It happens often enough to warrant rolling one's eyes with laughable regularity. Layla's sole means of expressing frustration is to it call her inner turmoil rage and to clench her fists, sometimes going so far as to punch her thigh with her fist. This is a girl we're supposed to trust to lead the revolution?Īhmed's ability to convey emotion is equally limited. And I hate myself, too, because I'm so fucking stupid to yell at a guard, and now I have to bow down and count on your mercy not to throw me in the brig or disappear me like all those other people who just wanted to live.'* I hate you so much right now because you can shoot me for no reason at all and no one will say a word. 'I can't even make a goddamn phone call to hear my boyfriend's voice without begging. Her vocabulary is limited and her dialogue, at times, is just plain insulting: These scenes are always awkward because Layla and her Jewish boyfriend, David, share no chemistry. She has a grating obsession with her boyfriend, often risking her family's safety just to sneak a few kisses with him. Speaking of characters, Layla is not a sympathetic protagonist.

Internment doesn't read like a well-defined character exploring complex themes it reads like an author saying, 'Open wi-ide!' and shoving food into baby's mouth. Everything is blatantly on the nose, spelled out in forceful terms for an audience of readers who, apparently, cannot be trusted to think for themselves.

Delivery of ideals and themes is heavy-handed.

According to Ahmed, Internment takes place ' 'fifteen minutes' into America's future.'* It's a terrifying 'What if?' that sees seventeen-year-old Muslim American Layla, and her family, gathered against their will and shipped to an interment camp for Muslims who have been labeled prisoners of war.īlunt is the word best-used to describe this book. A powerful premise that crumbles under weak execution.

Internment samira