Book Review: Hana Khan Carries On

 Book Review: Hana Khan Carries On

Introduction

Hana Khan Carries On is a novel by Uzma Jalaluddin also the author of Ayesha At Last. In this novel, the author presents the story of a 24-year-old Muslim girl residing in Canada as a second-generation immigrant. The story showcases the struggle of a Muslim family and their fight to preserve their culture and community. The author has beautifully managed to demonstrate the various nuances of the protagonist each aspect being relatable and grounded.

Summary of the Content

Hana Khan Carries On is the novel demonstrated through four storylines: podcast, chat with an anonymous person, family restaurant issues, and internship in radio. Despite having four storylines, each storyline holds gravity and essence on its own embedding the excitement to have been informed about the rest while explaining other storylines. The novel depicts the mindset of a 24-year-old girl who has stretched her potential to balance things out between an internship where she has minimal space to put forward her opinion, and a podcast where she anonymously pours her thoughts and opinions, a family restaurant where she has tried her best to keep it operated by applying the techniques to market their restaurant through street festival and other side deteriorating the competition by giving negative comments in social media anonymously and conversation with Stanley P (anonymous friend) where she has been attracted to the person yet do not want to disclose who she really is.

Characters

A story introduces a bunch of characters and outlines the basic nuances of life making it grounded for middle-class people. Every character build-up has something to relate to in one's life.

Mother: Presented as an optimistic calm person who would not want others to get harmed in self-growth.

Kawkab Khala: Portrayed the odd in out characteristics giving space to the strong independent personality a woman should possess in this patriarchal society.  

Fazeela: Portrayed the deeper association with religion leaving personal choice for the sake of integrity associated with one. 

Fahim: A character who is very caring, and fun adding a flavor to the story.

Rashid: Reflects today's world where the primary source of liveliness and enjoyment has been to record oneself and create a lifelong memory to look back at. The viral video directly resonates with the present setup of the world.

Junaid Shah: Represents an authoritative business-oriented person who wants to conquer the world regardless of others' dissociation with his thoughts. 

Aydin: A person who wants to do something on his own but is skeptical due to his strict father. 

Big J: An open person who invites others' thoughts like he did of Hana's.

Father: Positive person who encourages daughters to pursue what they love.

Lily and Yusuf: These characters portray the tough love life faced by the couple due to a religious clash. 

Stanley P: A character who has deepened the story by having a meaningful conversation with the protagonist.

Critical Analysis 

Strengths:

  • The chapters are shorter which makes the reader finish it faster.
  • The story has delivered a strong message that being able to make a choice is a power one holds.
  • Every character has their own story presented beautifully.

Weakness:

  • The twist was predictable.

Personal Reflection

Life has a long way to go offering different opportunities at its different stages and you have to learn to grab the right ones while balancing all of them to create a beautiful story of one's life.

Conclusion

The novel outlines the nuances of the life of a Muslim girl, connecting the dots and engaging the audience to feel every nuance as their own. It has successfully presented the struggle one does to balance out things and stand tall in their life. Overall, the story is very persuasive advocating humanity on top of all. It is recommended to read to have a sense of understanding of the nuances of people's lives.   

If you also want to check on the review of 'A Thousand Splendid Suns', go through the link: Review of 'A Thousand Splendid Suns'

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