A full-fledged adult in the eyes of society, but not in the eyes of her mother, who follows the norms of their culture blindly.

After finishing the book, I was wondering about one thing: what if those two people were in another city, other than London, would the story be different?The book is divided into chapters; every other chapter is told from the perspective of Ali or Amirah, so, for example, we start with Ali talking about his life and what is going on with him, and then in the next chapter, Amirah talks about her life from her own perspective.

Robert is descended from Scottish Highlanders on her father's side and the Zulu people on her mother's side. Na'ima divides her time between London and Cairo, Egypt, and dreams of living on a farm with her own horses. They are different from others in their community at the start of the novel as they have dreams of doing something beyond marriage. A very timely and topical story about a Muslim girl struggling to balance both cultures while staying true to her family and faith. Amirah feels, ‘If there is one thing I’ve learnt in my short time on earth, it is you don’t have to look, behave or think like everyone else to achieve.At the end of the day, you can read this story, and you can enjoy it, but it will also raise a lot of questions about love, Islam, identity and culture. The book shows how the groups of Muslim girls, who come from different backgrounds, are unique in their communities, and how they can work hard to be integral members of it. Still grieving, Ali turns to Islam for comfort and guidance; he feels lost and concerned about taking a "gap year" instead of studying law.