Ayisha Malik - The Movement
2⭐
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary, Feminism, Literary Fiction
Format: E-Book
Publisher: Headline
Date Published: 21st July 2022
Book Blurb:
Everywhere Sara Javed goes - online or outside - everyone is shouting about something. Couldn't they all just shut up? One day she takes her own advice.
At first people don't understand her silence and are politely confused at best. But the last thing Sara could anticipate is becoming the figurehead of a global movement that splits society in two.
The Silent Movement sparks outrage in its opposers. Global structures start to shift. And the lives of those closest to Sara - as well as strangers inspired by her act - begin to unravel.
It's time for the world to reconsider what it means to have a voice.
A sharply observed novel, charged with compassion and dark wit, that will spark important conversations about how we live, relate and communicate now.
My Review:
The Movement follows Sara Javed,
an author who became famous due to writing a book about her experience as a
minority female, however, as time moves on she realises that everyone is
talking about something and all these voices are just getting mixed up together
creating chaos. In her mind words are losing meaning, thus she decides to stop
talking and stop communicating. Her silence quickly grows into a movement
called Non-Verbalism, and it all suddenly becomes very political. However,
Sara’s choice to become silent doesn’t only affect her, it affects millions of
other people, including those of Grace and Zeinab.
The premise of this book
intrigued me so much and honestly, I had quite high hopes for it. It just
sounded so unique and unusual, so I had to pick it up…The story and characters
had so much potential to be explored in depth, however, sadly that didn’t
happen, at least for me. The author, instead of exploring characters in the
story in more depth, chose to talk more about politics and societal
implications surrounding the so-called ‘Non-Verbalism Movement’ that the main
characters in this book partake in. Although all of the social and political
commentary in the book on important issues, such as feminism, freedom of
speech, and oppression is very important to talk about and to explore, it made
me not care about the characters and their stories. I felt that if that social
and political commentary were more intertwined with certain characters or
communicated by them, then the book would’ve been 5 stars for me.
The writing however was
brilliant, the book flowed very well and it was quite a quick read. I also
liked how the book didn’t shine away to show how we as a society are
interconnected and how someone’s even the smallest decision can affect us all.
Characters in this book also reveal how much we are dependent on technology and
communication in the 21st century and how much our lives would be
different if those changed.
In terms of the characters, I
wanted more from the main character Sara. With her, it just didn’t feel like
she grew as a character, and from the very beginning there were times when she
was quite insufferable. That said, the other characters, especially Zeinab and
Grace, had amazing character development and even though I wanted more depth in
their stories, their character development was brilliant.
Overall: Very intriguing premise
and idea, excellent writing and issues discussed, but, for me, the book felt
flat. However, if you like books with in-depth political and social commentary
then I would recommend this book, as it does discuss quite a few important and
controversial topics of the 21st century.
About the Author:
