Amusing, Self-Aware, Unusual Perspective

In a word, this was different. At its core, it’s sort of a colorful slice of life story of the daily life and doings of a Moroccan sex worker in Casablanca. Jmiaa might not have dreamed of sex work as a girl but now she’s unapologetically dealing with the cards she’s been dealt with a sharp tongue, an eye for the absurd, and lot of moxie. If light dealt her lemons, she’s bootlegging a lemon gin and drinking away her problems. Jmiaa is practical, critical, sarcastic, self-aware and basically making the best she can of a very toxic situation with as much pragmatic enjoyment as she can.

This isn’t a particularly action/plot-driven book. It’s very character-centric. But that’s fine because Jmiaa has a lot of personality and a lot of stories to carry this story along. Reading this, you feel like you know her and know about the people she’s inevitably dragging and falling out with. The outcome of the story could only ever have been what it was because her star radiates of the page. Yes this is humorous and amusing, but what makes it especially attractive is that it’s such an eminently human story, told by an imperfect protagonist who knows a lot about the foibles of people and the imperfections of humanity and because of that, it’s a compelling read. Content warnings apply for assault, abuse, and heavy alcohol and drug use. Other than that, highly recommend for something unique, different and actually quite fun and interesting.

Straight from the Horse's Mouth is a contemporary novel that takes place in Morocco from 2010 to 2018. I LOVE LOVE LOVE getting my hands on books and movies wrriten by and taken place in MENA (Middle East/North Africa). Hollywood's depiction of MENA is *screams* is such a political move. Jmiaa is the crankiest MC (for good reason) I've ever been in the head of. I love her 😭. I love mean girls and I mean it in the way that nice =/= good. I found myself rooting for her the entire book. I found myself feeling like she wasa friend telling me about her day and all the assholes she has to deal with. There is some heavy ass trauma in this book (CW: sexual assault, sex trafficking) but there were more moments I was chuckling to myself.