantly drunk.  Even though Sal is a high school student, he does everything he can to help out at the motel.  But his anger at his father seeps into other parts of his life.  

Noor is also in high school, having come to the U.S. when she was a small child.  She was the lone survivor of a deadly earthquake in Pakistan.  Her uncle brought her back to America and put his dreams on hold to care for Noor.  Others might consider her fortunate.  But her uncle is a bitter, cruel man who constantly reminds her she should feel grateful for him rescuing her.  Sal and Noor used to be best friends until about a year ago when Noor confessed that she was in love with him, and he didn't return her feelings (awkard!).

Even though both of these young people have difficult lives, there are some caring adults who do try to be there for them.  I really liked that Sal's mom helped Noor understand her Muslim culture.  And Sal had other adults ready to listen when he could open up, including the young leader at the local Mosque.

Story:

Both Sal and Noor go though a lot in this book.  The author always is joking on social media that she loves to put her characters through Hell.  Well, she certainly did that. If you had a safe, stable childhood, it might seem unrealistic for these characters to have so many terrible things happen to them.  But people do have these types of childhoods, dealing with unstable family situations, racism, and hopelessness.  The shining light at the end of the tunnel is that both Sal and Noor do want to change their circumstances.  But, even with all the best of intentions, Sal and Noor are still just kids.  They make some terrible choices that just compound their problems.

Narration:

The story is structured with the alternating points of view of Sal and Noor.  And the narrators do a fantastic job with both the angst and the joy of being teenagers.  For most of the story, Sal is full of rage and Noor is rather beaten down by life.  But when some good things happen to them, they finally get to express their character's astonishment at the beauty in life, as well.  There is a brief section when the point of view is seen through Sal's mother which is really lovely.

Trigger Warnings for Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, Rape, and anything else you can think of.  This is a very heavy read!

Rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Release Date:  March 1, 2022

Author:  Sabaa Tahir

Genre:  YA Contemporary Fiction

Audio Publisher:  Penguin Random House Audio

Narrators:  Deepti Gupta, Kamran R. Khan, & Kausar Mohammad

Audio Length: 10 Hours, 24 Minutes

Print Publisher:  Razorbill

Print Length:  384 Pages

Source: Libro.fm

Format:  Audiobook

Recommendation:  This is a very moving, but hard to read book.  I loved the characters, and hating when bad things happened to them.  Ultimately, this was a book about survival and had a hopeful ending.  I highly recommend it.