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You Truly Assumed
In this compelling and thought-provoking debut novel, after a terrorist attack rocks the country and anti-Islamic sentiment stirs, three Black Muslim girls create a space where they can shatter assumptions and share truths.
Sabriya has her whole summer planned out in color-coded glory, but those plans go out the window after a terrorist attack near her home. When the terrorist is assumed to be Muslim and Islamophobia grows, Sabriya turns to her online journal for comfort. You Truly Assumed was never meant to be anything more than an outlet, but the blog goes viral as fellow Muslim teens around the country flock to it and find solace and a sense of community.
Soon two more teens, Zakat and Farah, join Bri to run You Truly Assumed and the three quickly form a strong friendship. But as the blog’s popularity grows, so do the pushback and hateful comments. When one of them is threatened, the search to find out who is behind it all begins, and their friendship is put to the test when all three must decide whether to shut down the blog and lose what they’ve worked for…or take a stand and risk everything to make their voices heard.
Sabriya has her whole summer planned out in color-coded glory, but those plans go out the window after a terrorist attack near her home. When the terrorist is assumed to be Muslim and Islamophobia grows, Sabriya turns to her online journal for comfort. You Truly Assumed was never meant to be anything more than an outlet, but the blog goes viral as fellow Muslim teens around the country flock to it and find solace and a sense of community.
Soon two more teens, Zakat and Farah, join Bri to run You Truly Assumed and the three quickly form a strong friendship. But as the blog’s popularity grows, so do the pushback and hateful comments. When one of them is threatened, the search to find out who is behind it all begins, and their friendship is put to the test when all three must decide whether to shut down the blog and lose what they’ve worked for…or take a stand and risk everything to make their voices heard.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published February 8, 2022
About the author
Laila Sabreen
2 books227 followersLaila Sabreen is a young adult contemporary writer who was raised in the Washington DC area. She is a recent graduate of Emory University and is currently pursuing her PhD in English Literature.
Her love of writing began as a love of reading, which started when she used to take weekly trips to her local library. There she fell in love with the Angelina Ballerina series, so much so that she started to write Angelina Ballerina fanfiction at the age of five (though she did not know it was fanfiction at the time). When she isn’t writing, she can be found creating niche playlists, watching reality TV, or working on an academic article about literature and Black girlhood.
Her debut YA contemporary novel, YOU TRULY ASSUMED, released with Inkyard Press/HarperCollins on February 8, 2022. She also has a short story included in the YA anthology, STUDY BREAK, which released with Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan in Winter 2023.
Her love of writing began as a love of reading, which started when she used to take weekly trips to her local library. There she fell in love with the Angelina Ballerina series, so much so that she started to write Angelina Ballerina fanfiction at the age of five (though she did not know it was fanfiction at the time). When she isn’t writing, she can be found creating niche playlists, watching reality TV, or working on an academic article about literature and Black girlhood.
Her debut YA contemporary novel, YOU TRULY ASSUMED, released with Inkyard Press/HarperCollins on February 8, 2022. She also has a short story included in the YA anthology, STUDY BREAK, which released with Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan in Winter 2023.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 569 reviews
February 8, 2022
i truly LOVED you truly assumed!!
thank you inkyard press for the arc!
so basically this book follows 3 Black Muslim women that come together and use their talents to create this online safe haven for Muslim women.
after a terrorist attack rocks the country and anti-islamic sentiments stir, these 3 young women from different parts of the country come together to let their voices be heard.
Sabriya creates this online blog that she uses to share her experiences as a young Black Muslim woman. this blog gets the attention of thousands including Zakat and Farrah.
overall, i really liked this book. this story isn’t just a powerful and important one to read but it’s about family and friendship and it’s relatable.
we get to read through all 3 characters pov’s. personally my favorite character was Zakat because i related to her the most. Sabriya and Farrah are also great characters with so much depth. We get to read about the 3 main character’s personal lives and struggles as well as the shared experiences they have with one another.
it was truly an enjoyable story and i suggested it to everyone!
thank you inkyard press for the arc!
so basically this book follows 3 Black Muslim women that come together and use their talents to create this online safe haven for Muslim women.
after a terrorist attack rocks the country and anti-islamic sentiments stir, these 3 young women from different parts of the country come together to let their voices be heard.
Sabriya creates this online blog that she uses to share her experiences as a young Black Muslim woman. this blog gets the attention of thousands including Zakat and Farrah.
overall, i really liked this book. this story isn’t just a powerful and important one to read but it’s about family and friendship and it’s relatable.
we get to read through all 3 characters pov’s. personally my favorite character was Zakat because i related to her the most. Sabriya and Farrah are also great characters with so much depth. We get to read about the 3 main character’s personal lives and struggles as well as the shared experiences they have with one another.
it was truly an enjoyable story and i suggested it to everyone!
May 18, 2022
You truly assumed follows the lives of Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah. After an attack in a prominent area, Islamophobia grows, and Sabriya writes about how the world always likes to assume the worst from certain demographics. She did not mean for her blog to go public, but it did. She gets all kinds of messages from people who stand with her and those who are super hateful. Nevertheless, she continues to work on the blog, and Farah and Zakat join as they all have a part in the overall setup of the blog. They soon realize that running a blog like this will evoke attacks in many ways they didn’t expect. How do they respond to this?
I’m glad that all the girls got enough individual time in the book. They all have different experiences that all speak of the lives of black Muslim women, from encountering racist classmates to racist bosses, and even those microaggressions that are not always noticeable. We also see the great blessing that comes with having family and friend support during challenging times like these. I'm also glad there were other parts that moved away from these challenging topics to times where they were just being themselves, having fun, and dealing with issues that were not always about race or religion.
I loved that they got stronger as the group progressed and that they inspired many people to be an upstander for the right things. Great book!! I would absolutely recommend it.
I’m glad that all the girls got enough individual time in the book. They all have different experiences that all speak of the lives of black Muslim women, from encountering racist classmates to racist bosses, and even those microaggressions that are not always noticeable. We also see the great blessing that comes with having family and friend support during challenging times like these. I'm also glad there were other parts that moved away from these challenging topics to times where they were just being themselves, having fun, and dealing with issues that were not always about race or religion.
I loved that they got stronger as the group progressed and that they inspired many people to be an upstander for the right things. Great book!! I would absolutely recommend it.
November 6, 2020
This is such a beautiful and powerful book about three Black Muslim girls who start a blog together to fight Islamophobia. I had the honour of working with Laila as a mentor during Author Mentor Match, and watched this book become even stronger and stronger with each revision. I can't wait for everyone to read this brilliant book in 2022!
Want to read
June 11, 2021GIVE IT TO ME 💚
✨They should edit the cover because the hijabi girl’s sleeve must be long, not short. ✨
✨They should edit the cover because the hijabi girl’s sleeve must be long, not short. ✨
January 1, 2022
I was sent this book for review; however, all thoughts and opinions are my own. I probably will be an unpopular opinion in regard to my rating and review of this book. I was definitely interested in the premise of the story, but the execution didn't exactly work for me as a reader. I cannot and will not speak to the accuracy of the representation. My critiques and praises are solely based on the technical aspects of the book like writing style, character development, and plot development. 3.5 stars
You Truly Assumed is a young adult novel that focuses on the lives of three Black Muslim young women as they reckon with the aftermath of a terrorist attack where the attacker is presumed to be Muslim solely based on their last name. To assist with their feelings of not only identifying as Black, but also as Muslim the three young women work together to run a blog. This blog becomes their safe space to express how they feel about their identities as well as what their communities are going through. One of the aspects that I did enjoy about this book was the varied experiences of the three main characters. Sabreen makes it a point to emphasize that shared identities do not equate to identical experiences. Each main character is struggling and succeeding in their very own way. I found their back stories outside of the context of the blog to be interesting and was excited to see how each character was able to grow through the journeys they made throughout the book.
