The Beauty of the Moment by Tanaz Bhathena
Author: Tanaz Bhathena
Published: February 26th, 2019
Pages: 368
Quick synopsis: Susan is the new girl—she’s sharp and driven, and strives to meet her parents’ expectations of excellence. Malcolm is the bad boy—he started raising hell at age fifteen, after his mom died of cancer, and has had a reputation ever since.
Love is messy and families are messier, but in spite of their burdens, Susan and Malcolm fall for each other. The ways they drift apart and come back together are testaments to family, culture, and being true to who you are.
Goodreads Rating: 3.99
My Rating: 3.50
Would I recommend?: Yes, especially if you’re looking for more diverse YA books. This is IT.
Why?: The Beauty of the Moment is a story that shows that love knows no boundaries. The amount of diversity in this book was so refreshing and something that the YA genre most certainly needs. What made this book stand out were the serious topics of religion, divorce, cancer, and even Syrian refugees. Most people stray away from these topics and they are typically not touched upon due to their sensitive nature.
As for the romance story between Malcolm and Susan, in a way it was the typical “forbidden love” story merged with the “good girl meets bad boy” story. However, I will say that their relationship was flawed and therefore very realistic which is hard to find in YA. So for that reason I enjoyed their story, but otherwise it was not very "swoon-worthy."
Overall, if you're looking for more diverse books to read, definitely read this one.
Thank you to MacMillan Publishers for providing me with an Advanced Readers Copy of this book.
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