Uncover I Hope You Get This Message Published By Farah Naz Rishi Released As Audio Books

pain is where the light enters you, "

This audiobook was amazingly done and the story was so heartfelt and human, I really enjoyed this and am sorry I didn't get to it prepublication but I'm thrilled I finally got around to it now.


What would you do if you weren't sure if the world was ending in a week Would the world fall apart Would you spend it with family and loved ones What would be left unsaid and what would you do anything to make sure people knew This is the story of three teens all sharing trauma and regrets and doing whatever is necessary to make sure when/if the world ends they have as few regrets as possible.
It's a hardhitting read and one that I enjoyed a lot,

CW: mental illness schizophrenia, suicide attempts, depression, abandonment by parent and sibling, and a lot of violence, What a super underwhelming end, It is not even a real ending, she just stopped writing in the middle of things lol

I don't know I think my updates speak for themselves and I don't want to talk about this book longer than nessecary.
The characters where not developed and the whole book felt like the author wanted to put so much good topic in it but it was simply too much so everything got only talked about briefly.


There were no great twists in this book at least not for me since everything was so predictable.


It could have been such a great book but it was all just surface talk, nothing more,

I was also constantly mad because, well the world is going to end indays so you better be prepared my dudes.
Maybe, I don't know, talk to your loved ones for

once Open up a bit so you don't feel like shit NAH let's just stay silent and have the same dramas like in every other ya contemporary book.


The love aspect of this book also didn't hit me at all, Maybe because I couldn't feel for the characters Yeah probably, Wow Ik I gave three booksthis month but this was truly amazing,
I love how we had LGBT characters,
I also love those two Star Wars references,
The one thing that bother me was that cate when into a stranger car and I'm like: NOOOO
Sorry if that line was a little spoiler but oops.

/stars
I Hope You Get This Message is overall an okay but forgettable read, It tackles some interesting issues, but doesn't really deliver a powerful message or gives a conclusion and/or closure for the main characters, which makes an already uneventful story rather underwhelming.
It's really just a contemporary coming of age story with scarce mentions of aliens and destruction of the human race.


If We Are the Ants was right up your alley, I'd definitely suggest giving this a chance, though.


Thank you to HarperTeen and HarperCollins for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Liked the story well enough real life kept interfering with my reading time for various reasons, Part of the ending had me smiling, ther part felt "Meh" about, So this was really. flipping. good.

Long RTC. Put this one on your TBRs, you won't regret it, i will support pakistani authors till the day i die, sitelinkYou can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight

But the thing about the end of the world was this: either everything mattered, or nothing did.

Are we all so excited for the release of I Hope You Get This Message Because frankly, we need to be.
This is the possibleendofdays book I have been dying for, I love the concept, but in the books I have read, the execution hasn't quite met my expectations, Not so here! The author really nails all the chaos and contemplation that the threat of end times would really bring with it.


Your problems don't disappear just because death might be imminent, In fact, they become more urgent in many cases, In this book, we're treated to the perspectives of three young people: Cate, Jesse, and Adeem, They're all incredibly different, which makes their stories each so compelling, I loved them each in their own way, even when they didn't make the best choices, Because even when humanity's sheer existence could be ending, here they all are, still trying to live fully.
And what that means to each one is so, so compelling and thought provoking, What would matter to you most at the end of days How far would you go to make the last few moments, if that's what they end up being, count

As you can imagine, relationships are a huge focus.
Family, friends, romantic partners, even enemies find themselves in each others' company as the clock counts down, Obviously, you can imagine that some of these relationships are just heartwarming and lovely, but some are really complicated too.
Of course, as you have mere hours to make sure you've said everything you need to say, it's imperative to make every word, every action count.
Because of this, every single interaction in the book seems really important and worthwhile,

The story itself is powerful and moving, even hopeful in spite of the circumstances, There is a ton of diversity, from mental health issues, to LGBT characters, to a variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
And it's extra powerful because when the end of the world comes, it comes for us all,

Bottom Line: A compelling and thought provoking story mixed with a ton of emotional pull, this is one you absolutely cannot miss.
omg this book i didnt want it to enddd and i have so many questions but in the best way “Half the time, I have no idea what Im doing.
Life does feel small in the grand scheme of things, and sometimes it feels like I dont have control over anything.
”

Sometimes you read a book and everything is just great, the characters are diverse and have complex internal lives, the relationships are complicated and worth rooting for, the plot moves along nicely, and yet you just dont care.


For me, this was that book,

It was so weird to be so bored with a story that I should, by all counts, have really liked.
The writing was strong, there was a great female friendship, and my favourite trope of all timeprotagonists from different settings coming together at the endwas a significantly important part of the narrative.
And yet, I felt like I was slogging through it all, I read almost three other books and a huge chunk of fan fiction before I could force myself to finish this.
And forcing myself really was the only way I could have gotten through this, because I kept wanting to stop reading.


