Review of Between Two Moons by Aisha Abdel Gawad

*Between Two Moons* by Aisha Abdel Gawad (2023). Published by Doubleday.

If you’re new here, and stumbled upon this blog through the mythical powers of the Internet, welcome! I know a lot of visitors to my website are people who randomly come upon this website through search engines like Google, but I also do have a lot of visitors who come back. Regardless: my name is Ashley, and I started this blog in order to keep track of everything I’m coming across in the world.

I recently fell into a spell of unemployment probably during the worst time to be unemployed, as it was very hard to find a job. I was applying to hundreds of jobs, getting interviews, but no offer was manifesting for me in the near future. So during this time, I had a lot of free time, and spent a good chunk of it chipping away at the blog.

As a book blogger, something I’ve always been super clear about and dedicated towards promoting are local libraries. I know having access to a good library is a privilege, and there are countries where people don’t really have access to books at all. I am so grateful every day that I have access to a decent library system, especially in today’s world.

Especially as I am unemployed, I’ve been going to my local library and checking out books and movies to play on my DVD player. I’ve been watching all the somewhat new releases as they hit the DVD system at my library, which has been fantastic considering I don’t need to pay for AMC A List at my local movie theater chain anymore.

I go to the library almost every week and check out all the new arrivals and anything that catches my eye among the regular fiction and nonfiction shelves. Today’s blog post is about a book I requested to be shipped to my library though.

This book is one I found out about through my library’s promotions about Arab-American month. This blog post is coming out much later due to the nature of how I schedule blog posts, but basically they had a lot of curated lists for Arab American month that had me really interested in the books they were showcasing. This was one of them!

Let’s get into the review, as this introduction is getting a little bit long.

During Ramadan, two sisters deal with the changes of graduating high school and the return of their jailed brother.

We read this novel from the perspective of Amira, who has a twin sister named Lina, who we’re going to get know quite well throughout the course of the book. The sisters literally are preparing to graduate from their high school, and the summer heat is slowing everyone down as Ramadan approaches.

The book takes place across the month of Ramadan in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, which is a special place. I’ve been wanting to go there personally, but it’s a Muslim enclave, particularly for those from Arab diasporas but beyond that. We see the vibrant diversity of Bay Ride throughout the course of the book, and the sisters and their family are seeped in the culture of the area and where they came from.

This is the summer where they want to do more with their lives, but because their parents are somewhat strict, there are limitations on what exactly the girls can do in a short amount of time. They want their freedom, especially Lina, who gets herself into a lot of travel throughout the course of the novel. Some of which is really awful to see, especially when it comes to how risky of a situation she willingly gets into because she thinks she’s in love.

Anyways, something else major is about to happen: their elder brother is coming home from jail. For Amira, he is basically a stranger and someone who disrupts the dynamics of their home. His arrival marks a new turn for the family, and as Amira engages in a little summer fling herself, she learns there’s more than what meets the eye for her new beau and brother.

That sparks the deeper discussion of surveillance and hate crimes in a Muslim neighborhood, as one day, during Ramadan, a local business owner finds himself in jail and his business raided. The neighborhood is now in fear of what could happen next, especially considering the man who ran the business now faces the risk of getting deported, which, in an immigrant neighborhood, is a widespread fear.

As protests begin to flood the streets outside, Amira, who works at the community center, has to realize who she can and cannot trust. Lina too, but her problems stem more from outside the community and who she chooses to hang out with. As the summer haze also continues to worsen and Ramadan drags onward, the sisters and their family are going to be forced to make decisions, even when it comes to their beloved brother and son, who’s sneaking out and saying he’s going to mosques but might be up to something else.

Overall Thoughts

I really enjoyed this novel a lot, even though I think some more religious readers might disagree with the girls actions. I saw this as very realistic in different ways, though, as these two grew up in New York City and are Muslim American teenagers. Kids and teenagers like to rebel, and they might commit sinful acts while doing so, especially if the world beyond their little neighborhood.

Not arguing for or against it in any way—I just think readers more sensitive to what is and isn’t haram might not be able to enjoy this book as much. Outside of that, the world of this book is rich and comes alive in a vibrant way, making me feel like I was sitting in Bay Ridge right with these girls and their community.

I’m really happy my library showcased this book, along with so many others, and that I had the chance to read this at this point in my life. The writing itself is fantastic, and while it can drag a little in some sections, I devoured the book over the course of a single night. I liked it a lot.

Go read it if it interests you! Find it at your local library or indie bookstore, give it a chance if it sounds like something you might enjoy.

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