Unfortunately, I had several issues with the writing and plot development. Towards the last third of the book, I began to feel as though the behavior of the characters was too obvious which led to the plot feeling unrealistic in specific areas. There were moments where things were almost a little too perfect. I don't mean this in a way that books shouldn't be hopeful, but that it ultimately left little to the imagination of the reader. It also made the book feel longer than the 350 pages that it is. I think that I expected something that was a little more concise with a powerful message. This novel definitely felt a little long winded in certain areas and placed the main characters into situations that didn't have much basis in reality. Honestly, the story just became a little clunky towards the end as if there was a rush to put in as many difficult situations as possible with all of the perfect resolutions.
This book definitely does tackle discussions around Islamphobia as well as intersectionality very well. And I know that this book is one that a lot of young Black Muslim women will be looking forward to when it releases. As an adult reader and as a reader that does not share the same experiences, I do recognize that my perspective and view is different. I think that if this had a few technical changes I would definitely have rated it higher. The characters were great and the concept/idea is great, but the execution could have used a little more work.
You Truly Assumed is a young adult novel that focuses on the lives of three Black Muslim young women as they reckon with the aftermath of a terrorist attack where the attacker is presumed to be Muslim solely based on their last name. To assist with their feelings of not only identifying as Black, but also as Muslim the three young women work together to run a blog. This blog becomes their safe space to express how they feel about their identities as well as what their communities are going through. One of the aspects that I did enjoy about this book was the varied experiences of the three main characters. Sabreen makes it a point to emphasize that shared identities do not equate to identical experiences. Each main character is struggling and succeeding in their very own way. I found their back stories outside of the context of the blog to be interesting and was excited to see how each character was able to grow through the journeys they made throughout the book.
Unfortunately, I had several issues with the writing and plot development. Towards the last third of the book, I began to feel as though the behavior of the characters was too obvious which led to the plot feeling unrealistic in specific areas. There were moments where things were almost a little too perfect. I don't mean this in a way that books shouldn't be hopeful, but that it ultimately left little to the imagination of the reader. It also made the book feel longer than the 350 pages that it is. I think that I expected something that was a little more concise with a powerful message. This novel definitely felt a little long winded in certain areas and placed the main characters into situations that didn't have much basis in reality. Honestly, the story just became a little clunky towards the end as if there was a rush to put in as many difficult situations as possible with all of the perfect resolutions.
This book definitely does tackle discussions around Islamphobia as well as intersectionality very well. And I know that this book is one that a lot of young Black Muslim women will be looking forward to when it releases. As an adult reader and as a reader that does not share the same experiences, I do recognize that my perspective and view is different. I think that if this had a few technical changes I would definitely have rated it higher. The characters were great and the concept/idea is great, but the execution could have used a little more work.
September 17, 2021
If there's any book that you're looking to add to your 2022 to-read lists, let it be You Truly Assumed. This book is brilliance and power in book form - and I loved it.
- Follows Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah, three Black Muslim girls living in different parts of the U.S. who come together and run a blog called You Truly Assumed, a space for Muslim teens, following terrorist attacks where the terrorist is assumed to be Muslim.
- Though the blog binds the three teens together, I was actually pulled in by the girls' lives and stories. A huge highlight is how the story shows that, even though all three girls are Black and Muslim and have this shared identity, they are actually very different people and engage with their Blackness and faith in different ways.
- I think the most important thing is that the story centers on the girls, their experiences, and their feelings. Though the story does explore and depict racism and Islamophobia, it also explores challenges assumptions and delves into the effects and how the girls feel and respond, rather than on how the perpetuators feel.
- But it's not just about racism; it's also about navigating a budding romance, meeting an estranged parent and mending that bridge, and when friendships get rocky.
- At its very heart, this is a story about community, hope, and friendship. It's about how activism can be creating and holding space for others, enabling people to build meaningful connections in this big and confusing world.
Content warning: Islamophobia, racism
I was provided an eARC by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
- Follows Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah, three Black Muslim girls living in different parts of the U.S. who come together and run a blog called You Truly Assumed, a space for Muslim teens, following terrorist attacks where the terrorist is assumed to be Muslim.
- Though the blog binds the three teens together, I was actually pulled in by the girls' lives and stories. A huge highlight is how the story shows that, even though all three girls are Black and Muslim and have this shared identity, they are actually very different people and engage with their Blackness and faith in different ways.
- I think the most important thing is that the story centers on the girls, their experiences, and their feelings. Though the story does explore and depict racism and Islamophobia, it also explores challenges assumptions and delves into the effects and how the girls feel and respond, rather than on how the perpetuators feel.
- But it's not just about racism; it's also about navigating a budding romance, meeting an estranged parent and mending that bridge, and when friendships get rocky.
- At its very heart, this is a story about community, hope, and friendship. It's about how activism can be creating and holding space for others, enabling people to build meaningful connections in this big and confusing world.
Content warning: Islamophobia, racism
I was provided an eARC by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
January 30, 2022
read this review on my blog!
You Truly Assumed is a thoughtful debut that follows three Black Muslim teens, Sabriya, Zakat, Farah, in the wake of a terrorist attack on DC. When the terrorist is allegedly identified as Muslim, the girls are subject to Islamophobia, Sabriya’s online journal, where she poured her thoughts about the situation is made public. After a surprising response, soon she’s joined by Zakat and Farah to run the blog as a safe space for the Black Muslim community.
I loved the concept of three young women joining forces to put forth a platform for their own feelings as well as garnering the sense of community in the midst of the chaos. You Truly Assumed not only becomes a haven for Sabriya’s thoughts but also a place for sharing experiences and finding hope and comfort. I adored this idea and how it materialised in the story, how these girls identify with their faith and find the people who resonate with their thoughts.
The story follows the perspective of all three girls, Sabriya, Zakat and Farah, with their unique personal storylines and feelings about the blog. We see Sabirya volunteer to help the ones affected in the attack while tackling racism and finding the ones who stand with her; we see Zakat fight to stand by what she feels is right and against the injustice in her neighbourhood and Farah learning to reconciliate with her estranged father and his family. While Sabirya keeps the blog flowing with her engaging thoughts and posts, Zakat’s art brings it to life and Farah handles the tech, including how to make site safer from the hate and threats they recieve.
It’s interesting to read their stories, as their POVs highlighted the different experiences of Islamophobia, racism and microaggressions. I could see these events happening in real life, some points that were painfully true and very much relevant to current times. I’m glad Sabreen has written this book, portraying the honesty, hopelessness as well as the desire to be heard through these characters.
Though You Truly Assumed is a promising a whole, I felt the story to be half cooked. I truly appreciate the message brought forward by Sabriya, Zakat and Farah but as characters they were two dimensional. We’re always told of how they feel about the blog or about the growing friendship between them, but never shown anything to back those feelings. Later on, it felt as if three important stories are haphazardly merged into one with little scope for development. Same goes with the blog, which we’re told is thriving and loved by the readers but little of that or the content being put up is actually shown to us on page.
At its heart You Truly Assumed is about speaking up, the dread that comes with it and the following relief and sense of validation when we resonate with a community. I can’t comment on the Black Muslim representation and I’d recommend looking through OwnVoices reviews for their thoughts on it! Though the execution fell flat for me, I would recommend this book for the important conversations it brings to the YA genre and how validating it can be for the readers.
thank you inkyard press and netgalley for the arc!
You Truly Assumed is a thoughtful debut that follows three Black Muslim teens, Sabriya, Zakat, Farah, in the wake of a terrorist attack on DC. When the terrorist is allegedly identified as Muslim, the girls are subject to Islamophobia, Sabriya’s online journal, where she poured her thoughts about the situation is made public. After a surprising response, soon she’s joined by Zakat and Farah to run the blog as a safe space for the Black Muslim community.
I loved the concept of three young women joining forces to put forth a platform for their own feelings as well as garnering the sense of community in the midst of the chaos. You Truly Assumed not only becomes a haven for Sabriya’s thoughts but also a place for sharing experiences and finding hope and comfort. I adored this idea and how it materialised in the story, how these girls identify with their faith and find the people who resonate with their thoughts.
The story follows the perspective of all three girls, Sabriya, Zakat and Farah, with their unique personal storylines and feelings about the blog. We see Sabirya volunteer to help the ones affected in the attack while tackling racism and finding the ones who stand with her; we see Zakat fight to stand by what she feels is right and against the injustice in her neighbourhood and Farah learning to reconciliate with her estranged father and his family. While Sabirya keeps the blog flowing with her engaging thoughts and posts, Zakat’s art brings it to life and Farah handles the tech, including how to make site safer from the hate and threats they recieve.
