Review: Watched by Marina Budhos

I finished a young adult novel called Watched by Marina Budhos. It’s the sort of novel I was hoping to read to experience what life was like for someone other than myself. Unfortunately the story and the characters didn’t engage me the way I would have liked.

The strong point of the book is that it brings up questions of what the Muslim community has to tolerate in terms of being constantly watched to see if they might be terrorists or could become terrorists. There is a sad thread in the book that suggests in some cases those young men who are caught were  maybe led into something that they weren’t even planning but followed along and then get arrested.

There are ethical issues to contemplate. While I’m not sure this will be the best book on the subject, it is definitely an eye opening read.