Abdel-Fattah characterizes Mina, one of the novel’s two protagonist narrators, as passionate, resilient, and protective. When Mina’s love interest, Michael, first sees her, he is stunned:

I’ve never seen eyes like hers before. What color are they? Hazel and green and flecks of autumn and bits of emerald [...] Her hair is jet-black, hanging loose down her back, and I think hair that gorgeous has no business being on someone like her (5).

The implicit bigotry in his compliment typifies the xenophobia that Michael must unlearn before Mina will consider a relationship with him. Having survived trauma beyond the comprehension of many of her peers—including the deaths of her father and infant brother, a frightening voyage to Australia by boat, and months in a detention center, Mina’s experiences undergird the young woman’s thirst for justice and determination to succeed. She earns a scholarship to the prestigious Victoria College and ranks at the top of her class. Abdel-Fattah imbues Mina’s voice with a sharp wit that manifests her fight against injustice. As Mina herself observes: “I want to feel, to be affected, to get angry. Nobody changed the world by being polite. I’m going to fight with all I’ve got” (338).