It’s interesting to read their stories, as their POVs highlighted the different experiences of Islamophobia, racism and microaggressions. I could see these events happening in real life, some points that were painfully true and very much relevant to current times. I’m glad Sabreen has written this book, portraying the honesty, hopelessness as well as the desire to be heard through these characters.
Though You Truly Assumed is a promising a whole, I felt the story to be half cooked. I truly appreciate the message brought forward by Sabriya, Zakat and Farah but as characters they were two dimensional. We’re always told of how they feel about the blog or about the growing friendship between them, but never shown anything to back those feelings. Later on, it felt as if three important stories are haphazardly merged into one with little scope for development. Same goes with the blog, which we’re told is thriving and loved by the readers but little of that or the content being put up is actually shown to us on page.
At its heart You Truly Assumed is about speaking up, the dread that comes with it and the following relief and sense of validation when we resonate with a community. I can’t comment on the Black Muslim representation and I’d recommend looking through OwnVoices reviews for their thoughts on it! Though the execution fell flat for me, I would recommend this book for the important conversations it brings to the YA genre and how validating it can be for the readers.
thank you inkyard press and netgalley for the arc!
March 17, 2022
If there was an award for most disappointing Muslim rep book of the year (so far)... it would be "You Truly Assumed."
Alas, *I* went into this book truly assuming that a mainstream published book by a Black Muslim woman, about Black Muslim girls, would be an intriguing & exciting read.
Instead, I got:
- a masjid with a bell in the minaret to signify prayer times, & a "nonlabeled prayer room" for people who don't identify as a particular gender
- one of the main characters not doing wudhu correctly
- Islamic school dance party (mixed gender)
- the only discussion of Black Muslim identity being reduced to the character's "Allah necklace"
- the only repeated themes of Muslim rep/ identity being the Allah necklace & references to not eating bacon
- Islamophobia as apparently the only Muslim experience referenced *at all*
- boyfriends/ dating being completely normalized & viewed as positive (& managing to completely have no chemistry or interesting romance AT ALL)
- the premise involves a blog... that goes viral in a month... at a time when blogging is basically archaic - totally inconsistent in representing social media realities for the time
- a female "imam" of a masjid - points to repeated theme of inauthentic Muslim experience
- 3 main characters, none of them particularly decipherable from one another; no character development; extremely flimsy plot
- one dimensional, shallow "villains" who are utterly generic & lame
- poor writing all around
This book should never have been published. It reads like a first draft & clearly received no development or meaningful editing. I had to force myself to finish it. Was bored to death & endlessly annoyed.
Watch my video review for further commentary.
0/5 stars
Alas, *I* went into this book truly assuming that a mainstream published book by a Black Muslim woman, about Black Muslim girls, would be an intriguing & exciting read.
Instead, I got:
- a masjid with a bell in the minaret to signify prayer times, & a "nonlabeled prayer room" for people who don't identify as a particular gender
- one of the main characters not doing wudhu correctly
- Islamic school dance party (mixed gender)
- the only discussion of Black Muslim identity being reduced to the character's "Allah necklace"
- the only repeated themes of Muslim rep/ identity being the Allah necklace & references to not eating bacon
- Islamophobia as apparently the only Muslim experience referenced *at all*
- boyfriends/ dating being completely normalized & viewed as positive (& managing to completely have no chemistry or interesting romance AT ALL)
- the premise involves a blog... that goes viral in a month... at a time when blogging is basically archaic - totally inconsistent in representing social media realities for the time
- a female "imam" of a masjid - points to repeated theme of inauthentic Muslim experience
- 3 main characters, none of them particularly decipherable from one another; no character development; extremely flimsy plot
- one dimensional, shallow "villains" who are utterly generic & lame
- poor writing all around
This book should never have been published. It reads like a first draft & clearly received no development or meaningful editing. I had to force myself to finish it. Was bored to death & endlessly annoyed.
Watch my video review for further commentary.
0/5 stars
February 15, 2022
4.5 stars!
I adored You Truly Assumed! It was heart-wrenching, and so incredibly empowering. The story follows such unique and well-developed characters. The main characters (Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah), were very likable. I loved how they all came from different backgrounds, but could all be united together to stop Islamophobia. Furthermore, the work they do, and the challenges they face made me tear up. I don’t want to spoil anything, so all I’m going to say is that you’re definitely in for a ride! Unfortunately though, I do wish Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah had more of an intimate relationship. While I found the three of them to be very interesting characters on their own, I wish their friendship had more time to develop and grow. Overall, I truly loved You Truly Assumed. (Pun intended.) It was a refreshing read I recommend to everyone, especially to teens. I’m sure people of all ages will be inspired by these three amazing young women!
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Three Black Muslim Teens?? A Contemporary?? Um Y E S! I seriously cannot wait for this!!
I adored You Truly Assumed! It was heart-wrenching, and so incredibly empowering. The story follows such unique and well-developed characters. The main characters (Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah), were very likable. I loved how they all came from different backgrounds, but could all be united together to stop Islamophobia. Furthermore, the work they do, and the challenges they face made me tear up. I don’t want to spoil anything, so all I’m going to say is that you’re definitely in for a ride! Unfortunately though, I do wish Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah had more of an intimate relationship. While I found the three of them to be very interesting characters on their own, I wish their friendship had more time to develop and grow. Overall, I truly loved You Truly Assumed. (Pun intended.) It was a refreshing read I recommend to everyone, especially to teens. I’m sure people of all ages will be inspired by these three amazing young women!
------------
Three Black Muslim Teens?? A Contemporary?? Um Y E S! I seriously cannot wait for this!!
February 12, 2022
In a Nutshell: A YA story where three young Black Muslim American girls become part of an online journal that aims to shatter Islamophobia after a terrorist attack. YA readers will enjoy this work more than adults.
Story:
There are YA books that speak perfectly only to their target age group, and there are YA books that transcend age barriers and speak to every reader. This book falls firmly in the first category. While it does its job remarkably well for a debut novel, it doesn’t go much beyond tropes. As an adult reader, I found the content generating a sense of déjà vu. But maybe the YA reader segment won’t feel the same.
The usual YA teen tropes that appear in this novel are romantic relationship issues, family issues, friendship problems, educational pressure and expectations, underdogs becoming self-confident, and over-the-top and perfect outcomes at the end. The inclusivity-related topics that appear in this novel are racism against Blacks, Islamophobia, gender discrimination, white supremacist attitudes, online harassment of minorities, and problems of inter-faith families. As the three main characters come from a variety of familial and social backgrounds, all these issues get distributed across the three of them pretty fairly.
The three characters have a distinct and equal role to play in the proceedings. I liked how the girls aren’t portrayed as weak or naïve, rather as using their skills and intelligence to make a change. The writing balances between their personal struggles and their combined efforts at making the online blog a success. At the same time, their success does seem sudden and exaggerated. We get to hear of numbers and responses but we get a limited view of the actual blog content. Perhaps a little more attention to the feelings expressed in the blog rather than only dwelling on its hashtag #YouTrulyAssumed would have created a greater connect. I am not a Muslim so I have no idea about the accuracy of the depiction of the Islamic faith and its followers, but it felt comprehensive and precise.
All in all, I found the book pretty decent and it would be a 3 star read for me – I liked it enough without its creating a long-term impact on me. But as the target reader would be a much younger person who is bound to find the characters more relatable than I did, I will rate it a bit higher. It’s a story that makes its way through hate and shows the power of love and unity. Definitely recommended to YA readers.
The audiobook, clocking at almost 10 hours, is narrated by Channie Waites, Tamika Katon-Donegal, and Lynette R. Freeman, each voicing one of the girls. They are pretty good and I found no flaws in their performance. Their voices sounded age-appropriate for the characters. The book is not character-intensive or with too complicated twists. As such, the audiobook is definitely a good option to try.
3.5 stars, rounding up to 4 because the narration was fabulous.
My thanks to RB Media, Recorded Books, and NetGalley for the ALC of “You Truly Assumed”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.
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Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever! , for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun.
