As soon as I read the blurb for Internment, I knew that I had to request an early copy of it, and I am so glad that I did. I know that I only read it two months before the release date, but it meant that I could rave about it for two months and convinced loads of my friends to pre-order or buy it when it came out in the shops.

Content warnings: death, murder, islamophobia, racism, violence, torture, internment camps. 

Set in a horrifying near-future United States, seventeen-year-old Layla Amin and her parents are forced into an internment camp for Muslim American citizens.

With the help of newly made friends also trapped within the internment camp, her boyfriend on the outside, and an unexpected alliance, Layla begins a journey to fight for freedom, leading a revolution against the internment camp’s Director and his guards.

I find it so much harder to write reviews about books that I absolutely loved, because all I want to say is how amazing it was, but I know that I can’t just do that.

But I am going to say this: I knew that when I requested Internment, it would be a hard read. It would drain me emotionally and I was right. I pretty much cried from start to finish because of how real and painful it was.

 

Of course, I have no idea what the main character is going through as I am a white individual with no religious beliefs. HOWEVER, one of my best friends is Muslim and the amount of times that she has cried down the phone to me because of how she has been treated, how she has been victim of Islamophobia whilst she’s just been walking down the streets. This book just confirmed how dangerous the times we live in are and it really is heart-breaking.

Samira Ahmed conveys the feelings of a normal teenager living in the United States who’s colour of her skin offends people and it made me so angry of just how real it was. The relationships throughout this book, the friendships, the learning curve of being able to trust others around you, and the language used during the telling of this harrowing story was exceptional.

 

“One detail that’s impossible to miss? Just like in the train station, every person with a gun is white, and not white like maybe they’re Bosnian—the kind of white that thinks internment camps are going to make America great again.”

― Samira Ahmed, Internment

 

When you have finished reading the main story, please do not skip over Ahmed’s note at the end of the novel. She speaks about how there are already camps across the U.S. for refugee children, and how – even though this is classed as a dystopia novel – these things are happening RIGHT NOW and we need to be made aware of them.

I think that everyone needs to read this book, it doesn’t matter if ‘YA isn’t your thing’, you need to read this book.

I cried. A lot.

I don’t think I will ever read a book like this again.

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review

 

 

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