Not that its the most perfect book ever, The premise itself is pretty weak: an alien species has decided to blow the earth up within a week, and somehow managed to communicate this to NASA, which sends the whole world into a tail spin.
Interspersed within the separate tales of three teenagers are scenes from a trial going on at the supposed planet, where a bunch of aliens argue back and forth about whether the earth should be blown up or not.


Seven billion lives were at the mercy of some distant planet, a speck they could hardly see with even the best telescopes.
What did they want, really They said Earth was going up for judgement: But what kind of judgement What more could they want The whole thing felt unfair.
And why send a message of warning if humans could do nothing to change the outcome

Even though all the scenes in the extraterrestrial setting felt repetitive and gimmicky, the whole the world is ending aspect of the story was actually pretty well done in terms of its overall impact on the earth.
Things started falling apart almost immediately, with riots breaking out, mass hysteria rising up, and families all torn asunder, That sense of urgency is repeated almost constantly throughout the novel, even though we mostly look at it from the perspective of three teenagers and the very specific ways that this news affects their lives.
This type of storytelling, where the implications of such a largescale event are portrayed through the very personalized narratives of singular characters, has always been a personal favourite of mine.
Another reason why I should have loved this book, and weirdly did not like it at all, It wouldnt be wrong to say that I spent pretty much a huge chunk of the time reading this book just thinking, But you usually like stuff like this.
Why are you so bored Even the fact that a few smart sentences popped up here and there did not manage to assuage the tediousness I constantly felt.


“Honey, Ive lived long enough to know that begging your oppressors to spare you never works, You either fight back, or remind the ones you love theres something still worth fighting for, ”

In fact, there were more reasons for me to like this book than others who have attempted the same thing, and that was because of the Muslim representation! Adeem, one of the three teenagers, is a Muslim, and as a reader, its exhilarating for me to see a Muslim character as a protagonist in a novel which doesnt specifically focus on his religion as a selling point for the story.
The world is coming to an end, and things are falling apart, and one of the three people telling us this story happens to be Muslim.
Its as simple as that, and that kind of subtle representation feels more valid than books specifically written with Muslim characters, because those can feel too performative or too focused on making a point.
Adeem is simply a young boy who, confronted with the idea that the world is ending, decides to go find his runaway sister, and he also happens to be Muslim.
I love that casualness, and yet, The flip side of this was that Adeem was, unfortunately, pretty much a Muslim in name only, Oh, what I would give to read a Muslimrep book which actually featured practicing Muslims, Muslims who pray and fast and read the Quran and yet still manage to have complex, defined lives without being defined by their religion.
And I get that there are people all over the world who are Muslims and yet dont actually follow any of the religious practices prescribed so strenuously, practices that I follow so fully myself, but creating a character as Muslim and not allowing them to actually follow any of the practices of the religion feels like such a copout.
I am still waiting for that one novel, smart and wellwritten and entertaining, where one character just happens to casually get up to go pray or needs a break to open their fast, but for now, since that is such a pipe dream, I guess well have to make do with what we have, which is a young adult novel that brings attention to islamophobia in the midst of a possible alien invasion.


Hed last been listening to a report of the sudden increase in violencespecifically, violence targeting Muslim communities.
Three prominent West Coast mosques had burned down, the target of fanatical arsonist who believe that the end of days was hereand that Muslims had brought it.


What was even more interesting was the fact that not only was Adeem Muslim, a huge part of his narrative also focused on homosexuality.
With seven days left until the world ends, in his part of the narrative Adeem sets off to find Leyla, his older, beloved sister who ran away from home after coming out to her parents.
From the perspective of a story about a siblings coming out and the ensuing dramatic aftermath, the author handles stuff really well.
Adeem is left confused and regretful, wishing he had done things differently and angry at his sister for not contacting him even once.
I know that there are a significant number of stories out there where the character worries about coming out, only to find out that their loved ones are much more open to the idea than they had thought.
But there are also a lot more stories about coming out to only be rejected, banished, or assaulted, All those possibilities are versions I have read, but Ill be the first to admit that this was the first time I was reading one where the parents of a Muslim family arent immediately vengeful and sadistic.