Story:
Sabriya is an Abington, Virginia resident, loves ballet, and is only of only two Black dancers at her advanced ballet class. She dreams of clearing an audition for a spot at the summer intensive in a ballet theatre.
Zakat is from Lullwood, Georgia. She is a senior at a local Islamic school and loves sketching. Her parents, both of whom are engineers, want her to opt for more traditional, secure career choices.
Farah is from Inglethorne, California and is interested in programming. Her boyfriend is leaving for college in the summer and she is wondering if their relationship will work long-distance. Plus, her mom wishes her to re-establish relations with her birth father, which Farah doesn’t want to as he had abandoned them and has his own family now.
When there is a bombing at a metro station in Washington, the plans of these three teenagers are throw haywire. And when the suspect is assumed to be Muslim, things become even worse. Sabriya turns to online journaling for comfort. How this journal becomes a whole new movement, and how Zakat and Farah join her on this journey forms the rest of the story.
The story comes to us in the first person perspectives of the three teenagers.
There are YA books that speak perfectly only to their target age group, and there are YA books that transcend age barriers and speak to every reader. This book falls firmly in the first category. While it does its job remarkably well for a debut novel, it doesn’t go much beyond tropes. As an adult reader, I found the content generating a sense of déjà vu. But maybe the YA reader segment won’t feel the same.
The usual YA teen tropes that appear in this novel are romantic relationship issues, family issues, friendship problems, educational pressure and expectations, underdogs becoming self-confident, and over-the-top and perfect outcomes at the end. The inclusivity-related topics that appear in this novel are racism against Blacks, Islamophobia, gender discrimination, white supremacist attitudes, online harassment of minorities, and problems of inter-faith families. As the three main characters come from a variety of familial and social backgrounds, all these issues get distributed across the three of them pretty fairly.
The three characters have a distinct and equal role to play in the proceedings. I liked how the girls aren’t portrayed as weak or naïve, rather as using their skills and intelligence to make a change. The writing balances between their personal struggles and their combined efforts at making the online blog a success. At the same time, their success does seem sudden and exaggerated. We get to hear of numbers and responses but we get a limited view of the actual blog content. Perhaps a little more attention to the feelings expressed in the blog rather than only dwelling on its hashtag #YouTrulyAssumed would have created a greater connect. I am not a Muslim so I have no idea about the accuracy of the depiction of the Islamic faith and its followers, but it felt comprehensive and precise.
All in all, I found the book pretty decent and it would be a 3 star read for me – I liked it enough without its creating a long-term impact on me. But as the target reader would be a much younger person who is bound to find the characters more relatable than I did, I will rate it a bit higher. It’s a story that makes its way through hate and shows the power of love and unity. Definitely recommended to YA readers.
The audiobook, clocking at almost 10 hours, is narrated by Channie Waites, Tamika Katon-Donegal, and Lynette R. Freeman, each voicing one of the girls. They are pretty good and I found no flaws in their performance. Their voices sounded age-appropriate for the characters. The book is not character-intensive or with too complicated twists. As such, the audiobook is definitely a good option to try.
3.5 stars, rounding up to 4 because the narration was fabulous.
My thanks to RB Media, Recorded Books, and NetGalley for the ALC of “You Truly Assumed”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.
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Join me on the Facebook group, Readers Forever! , for more reviews, book-related discussions and fun.
March 10, 2023
Review to come!
21/12/2021:
*I was sent an ARC of this novel via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review - a massive thank you to Inkyard Press for giving me the chance to read this one early!*
Okay. So there's a lot of thoughts I have about this book and most of them...are not extremely positive, I'm not going to lie to you guys. However there were definitely some great elements:
* Interesting concept - as a blogger myself I loved the idea behind the novel; three young women taking action through a blog and telling their stories, it's unique and I really liked this element as it also gave a plausible reason or platform for the main characters to connect and become empowered and impassioned together.
* Highlighting the voices and individual stories of young Black Muslim women - loved that we got three unique perspectives from three Black Muslim girls, from all different walks of life and based in different areas across the US.
* Exploration of Islamaphobia, Racism and Microaggressions - There were a lot of points I could relate to and felt painfully true and I think many readers will be able to connect to the various characters anger, hopefulness and desire for action in the face of these issues. Black Muslim voices, especially that of women in the community need to be amplified and I'm happy to know that this book will make readers in the community feel seen and heard.
Despite the truly great basis the novel has and the authors natural writing talent - which is clearly there and I'm looking forward to whatever Laila Sabreen writes in the future, but this whole novel felt woefully underdeveloped, simplistic and lacked that emotional pull or draw to the characters.
While I related to Sabriya, Farah and Zakat and appreciated them as characters - I thought they were so one dimensional - we were constantly told things about them rather than letting this unfold on the page and there were a lot of moments that felt so awkward. We're led to believe that the girls have this great friendship and connection but we don't really see this developing on the page in a way that felt believable to me- it's like they get in touch for the blog, have a few facetimes and text conversations and are magically close friends? it just felt lazy considering not a whole lot actually happens in the book and there are sections which are unnecessary in my opinion.
I think the representation of Islam is also a bit off at times - I fully understand that every Muslim has an individual connection to faith and how they choose to practice but I have to be honest on my feelings based purely on whats in the book. In a novel where being Muslim is central to the plot, there were a lot of things that just didn't sit right and felt uncomfortable to me as a Muslim reader. I've seen other readers pick up on these elements already and mention them in their reviews so don't want to rehash it all again but basically it's a whole load of inconsistencies and things which are not actually permissible within the religion but this is never addressed either so may give an uninformed reader the wrong idea. Also items like necklaces and rings were given so much significance rather than actions like praying salah (the five daily prayers) and abstaining from other actions which is more commonplace in a practicing Muslims daily life.
Overall, for me I think this was a case of great concept with not so great execution - I think with some more editing and a stronger sense of the characters and fixing the pacing issues it would have been a five star read for me. However, I know some readers will enjoy this and it's important to have books exploring such key issues in the Y/A market, I appreciate that this probably just isn't the book for me.
21/12/2021:
*I was sent an ARC of this novel via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review - a massive thank you to Inkyard Press for giving me the chance to read this one early!*
Okay. So there's a lot of thoughts I have about this book and most of them...are not extremely positive, I'm not going to lie to you guys. However there were definitely some great elements:
* Interesting concept - as a blogger myself I loved the idea behind the novel; three young women taking action through a blog and telling their stories, it's unique and I really liked this element as it also gave a plausible reason or platform for the main characters to connect and become empowered and impassioned together.
* Highlighting the voices and individual stories of young Black Muslim women - loved that we got three unique perspectives from three Black Muslim girls, from all different walks of life and based in different areas across the US.
* Exploration of Islamaphobia, Racism and Microaggressions - There were a lot of points I could relate to and felt painfully true and I think many readers will be able to connect to the various characters anger, hopefulness and desire for action in the face of these issues. Black Muslim voices, especially that of women in the community need to be amplified and I'm happy to know that this book will make readers in the community feel seen and heard.
Despite the truly great basis the novel has and the authors natural writing talent - which is clearly there and I'm looking forward to whatever Laila Sabreen writes in the future, but this whole novel felt woefully underdeveloped, simplistic and lacked that emotional pull or draw to the characters.
While I related to Sabriya, Farah and Zakat and appreciated them as characters - I thought they were so one dimensional - we were constantly told things about them rather than letting this unfold on the page and there were a lot of moments that felt so awkward. We're led to believe that the girls have this great friendship and connection but we don't really see this developing on the page in a way that felt believable to me- it's like they get in touch for the blog, have a few facetimes and text conversations and are magically close friends? it just felt lazy considering not a whole lot actually happens in the book and there are sections which are unnecessary in my opinion.
I think the representation of Islam is also a bit off at times - I fully understand that every Muslim has an individual connection to faith and how they choose to practice but I have to be honest on my feelings based purely on whats in the book. In a novel where being Muslim is central to the plot, there were a lot of things that just didn't sit right and felt uncomfortable to me as a Muslim reader. I've seen other readers pick up on these elements already and mention them in their reviews so don't want to rehash it all again but basically it's a whole load of inconsistencies and things which are not actually permissible within the religion but this is never addressed either so may give an uninformed reader the wrong idea. Also items like necklaces and rings were given so much significance rather than actions like praying salah (the five daily prayers) and abstaining from other actions which is more commonplace in a practicing Muslims daily life.
