I listened to this book and it was read by different people for the different characters. It was just too slow. The setting in Saudia Arabia was interesting and the details of different ethnicities such as Indians living there was intriguing but I just didn't feel like finishing. ( )

teen fiction (suspense/romance. main character is an Indian Zoroastrian going to school with other "outsiders" in Saudi Arabia under the restrictions of the religious police in addition to the hurtful rumors spread by her classmates; potential trauma triggers: assault, physical/emotional abuse, date rape drugging)
I wasn't sure I was going to be able to settle into this story at first because the setting seemed so different, but very quickly it became all-too familiar (though with extra scariness and suspense because of the higher stakes for women in Saudi Arabia). ( )

Zarin has a reputation as a troublemaker, a girl who doesn't act properly, and who draws too much attention from boys. She appears fierce, indifferent, intimidating, even as malicious gossip circulates at school. The book opens with her death in a car accident with the only boy she probably genuinely loved. Through alternating perspectives of Zarin and her classmates, readers see beneath the reputation, to the pain and heartbreak that has formed her. Disturbing and haunting. ( )

In this young adult debut set in Saudi Arabia, where the law forbids romantic relationships outside of marriage, two teens fall in love, with tragic consequences.

Sixteen-year-old Zarin Wadia is many things: an Indian girl, a bright and vivacious student, an orphan, a troublemaker whose romantic entanglements are the subject of endless gossip among the girls in her school. "You don't want to get involved with a girl like that," they say. So how is it that Porus, a Parsi boy, has only ever had eyes for her? And how did Zarin and Porus end up dead in a car together, crashed on the side of the highway in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia? When the religious police arrive, everything everyone thought they knew about Zarin is called into question.

I had this audiobook on my phone from some year it was offered with Audiobooksync. Wow. I find it very haunting.

The first chapter reveals Zarin and Porus dying in a car accident. They hold hands as they drift upwards and look down upon their families as they cry over their deaths. The religious police appear to be asking a lot of questions. The rest of the book tells their story from different perspectives. Zarin tells what it's like to have people talk about her--she's someone you don't be friends with because she's a "girl like that." She smokes and goes on dates. This behavior seems fine except she lives in Saudi Arabia where good girls lower their eyes and never look a male directly in the eye. Others assume she does things with boys she shouldn't, which she doesn't. She lives with an abusive aunt and an uncle who allows the abuse. Zarin's parents are both dead; she has an inheritance from her father that the aunt and uncle take care of. She lives a very unhappy life where no one truly knows her--everyone judges and says that she is bad.

Mishal offers another perspective. She and Zarin compete in English for the highest grade, so Zarin is smart. Mishal seems obsessed in some ways with Zarin. Mishal has an anonymous blog where she gives accurate gossip about everyone at school. Her brother dates Zarin through the beginning of the novel, so Mishal listens in on his conversations, which allows her to know what is going on in the school. His friends are not nice boys. I don't know what my opinion is of her other than she doesn't seem to take responsibility for what she knows.

Farhan tells of his privileged life with money, believing he can do whatever he wants and his father will take care of it. He abuses girls.

Porus met Zarin a few years ago and is re-united with her. He is the only person who can see who Zarin really is. He takes a lot of abuse because she puts up a lot of walls and responds with anger to people as a self-defense. He does whatever he can to show her that he will always be there for her. He and his mother are close; his father died of leukemia a few years ago, so he takes care of his mother. He's a loving, good man.

This is not a feel-good novel. There's no epiphany; characters don't learn a lesson and advance as characters. It's a tragedy. It's also captivating because you want something good to happen. The society will irritate you because the women are always to blame for anything that happens--even if abused by a male. The religious police are always a presence, reminding the reader that there are consequences for behavior they do not condone. It's realistic fiction from a country where women hold little value as humans. Zarin and Porus's deaths change nothing.The end could be hopeless or hopeful, depending on your point of view. I found myself telling people about the book because I couldn't get it out of my head--it lodges in because you want to help and change things. Be prepared to have it linger in your life. ( )