Adeem had blamed himself, too, Not for saying the wrong thing, but for saying nothing, No thats okay, Leyla. No we love you anyway, Hed been in shock. Hed been angry she hadnt told him before, Hed made it about him, Maybe that was why shed run awayso her life would finally belong to her,

In fact, I can easily admit that this book put me in a very confusing position, where the openmindedness of the parents felt too surreal to be believable.
The truth is that Pakistan, where I grew up, is not a country that is kind to homosexuality, Trapped between culture and religion, most of the population would rather stone to death anyone who publicly claims to be attracted to the opposite gender rather than consider the possibility of accepting such a life style.
Homophobia is rampant and widely accepted, and the books I read with positive LGBTQ representation might as well be written about people living on Mars.
This puts me in a very awkward position: ideally, I want representation of Muslim parents who are open to homosexuality and not the stereotypical closeminded products of our society, but when I do get it I roll my eyes because it sounds so unbelievable, so not reflective of the reality I know.
I get the dichotomy, Im aware of it as aware as I am of the fact that there must be Muslim parents out there who dont have an immediate we banish you forever response to their childs emergence from the closet.
But the reality I inhabit doesnt allow this fact to seem plausible, which makes the story so very hard for me to swallow.
I suppose this just makes the argument for books like these to be more widely available, so that this possible reaction also becomes something we can accept.


The worst part His parents hadnt even said the wrong things, It wasnt as though when Leyla had admitted in shaky whispers that her best friend, Priti, was way more than just a friend, theyd told her to leave and never come back.
They werent like Qasim Uncle, whod cast out his own son a few years ago, openly called him horrible things in front of the whole mosque.


Another thing that was done differently was the representation of mental health in authority figures, and how it can affect the children around them.
The only other story I remember that comes close to such a treatment is Marchettas Saving Francesca, one of my alltime favourite young adult novels, where the heroines mother suffers from depression.
Over here Cate, the only female protagonist in the story, has a mother suffering from schizophrenia, in what is once again a really wellhandled narrative arc.
Cate is a wonderful character, multifaceted and capable of being both responsible as well as impulsive and reckless in all her teenage glory.
Of course, that still doesnt mean I enjoyed reading any of her chapters, but then again none of my reactions to this book made any sense to me, so there you have it.


Mom, who loved scifi movies, who asked too many questions about Cates nonexistent social life, who made the best mind chocolate chip brownies.
Mom, who heard voices in the walls, and starved herself, and begged Cate to forgive her in spite of everything.


In fact, this book deserved even more points than usual because Cate was that rare breed of teenaged characters in young adult who actually like their parents.
Even though Cates mother ends up in a hospital at the very beginning of the last week on earth and sends Cate on a wildgoose chase looking after her absent father, her presence permeates every moment of Cates story.
This story, of children forced to grow up too quickly because of parents who are unable to bear responsibility, is one I have read in multiple other places, but in almost all of these situations the parents are seen as burdensome and a restriction to the teenagers ability to live their life to the fullest.
Cates story also includes that perspective to a degree, but there was one particular part which had me blinking in surprise, amazed that a young adult novel could look at things from such a refreshing angle.


She had to be strong for Mom, She had to be strong for her because, for better or worse, thats who Cate was: stupidly, stubbornly dutiful, until the end.
And that was okay. Living for her mom wasnt such a bad thing, She loved her.

So Adeem was great because of the Muslimrep and Cate was great because of the complexity and also because her angle included the female friendship bit that I loved, but it was the third character whom I should have loved the most.
Jesse, single child of a single mother, is a troublemaker, full of angst and yet kind at the centre, just the way I like my characters to be.
His story includes a diabolical scheme to make money in desperate times good guy forced to do bad things, a cute love interest so the romance aspect and proper gay representation.
All of these things I should have cared for, but from the very beginning, when it is established that Jesse lives in Roswell, I just could not invest.
I vaguely remembered the place Roswell from that American TV show a few years ago that I never actually watched, and only ever associated with aliens in my head.
In this book, Roswell is the central hub of all our alien activity: it is the place where Jesse lives, and the other two are drawn towards.
So Jesse was just the right mixture of cynical and wanting to believe, angry and desperate for affection, So much possibility for me to like the book, Sadly, none of it translated into the reality of the reading experience,

Could it be real He was a Roswell kid, for Christs sake, Half the tourists that came through believed in little green men, He knew better than to fall for this shit,

The final nail in the coffin was the ending, which I cant exactly discuss in detail except to say that I dont care for the guess what happened next vibe in fiction.
I want to know what happened, Real life is confusing and ambiguous enough books are supposed to wrap things up neatly in one neat little package so I can carry that version of the end in my head, nicely balancing out the more perplexing aspects of actually living in this world.
I kept waiting, throughout the book, to reach that point where I would get hooked, or I would at least sufficiently care enough to want to flip the page, but it just never came.
Which is honestly a sad state of affairs, and all in all I hope I never have to go through this experience ever again.


Recommendation: I honestly couldnt say, By all accounts its a very smart novel, which managed to bore me to death, Thats the only caveat I can give, Read if you must.

“I know its stupid, But if theres anything Ive learned, its that fear”she gestured around them“makes people kind of lose their heads.
”



ORIGINAL REVIEW: Well, This is awkward.

to come, .

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