Overall, for me I think this was a case of great concept with not so great execution - I think with some more editing and a stronger sense of the characters and fixing the pacing issues it would have been a five star read for me. However, I know some readers will enjoy this and it's important to have books exploring such key issues in the Y/A market, I appreciate that this probably just isn't the book for me.
February 20, 2022
Thank you to Qamar Blog Tours and Inkyard Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I’m calling it now: this book is going to be on my Most Disappointing Books of 2022 list. I should have expected it when I saw it compared to Love, Hate & Other Filters, but I had hope it would be better. I was wrong.
In the interests of fairness: there were moments of value. The Black Muslim experience is so rarely represented in any media, and the book definitely had some powerful things to say about the intersectionality of being a Black Muslim girl (even if the Muslim part was questionable – see below). The emotions that the girls feel in relation to the Islamophobia was also painfully relatable – I felt like the anger and hopelessness was well expressed, as well as the way it affects a community.
But, all of that is outweighed by the messiness of everything else. In terms of technical craft, it read like a first draft. I don’t want to be too critical, since it was an ARC and I want to believe that some of those issues might have been fixed in the final publication, but the version I read was full of grammatical errors, and structural issues and inconsistencies. Something would happen in one perspective, then we’d cut to the next chapter/perspective and it wouldn’t have happened yet (and more often than not it happened again in the second perspective, in a different way than the first time), which meant I just couldn’t keep track of the timeline or plot half the time.
The pacing was also off. I’d originally assumed that the three girls were already friends before the start of the book and decided to start a blog together, but that’s not the case – they all meet each other through the blog and become friends later, because of it. Except… we never get any of that. Bri starts the blog, Zakat and Farah volunteer to help with it, and then suddenly they’re all best friends who understand each other better than anyone else – but we never actually see their friendship developing, so I never bought into it or felt emotionally invested in it. All three girls’ stories also felt totally disconnected, and any of them could have been a full novel all on its own, so having to fit in all three made them all feel underdeveloped.
But all of that pales in comparison to the major problem: the almost complete absence of Muslim representation. I’m not Black, so I can’t speak to that specific intersection, but faith should be faith regardless of race, and this book had none. Zakat wears hijab, and prays salah (the ritual daily prayers) exactly once, and there were occasional mentions of Allah in her and Bri’s chapters, but Farah’s POV in particular had absolutely nothing until she explicitly states “I’m Muslim” at the 59% mark.
2022 is the year I stop settling for crumbs when it comes to Muslim representation, and vague mentions and an Allah necklace aren’t enough if the representation doesn’t come through in the characters’ actions too. For instance, the romance (which wasn’t the only offender, but was one of the biggest): two of the girls had boyfriends, with whom they had the kind of emotional and physical relationship you would see in any non-religious YA contemporary, with nary even a vague allusion to the fact that that’s so deeply disallowed in Islam. It’s also unclear whether one of the boyfriends is Muslim or not – I guess ‘Muslim girl falls for Black boy of ambiguous faith’ is better than ‘Muslim girl falls for generic, white non-Muslim boy’, but not by a lot!
So, all in all, a disappointment. The positive reviews all talk about how great the portrayal of Islamophobia is, which is all fine and good, but at this point that’s not enough for me: I need my characters to actually be practicing Muslims too, and on that front this book did not deliver.
CW: racism; Islamophobia; microaggressions; online harassment
I’m calling it now: this book is going to be on my Most Disappointing Books of 2022 list. I should have expected it when I saw it compared to Love, Hate & Other Filters, but I had hope it would be better. I was wrong.
In the interests of fairness: there were moments of value. The Black Muslim experience is so rarely represented in any media, and the book definitely had some powerful things to say about the intersectionality of being a Black Muslim girl (even if the Muslim part was questionable – see below). The emotions that the girls feel in relation to the Islamophobia was also painfully relatable – I felt like the anger and hopelessness was well expressed, as well as the way it affects a community.
But, all of that is outweighed by the messiness of everything else. In terms of technical craft, it read like a first draft. I don’t want to be too critical, since it was an ARC and I want to believe that some of those issues might have been fixed in the final publication, but the version I read was full of grammatical errors, and structural issues and inconsistencies. Something would happen in one perspective, then we’d cut to the next chapter/perspective and it wouldn’t have happened yet (and more often than not it happened again in the second perspective, in a different way than the first time), which meant I just couldn’t keep track of the timeline or plot half the time.
The pacing was also off. I’d originally assumed that the three girls were already friends before the start of the book and decided to start a blog together, but that’s not the case – they all meet each other through the blog and become friends later, because of it. Except… we never get any of that. Bri starts the blog, Zakat and Farah volunteer to help with it, and then suddenly they’re all best friends who understand each other better than anyone else – but we never actually see their friendship developing, so I never bought into it or felt emotionally invested in it. All three girls’ stories also felt totally disconnected, and any of them could have been a full novel all on its own, so having to fit in all three made them all feel underdeveloped.
But all of that pales in comparison to the major problem: the almost complete absence of Muslim representation. I’m not Black, so I can’t speak to that specific intersection, but faith should be faith regardless of race, and this book had none. Zakat wears hijab, and prays salah (the ritual daily prayers) exactly once, and there were occasional mentions of Allah in her and Bri’s chapters, but Farah’s POV in particular had absolutely nothing until she explicitly states “I’m Muslim” at the 59% mark.
2022 is the year I stop settling for crumbs when it comes to Muslim representation, and vague mentions and an Allah necklace aren’t enough if the representation doesn’t come through in the characters’ actions too. For instance, the romance (which wasn’t the only offender, but was one of the biggest): two of the girls had boyfriends, with whom they had the kind of emotional and physical relationship you would see in any non-religious YA contemporary, with nary even a vague allusion to the fact that that’s so deeply disallowed in Islam. It’s also unclear whether one of the boyfriends is Muslim or not – I guess ‘Muslim girl falls for Black boy of ambiguous faith’ is better than ‘Muslim girl falls for generic, white non-Muslim boy’, but not by a lot!
So, all in all, a disappointment. The positive reviews all talk about how great the portrayal of Islamophobia is, which is all fine and good, but at this point that’s not enough for me: I need my characters to actually be practicing Muslims too, and on that front this book did not deliver.
CW: racism; Islamophobia; microaggressions; online harassment
February 6, 2022
Firstly thank you @turnthepagetours for sending me this eArc.
This book was just so good. And also that cover is beautiful! I loved the writing and how the author was able to get her message across. This book was so powerful and spoke with topics that I feel like kinda get pushed aside.
I enjoyed learning about all the three mc and seeing them express there feelings. The author did an amzing job with that, and you don't see it a lot. I will say, at times I felt this book was a little messy with the different POVs. It got kinda confusing.
Overall, this book was great read and I definitely recommend you add it to your TBR! This book gives you a lot of insight that I definitely felt as I learned more from reading You Truly Assumed.
This book was just so good. And also that cover is beautiful! I loved the writing and how the author was able to get her message across. This book was so powerful and spoke with topics that I feel like kinda get pushed aside.
I enjoyed learning about all the three mc and seeing them express there feelings. The author did an amzing job with that, and you don't see it a lot. I will say, at times I felt this book was a little messy with the different POVs. It got kinda confusing.
Overall, this book was great read and I definitely recommend you add it to your TBR! This book gives you a lot of insight that I definitely felt as I learned more from reading You Truly Assumed.
February 13, 2022
"فلا تهنوا وتدعوا إلى السلم وأنتم الاعلون والله معكم ولن يتركم أعمالكم" سورة محمد 35
لست متأكدة فيما نزلت الآية لكني ربطتها بهذه الرواية. كيف يريدون تغريب الإسلام وتسهيل وفرض كل ممنوع. ولو أن هذه الرواية لم تكتب باسم الإسلام وباسم الدفاع عن المسلمين ماتكلمت ��ما وجعت راسي.
I rated this book as an arab muslim. I'm not a black american muslim. So I don't relate.
