Love, Hate & Other Filters

Ahmed crafts a winning narrator—Maya is insightful, modern, and complex, her shoulders weighted by the expectations of her parents and the big dreams she holds for herself. Brief interstitials spread evenly throughout the text key readers into the attack looming ahead, slowly revealing the true figure behind its planning with exceptional compassion. Utterly readable, important,… Read more »

In an astute debut, Ahmed intertwines a multicultural teen’s story with a spare, dark depiction of a young terrorist’s act. The characters are fully dimensional and credible, lending depth to even lighter moments and interactions. Alternately entertaining and thoughtful, the novel is eminently readable, intelligent, and timely.

A promising debut novel . . . [Maya’s] story of family expectations and her dreams is bound to strike a chord with almost every South Asian American.

Love, Hate & Other Filters offers a bit of solace to teenagers growing up in a tense political climate.​

If you’re looking for a contemporary romance that doesn’t shy away from the true experiences of the modern teen—prejudice, discrimination, violence, political unrest—this #OwnVoices book is perfect for you.

This sweet, honest, charming debut skillfully balances joy and pain, loyalty and independence, humor and heartbreak, and establishes Ahmed as a definite author to watch.