"'[ISIS] oppose[s] anyone who does not follow the law as they see it,' Mr. Elhadad says. 'Even Muslims. Terrorists make no exceptions for anyone who does not believe exactly as they do.'

"I think about asking him why Muslims don't come together to stop this from happening, but I think I already know what he would say. Too many people here in Cairo - and probably in all of Egypt and the other predominantly Muslim countries - are just trying to make ends meet. Their days are full and their wallets are not. And if the Egyptian government can't bring running water to every tap and electricity in every building, can they finance a war? Or maybe I'm wrong and these governments can afford war. Maybe not all Muslim governments see the Islamic State as a threat. Maybe some even sympathize with their aims."

That quote should be enough to justify this one-star rating, no???

I mean, why don't the straight white men of America come together to stop mass shooters, right???? If it's just that easy???

In a Perfect World is about an American girl who has massively generalized ways of thinking about the Middle East and Islam, then moves to Egypt and switches them out - at an excruciatingly slow pace - for slightly different massive generalizations.

I tried to give this book the benefit of the doubt throughout, as it stumbled clumsily through attempts at discussing hijab, Muslim prayer, Fox News, the Egyptian revolution, the Arab Spring, and Black Lives Matter. But you know what? This book f*cking sucks at doing all of it. Maybe it's well intentioned. I wish it weren't this way. But it is.

So: one star. Easily.