And to think that I was so excited to start it 😣
Three black teenage muslim join a blog created by one of them called You Truly Assumed after suffering the after math of a bombing in the metro, and muslims were attacked after assuming the terrorist was a muslim.
The idea of the novel was pretty good and the cover is a beautiful one. I would've gave it 3 stars. But no. The author felt obligated to give this falsified picture of Islam. And it frustrated me.
❎That Wudu that Zakat performed.. At least you could've researched how we actually do it.
❎High school students told the Imam that the two entrances and the two labels for gender attached to them didn't allow everyone to come to the masjid as they identied and alienated some muslims from attending prayers >>> This is absolute bullshit! It's just frustrating witnessing how they're trying to westernize Islam, how they're trying to bend it like they did to their Christianity.
❎The bell rung for the prayer >>> I have no idea what heck is that!! Like for real!!
❎ Farah met one girl and her girlfriend.. It's so casual and so cool.
❎ They have a woman Imam of the masjid with the perfect eyeliner. Which again there is no such a thing, the woman responsible in the masjid is called something else.
And so more .. So at least don't praise Islam then stab it in the back! And don't normalize forbidden things!
P.S. I received this audiobook arc from NetGalley and the publisher.
لست متأكدة فيما نزلت الآية لكني ربطتها بهذه الرواية. كيف يريدون تغريب الإسلام وتسهيل وفرض كل ممنوع. ولو أن هذه الرواية لم تكتب باسم الإسلام وباسم الدفاع عن المسلمين ماتكلمت ��ما وجعت راسي.
I rated this book as an arab muslim. I'm not a black american muslim. So I don't relate.
And to think that I was so excited to start it 😣
Three black teenage muslim join a blog created by one of them called You Truly Assumed after suffering the after math of a bombing in the metro, and muslims were attacked after assuming the terrorist was a muslim.
The idea of the novel was pretty good and the cover is a beautiful one. I would've gave it 3 stars. But no. The author felt obligated to give this falsified picture of Islam. And it frustrated me.
❎That Wudu that Zakat performed.. At least you could've researched how we actually do it.
❎High school students told the Imam that the two entrances and the two labels for gender attached to them didn't allow everyone to come to the masjid as they identied and alienated some muslims from attending prayers >>> This is absolute bullshit! It's just frustrating witnessing how they're trying to westernize Islam, how they're trying to bend it like they did to their Christianity.
❎The bell rung for the prayer >>> I have no idea what heck is that!! Like for real!!
❎ Farah met one girl and her girlfriend.. It's so casual and so cool.
❎ They have a woman Imam of the masjid with the perfect eyeliner. Which again there is no such a thing, the woman responsible in the masjid is called something else.
And so more .. So at least don't praise Islam then stab it in the back! And don't normalize forbidden things!
P.S. I received this audiobook arc from NetGalley and the publisher.
December 5, 2021
We need more diverse books, especially within Islamic rep stories. So I was so excited to receive an arc of this 352 page YA/Teen Black Muslim authored and featured OWN voice story. I was prepared for rawness and grit and insight and all the feels. Sadly to say, it is not that. It is surface level plot points that are unexplored, disjointed, emotionless, and overshadowed by poor writing, contradictory details, and errors. Admittedly I saw an early copy and there is hope that the spelling errors, continuity mistakes and numerous contradictions can be fixed, but I highly doubt the narrative, character arcs, and holes, will or can be rewritten. It is such a shame, because every time I was ready to put the book aside and claim I could not finish it, a shiny beautiful paragraph or sentence would pull me in and give me hope that the book would turn around and be what its own blurb claimed the book set out to do: "shatter assumptions" and "share truth."
SYNOPSIS:
Sabriya, Zakat, Farah: three Black female Muslim 17-year-olds in different parts of America, with different passions, different life experiences, and different dreams, take one alternating chapter at a time to tell their stories with occasional blog posts scattered between. A terrorist attack in the in the D.C. metro, lots of serendipitous technology events, and a need to find community and the girls come together to create a blog that gathers followers and haters alike in the summer before their senior year.
Sabriya "Bri" is a ballet dance, and often one of two black ballerinas in class. The book opens with her preparing for the summer intensive audition process when news of the nearby metro attack makes time stand still. Her mom cannot be reached, and multiple people are killed and many more injured. Bri and her younger sister Nuri identify like their father, as Muslim, but their mother is not. It doesn't seem to be much of an issue, except in that Bri's mother often cannot relate to experiences her daughter is going through. Bri asks Allah swt to keep her mom safe, but throughout the entirety of the book it does not mention her praying salat or actively showing she is Muslim aside from wearing an Allah swt necklace and her sorting through her desire to prove to others she is a Muslim versus eventually being content to be enough for her own self. She does at one point refuse to cook bacon, but she does have a love interest, and Islam reads more of a label to her, than a practiced way of life. Bri journals as a way to let off steam, and her younger sister Nuri encourages her to move to an app to blog. Reluctantly Bri agrees, after being reassured that she can keep it private, she names her journal/blog 'You Truly Assumed' and accidentally sets it to public.
With the city reeling, the family commits to volunteering every day to provide food to those directly affected. Bri is placed in a group with her father's new boss and Hayat, a Muslim boy that she thought was a popular showoff, but is quickly falling for. The micro aggressions from her father's boss, who is also the volunteer group leader elevate, and the more she learns about him and his connection with an alt right group, the more she writes about in her journal. By the time she realizes that it has all gone public, she decides based on the comments that she should keep it up, recruit more contributors, and get someone on board that is tech savvy.
Farah Rose lives in California with her mom. Even though she knows who her father is, she has never had a relationship with him. When her mom decides that this summer she should go to Boston to meet him and get away from the tensions following the DC attacks, she reluctantly agrees. With a passion for tech, Tommy, her father persuades her by registering her for an intro computer science college course and a chance to meet her siblings. Farah is nervous to leave her boyfriend, and worries about being a summer babysitter, but out of love to her mother, agrees to go. When she learns about the blog, she joins to help with the tech side.
Once in Boston she struggles to connect with her father and his wife, but is immediately drawn to the children. Her story provides some insight into the concept of privilege within black communities. Her father and his family are not Muslim, nor did they seem to know that she was. Presumably the only reason it even comes up is when they serve bacon at breakfast and she mentions she is Muslim and a pescaterian Farah meets a lesbian Muslim girl in her college class and learns that there has a been a hate crime and taken the life of her new friend's friend. Farah offers to help with the vigil and her commitment to the blog increases as hate crimes, and Islamophobes seem to be on the rise.
Zakat "Kat" seems to present the more "conservative" Muslim. She lives in an idyllic town and attends an all girls Islamic school. There is also an all boys Islamic school and they are big rivals of the public high school. Kat loves art and often takes art classes in the Islamic school with music pumping through the halls, unfortunately her parents don't want her majoring in art at school. They were the victims of predatory college loans and want her to be more pragmatic in her chose of school and direction of study. She is more sheltered and even has to go behind her parents' backs to be a part of You Truly Assumed. She shares her sketches and comics and art work and loves knowing that people are connecting with her work and messages.
When her quaint town becomes the victim of hate crimes, she has to decide if she is going to step up and use her voice, or blend in as she has always done. Zakat prays regularly, often at the gender neutral mosque behind a female identifying imam, wears hijab, and deals with jealousy as her best friend becomes friends with a girl who years earlier bullied Kat.
The three girls' stories intertwine as they become friends, share their own personal lives with one another, and thus the reader, and create a space to be seen and heard through the blog.
WHY I LIKE IT:
The book honestly reads sloppy. I don't know why it seems the growing trend is to not properly edit these Islamic OWN voice YA novels, but this is another book that indicates a troubling trend. I love that these voices are emerging, but it sadly feels that editors are nervous or afraid to question things and demand better. The book is so much telling and so little showing. I don't want to be told that the blog posts are powerful, and moving, I want to read them and feel moved. I don't want to read that you had to understand that you had to stop proving your religiosity to others and just live for yourself, I want to see the incidents and reflection that brought on that growth. I don't want to be told that you are becoming friends with the other two bloggers, I want to see that they understand you when no one else does. The whole premise of the book is to connect with the reader, but the emotion isn't in the pages, so there is nothing to connect with unfortunately. Saying there is a terrorist attack, saying that hate crimes are occurring, does not bring forth an investment to the story if details, context, and cathartic releases are not also included.
