Reviewed by Jasmine Sov, age 17
The Loophole by Naz Kutub
Ever since Sayyed’s boyfriend Farouk left him to travel across the globe and “fix the world”, Sy’s been depressed day and night. With Farouk, it felt like anything could happen—but without him, Sy’s stuck in a dead end. But when he wishes for one more chance, a strange girl comes crashing into the coffee shop he works at and promises him three wishes, in exchange for a bit of help. Sy thinks she’s bluffing—until he suddenly gets a million dollars deposited into his bank account. With that, Sy summons the courage to fly across the world and find his missing ex, with the magical girl in tow—or is she just rich and bored? And will Sy be able to find the love of his life and build a life of his own?
The beginning of the book gives a thoughtful author’s note and some content warnings about the story, which many (especially LGBTQ+ readers) will appreciate. Parts of stories can cause readers to recall some of their own traumatic experiences, so it’s good to have content warnings to make sure they know what they’re getting into. The representation in this book may also be appreciated by many since Sy is a gay Indian Muslim boy and his friend Dzakir is as well. While the premise is intriguing, the plausibility is questionable—it made me concerned about just how emotionally attached Sy was to Farouk to fly all the way to London for him. The dialogue was definitely on the unrealistic side, especially with Sy’s conversations with Dzakir and Reggie. Absolutely no one I know talks like that, although with Reggie it can be forgiven—Reggie’s just a bit odd like that.
3 stars of 5 stars
Find this book in our catalog: The Loophole
Catalog Number: YA FIC KUTUB,N
326 pages