09/08/2026
A love letter to the Arabic language.
The Ocean Would Paint Me Blue follows the story of a young girl, Jihad who hails from a Syrian family. Having recently lost her mother to cancer the grief has turned her world colourless in a way that she literally can not see colour anymore. Now just for a second imagine yourself in Jihad's shoes, you love art, you've been painting ever since you were a kid, you wanna apply to a really prestigious art school and suddenly you can't see colour, you've lost your coping strategy. Jihad begins going to this super fancy white-ish kids school called Braxton Academy and saying that she suffers there would be an understatement. Enter Jamie, the student mentor that has been paired up with Jihad. He's an old money, farm boy raised by his Viatnemese grandma, with a keen interest in religion and culture. Wouldn't be wrong to say that he serves as the beacon of light in Jihad's life helping her come back to life.
Miss Zoufa has done it again guys. The way her writing illustrates emotions is remarkable.
Something that I loved loved about the book was the way everyone seems so human. No character is perfect, nothing is black and white everyone has different shades, everyone makes mistakes at times everyone has moments of vulnerabilities. You can't put her characters in a box. The book talks about what it is like being a Muslim, facing hate crimes, receiving no support, no empathy from those in power. How just existing as a hijabi is an everyday struggle. How everyday you wake up and you choose to be Muslim because of your name, because of what you wear, the language you speak and the way you look. It also explores themes of immigration and feelings and struggles associated with it being passed down generations. The unending sense of not belonging where you live and not knowing if you would belong in your homeland.
The depiction of how grief changes the way you look at the world and perceive your surroundings was really accurate and well written. The way hope was inculcated in Jihad's thoughts slowly and gradually was such a great message that nothing remains still, life is on a continuum. Always a light at the end of the tunnel.