There are some basics errors. Wudu is described in the wrong order, Zakat talks of living in Georgia in a fictitious town, but the landmarks and colleges are all accurate until she mentions looking out over Lake Erie. I Google mapped it, there is no Lake Erie in Georgia (just the Great Lakes one on the Canada US border), it is only mentioned once, so presumably an oversight, not a fictitious landmark. There are some spelling errors and grammar errors as extra words enter a few sentences (3%), dinner replace the word diner. At one point it mentions the girls meeting on a Zoom call, and then the next line refers to it as a Skype call (54%). The plushness of the Georgia mosque is often commented on, but they have to put down their prayer rugs to pray, this is pre covid, so a little off.
The book contradicts itself at 11% saying that they can drive to North Carolina or New York for auditions, while the rest of the chapter is convincing Bri to volunteer because they cannot. One of the reasons Farah left California was because of the tensions, but Boston is closer to the place of the attacks and also a large diverse bustling city. When Farah is wanting to talk to Tommy and his wife about the vigil, she walks in to a room and comments on who is there, in the next line, it mentions that it isn't a good time to have the conversation since Jess is not there. Jess was just mentioned as being there and the conversation does end up taking place (84%). When Bri has a blow up with her dad's boss, Hayat is worried that she hasn't been delivering meals all week as a result, later in the chapter it mentions that the conversation happened yesterday (77%). When Bri introduces her friend to Hayat she doesn't mention that the two girls know his little sister very well, and it seemed unnecessarily awkward. Zakat stares off in to space and imagines a sketch and remarks that she has never shared a sketch before and it is something she wants to explore. This is 81% of the way in to the book, she has been sharing her sketches on the blog since she joined.
In terms of Islamic representation, Zakats mosque has one entrance and doesn't divide based on gender, there is a female imam, the steps of wudu are in the wrong order, the girls all seem to focus on their "islamic" necklaces or rings as if they are such an integral part of their faith. The girls never pause or hesitate to have boyfriends, kiss them, bring them around their Muslim family. Even Zakat who reads really naive and young and goes to an all girls Islamic school decides that a logical event is to have a mixed gender party with music and none of the parents have an issue. It is even held in a Muslim girl's basement. There are very few salams or mashaAllahs or inshaAllahs, or bismillahs in the book. There is music, dancing and dating. Not naive to say that Muslims don't participate in all these activities, but to not offer any pause, reflection, or clarification, in a book trying to show the life of some one who identifies as Muslim is a little puzzling. At the beginning it mentions that Black Muslims are "othered" in Islamic gatherings, and I really wish this thread would have been a larger part of the book. To see where the larger community is racist and lacking, to see where the engagements occur and where they fall short is a very unique lived experience that the book seemed to tease, but ultimately abandoned completely.
Plot points were not fully developed, a book of secrets was not built up or stressed and then became a huge issue without sufficient understanding as to why offered. The hate crime in Boston that took the life of a young black Muslim girl was also not given enough weight in the story, or how she helped organize the galvanizing vigil. The blog aspect was just not believable, so much happening by happenstance and then the material not being shown. Show us the comics, the sketches, the passages. Let us read the comments and show us your texts back and forth to see your friendship growing. I loved the parts about Bri and her dad's boss, about Farah's father's family and her interacting, the parts that mentioned Juneteenth and bean pie. I wanted more immersion in to these characters lives. To know their back stories and their struggles. I wanted to feel like I was seeing something that for too long has not been given the space to be authentic and real, but ultimately I finished the book just glad it was over and I no longer needed to exhaust myself trying to imagine the book that it could have been.
FLAGS:
Domestic terrorism, hate crimes, death. Relationships mentioned, straight and queer. Transgendered and ungendered masjids, female imams. Boyfriends both Muslim and non Muslim. Mixed parties, dancing, music, art with faces, lying, cursing.
TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:
I don't think there is enough content to discuss in a book club setting, neither to relate to nor open ones' eyes to, and the story without all that is just mediocre at best. I would like to discuss the book if any one has read it, if I am simply so ignorant of the Black Muslim female experience that I don't get the book, I am happy to learn and listen and change, inshaAllah.
SYNOPSIS:
Sabriya, Zakat, Farah: three Black female Muslim 17-year-olds in different parts of America, with different passions, different life experiences, and different dreams, take one alternating chapter at a time to tell their stories with occasional blog posts scattered between. A terrorist attack in the in the D.C. metro, lots of serendipitous technology events, and a need to find community and the girls come together to create a blog that gathers followers and haters alike in the summer before their senior year.
Sabriya "Bri" is a ballet dance, and often one of two black ballerinas in class. The book opens with her preparing for the summer intensive audition process when news of the nearby metro attack makes time stand still. Her mom cannot be reached, and multiple people are killed and many more injured. Bri and her younger sister Nuri identify like their father, as Muslim, but their mother is not. It doesn't seem to be much of an issue, except in that Bri's mother often cannot relate to experiences her daughter is going through. Bri asks Allah swt to keep her mom safe, but throughout the entirety of the book it does not mention her praying salat or actively showing she is Muslim aside from wearing an Allah swt necklace and her sorting through her desire to prove to others she is a Muslim versus eventually being content to be enough for her own self. She does at one point refuse to cook bacon, but she does have a love interest, and Islam reads more of a label to her, than a practiced way of life. Bri journals as a way to let off steam, and her younger sister Nuri encourages her to move to an app to blog. Reluctantly Bri agrees, after being reassured that she can keep it private, she names her journal/blog 'You Truly Assumed' and accidentally sets it to public.
With the city reeling, the family commits to volunteering every day to provide food to those directly affected. Bri is placed in a group with her father's new boss and Hayat, a Muslim boy that she thought was a popular showoff, but is quickly falling for. The micro aggressions from her father's boss, who is also the volunteer group leader elevate, and the more she learns about him and his connection with an alt right group, the more she writes about in her journal. By the time she realizes that it has all gone public, she decides based on the comments that she should keep it up, recruit more contributors, and get someone on board that is tech savvy.
Farah Rose lives in California with her mom. Even though she knows who her father is, she has never had a relationship with him. When her mom decides that this summer she should go to Boston to meet him and get away from the tensions following the DC attacks, she reluctantly agrees. With a passion for tech, Tommy, her father persuades her by registering her for an intro computer science college course and a chance to meet her siblings. Farah is nervous to leave her boyfriend, and worries about being a summer babysitter, but out of love to her mother, agrees to go. When she learns about the blog, she joins to help with the tech side.
Once in Boston she struggles to connect with her father and his wife, but is immediately drawn to the children. Her story provides some insight into the concept of privilege within black communities. Her father and his family are not Muslim, nor did they seem to know that she was. Presumably the only reason it even comes up is when they serve bacon at breakfast and she mentions she is Muslim and a pescaterian Farah meets a lesbian Muslim girl in her college class and learns that there has a been a hate crime and taken the life of her new friend's friend. Farah offers to help with the vigil and her commitment to the blog increases as hate crimes, and Islamophobes seem to be on the rise.
Zakat "Kat" seems to present the more "conservative" Muslim. She lives in an idyllic town and attends an all girls Islamic school. There is also an all boys Islamic school and they are big rivals of the public high school. Kat loves art and often takes art classes in the Islamic school with music pumping through the halls, unfortunately her parents don't want her majoring in art at school. They were the victims of predatory college loans and want her to be more pragmatic in her chose of school and direction of study. She is more sheltered and even has to go behind her parents' backs to be a part of You Truly Assumed. She shares her sketches and comics and art work and loves knowing that people are connecting with her work and messages.
When her quaint town becomes the victim of hate crimes, she has to decide if she is going to step up and use her voice, or blend in as she has always done. Zakat prays regularly, often at the gender neutral mosque behind a female identifying imam, wears hijab, and deals with jealousy as her best friend becomes friends with a girl who years earlier bullied Kat.
