All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir – Anticipated Reads of 2022 // Sabaa Tahir wrote it, and that’s all that matters

Sabaa Tahir is going into the contemporary genre.

CONTEMPORARY!

Young Adult, Contemporary, Historical Fiction, Pakistani-Rep

All My Rage
by Sabaa Tahir

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.

Expected Publication: March 1, 2022

There’s a character named Salahudin!! I really like the name Salahudin, and was first introduced to it because of a cartoon show I grew up watching that created a fictionalized account of the real and historical Salahudin (aka Saladin)‘s years as a teenager/young adult. Truth is though, I don’t actually know know the historical importance/role of Saladin (like, I know he was important and he was a general, but I haven’t obsessively read and memorized his bio)…but I absolutely loved the adventures that the characters went on in the show.

Anyway, this is the first time ever that I’m seeing Salahudin being used as a name for a character in a book, and a book written by Sabaa Tahir no less, so I’m very excited! And yes, I know the name has nothing to do with anything, and you probably don’t really get why I’m geeking out about it so much, but it means a lot to my Inner Child.

I’ve been wondering ever since I found out that this book was going to be published whether this will be as heartbreaking as some of the events in An Ember in the Ashes were. I don’t think I’ve ever talked about Ember on my blog, but I did read the series around February of last year, and the last two books were so emotionally devastating, it still pains me today to remember some of the events.

Spoilers for the series An Ember in the Ashes

Harper dying (i don’t even want to begin on this, there’s just so much tears and pain. why did he have to die 😭😭 why world, why 😭😭).

Livia dying (an absolute queen and a wonderful empress, the empire didn’t deserve her).

Faris dying (not sure if anyone will remember him, he was a side character (from Elias’s friend group before Elias left, and then he was working with Hel), and he sacrificed himself so Hel could live, and it was just so sad because Hel couldn’t help him, and she had to leave knowing he wouldn’t make it. And he knew he wouldn’t make it. And he’s just a side character, but his death rattled me so much okay, I’m a sensitive soul 😭).

Considering that Ember managed to pack such a punch, and this book’s premise seems to be promising even more punches, I’m probably not ready to handle it.

But, I still want to experience this book right now, please and thank you.

Some questions for you:

• Have you heard of All My Rage? Are you looking forward to reading it?
• Have you read An Ember in the Ashes? What did you think of it/the series?
• What are some contemporaries that you can’t wait to read this year?

Chat with me in the comments below!