Sunburnt Veils is a smart, funny, character-based exploration of Islamophobia through a heroine who’s the kind of girl who reads at parties, but pushes herself to take a visible stand after a fellow student calls in a bomb threat on her first day of university, after she leaves a bag in a lecture theatre to take a phone call.

Girl meets boy, ghosts his text messages, then convinces him to help her run for the student union. Just your typical love story with a hijabi twist.

Tara wears hijab even though her parents hate it, and in a swipe right world she’s looking for the ‘will go to the ends of the earth for you’ type of love. Or, she would be, if she hadn’t sworn off boys to focus on getting into med. Besides, what’s wrong with just crushing on the assassins, mages and thieves in the fantasy books she reads?

When a bomb threat on her first day of university throws her together with totally annoying party king and oh-so-entitled politician’s son Alex, things get complicated. Tara needs to decide if she’s happy reading about heroes, or if she’s ready to step up and be one herself.

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“Fresh, fierce and full of heart, Sunburnt Veils is a powerful and compelling coming-of-age story that’ll stay with you long after the final page. Sara Haghdoosti is one to watch.” —Gabrielle Tozer, author of Can’t Say It Went To Plan and Remind Me How This Ends

“A book that deserves to be discussed in classes everywhere … this wonderful little gem of a book is a fun, compulsively readable journey into bravery and self-actualisation filled with vibrant characters and achingly realistic romance.” —Clodagh Robinson-Watts, Readings Young Adult Prize judge