Love, Hate and Other Filters

Like much young adult fiction, Love, Hate and Other Filters explores common adolescent themes like young love, identity, and personal agency. In Maya’s case, these topics are complicated by parental and social expectations based on ethnicity, gender, and other factors. Maya experiences first love with her classmate Phil, who initially seems to be her cultural opposite as captain of the high school football team. That Maya and Phil connect despite their different backgrounds reveals that human connection and empathy transcends heritage and religion. The second half of the novel focuses more on Maya’s coming of age story. Asif forces Maya choose between New York and her parents, and she chooses New York. With this choice, Maya crosses the threshold from childhood to adulthood. Since she is disinherited, she becomes responsible for her own choices, actions, and even attitudes. During her first semester at college, in another display of maturity, Maya realizes that her parents did not do anything wrong; they were trying to love and protect her. In light of that, she is open to reconciliation with her parents.