The three girls' stories intertwine as they become friends, share their own personal lives with one another, and thus the reader, and create a space to be seen and heard through the blog.
WHY I LIKE IT:
The book honestly reads sloppy. I don't know why it seems the growing trend is to not properly edit these Islamic OWN voice YA novels, but this is another book that indicates a troubling trend. I love that these voices are emerging, but it sadly feels that editors are nervous or afraid to question things and demand better. The book is so much telling and so little showing. I don't want to be told that the blog posts are powerful, and moving, I want to read them and feel moved. I don't want to read that you had to understand that you had to stop proving your religiosity to others and just live for yourself, I want to see the incidents and reflection that brought on that growth. I don't want to be told that you are becoming friends with the other two bloggers, I want to see that they understand you when no one else does. The whole premise of the book is to connect with the reader, but the emotion isn't in the pages, so there is nothing to connect with unfortunately. Saying there is a terrorist attack, saying that hate crimes are occurring, does not bring forth an investment to the story if details, context, and cathartic releases are not also included.
There are some basics errors. Wudu is described in the wrong order, Zakat talks of living in Georgia in a fictitious town, but the landmarks and colleges are all accurate until she mentions looking out over Lake Erie. I Google mapped it, there is no Lake Erie in Georgia (just the Great Lakes one on the Canada US border), it is only mentioned once, so presumably an oversight, not a fictitious landmark. There are some spelling errors and grammar errors as extra words enter a few sentences (3%), dinner replace the word diner. At one point it mentions the girls meeting on a Zoom call, and then the next line refers to it as a Skype call (54%). The plushness of the Georgia mosque is often commented on, but they have to put down their prayer rugs to pray, this is pre covid, so a little off.
The book contradicts itself at 11% saying that they can drive to North Carolina or New York for auditions, while the rest of the chapter is convincing Bri to volunteer because they cannot. One of the reasons Farah left California was because of the tensions, but Boston is closer to the place of the attacks and also a large diverse bustling city. When Farah is wanting to talk to Tommy and his wife about the vigil, she walks in to a room and comments on who is there, in the next line, it mentions that it isn't a good time to have the conversation since Jess is not there. Jess was just mentioned as being there and the conversation does end up taking place (84%). When Bri has a blow up with her dad's boss, Hayat is worried that she hasn't been delivering meals all week as a result, later in the chapter it mentions that the conversation happened yesterday (77%). When Bri introduces her friend to Hayat she doesn't mention that the two girls know his little sister very well, and it seemed unnecessarily awkward. Zakat stares off in to space and imagines a sketch and remarks that she has never shared a sketch before and it is something she wants to explore. This is 81% of the way in to the book, she has been sharing her sketches on the blog since she joined.
In terms of Islamic representation, Zakats mosque has one entrance and doesn't divide based on gender, there is a female imam, the steps of wudu are in the wrong order, the girls all seem to focus on their "islamic" necklaces or rings as if they are such an integral part of their faith. The girls never pause or hesitate to have boyfriends, kiss them, bring them around their Muslim family. Even Zakat who reads really naive and young and goes to an all girls Islamic school decides that a logical event is to have a mixed gender party with music and none of the parents have an issue. It is even held in a Muslim girl's basement. There are very few salams or mashaAllahs or inshaAllahs, or bismillahs in the book. There is music, dancing and dating. Not naive to say that Muslims don't participate in all these activities, but to not offer any pause, reflection, or clarification, in a book trying to show the life of some one who identifies as Muslim is a little puzzling. At the beginning it mentions that Black Muslims are "othered" in Islamic gatherings, and I really wish this thread would have been a larger part of the book. To see where the larger community is racist and lacking, to see where the engagements occur and where they fall short is a very unique lived experience that the book seemed to tease, but ultimately abandoned completely.
Plot points were not fully developed, a book of secrets was not built up or stressed and then became a huge issue without sufficient understanding as to why offered. The hate crime in Boston that took the life of a young black Muslim girl was also not given enough weight in the story, or how she helped organize the galvanizing vigil. The blog aspect was just not believable, so much happening by happenstance and then the material not being shown. Show us the comics, the sketches, the passages. Let us read the comments and show us your texts back and forth to see your friendship growing. I loved the parts about Bri and her dad's boss, about Farah's father's family and her interacting, the parts that mentioned Juneteenth and bean pie. I wanted more immersion in to these characters lives. To know their back stories and their struggles. I wanted to feel like I was seeing something that for too long has not been given the space to be authentic and real, but ultimately I finished the book just glad it was over and I no longer needed to exhaust myself trying to imagine the book that it could have been.
FLAGS:
Domestic terrorism, hate crimes, death. Relationships mentioned, straight and queer. Transgendered and ungendered masjids, female imams. Boyfriends both Muslim and non Muslim. Mixed parties, dancing, music, art with faces, lying, cursing.
TOOLS FOR LEADING THE DISCUSSION:
I don't think there is enough content to discuss in a book club setting, neither to relate to nor open ones' eyes to, and the story without all that is just mediocre at best. I would like to discuss the book if any one has read it, if I am simply so ignorant of the Black Muslim female experience that I don't get the book, I am happy to learn and listen and change, inshaAllah.
June 17, 2022
Important story and message but also I felt like I’ve read something like this before so I didn’t love it like I had hoped. Such a gorgeous cover tho😍
February 6, 2022
Initial Thoughts: I know I'm not the target audience for this book so that won't affect my overall experience. I did gain a lot of insight about the Black Muslim experience for sure. I did have a little bit of a hard time recalling the three different POVs and it sometimes felt a little choppy, especially because with 3 different POVs it meant having 3 separate plotlines that also had one overall plotline. However, the general story was really well done and I would definitely recommend this. Full thoughts to come.
Thank you to Inkyard for the copy. My review is unbiased and honest.
I can’t speak to the experiences in this book as a non Black Muslim, so I won’t be talking about that. I can say, however, that it was really insightful seeing these three unique Black Muslim experiences in this story.
I think the book did a really great job of creating this impactful and emotional story while also having some really great friendships and family relationships.
I loved the way the blog brought these three girls from all over the states together, even amidst some tragedy and struggles. It was great to see this friendship blossom!
There were a lot of quotes that really hit hard and a lot of instances where I could feel the emotion and passion. I would definitely recommend this for a story of power of a small action to start big change.
I do think that there were a lot of times throughout the book where I had a bit of a difficult time remembering which character was supposed to be doing what. While the three girls had distinct storylines, I felt like I wasn’t catching the changes in voice style, so I had to keep going back to remember who was supposed to be talking.
While I also did find the three separate stories really interesting, I felt like because of that, the larger story was put to the side and the story felt a bit choppy because it felt like too much was trying to happen. And because of the separate storylines, it felt like I didn’t get as much of an inside look into the friendship between the three girls as much as I’d have liked. The problem was that I wanted more and it felt like it was all being compressed into too short of a book to properly fill all the gaps.
Of course, I really did love the individual storylines. I loved how they each grew into their own. I especially loved Farah’s story as it was more family orientated and really heartwarming to see.
Thank you to Inkyard for the copy. My review is unbiased and honest.
I can’t speak to the experiences in this book as a non Black Muslim, so I won’t be talking about that. I can say, however, that it was really insightful seeing these three unique Black Muslim experiences in this story.
I think the book did a really great job of creating this impactful and emotional story while also having some really great friendships and family relationships.
I loved the way the blog brought these three girls from all over the states together, even amidst some tragedy and struggles. It was great to see this friendship blossom!
There were a lot of quotes that really hit hard and a lot of instances where I could feel the emotion and passion. I would definitely recommend this for a story of power of a small action to start big change.
I do think that there were a lot of times throughout the book where I had a bit of a difficult time remembering which character was supposed to be doing what. While the three girls had distinct storylines, I felt like I wasn’t catching the changes in voice style, so I had to keep going back to remember who was supposed to be talking.
While I also did find the three separate stories really interesting, I felt like because of that, the larger story was put to the side and the story felt a bit choppy because it felt like too much was trying to happen. And because of the separate storylines, it felt like I didn’t get as much of an inside look into the friendship between the three girls as much as I’d have liked. The problem was that I wanted more and it felt like it was all being compressed into too short of a book to properly fill all the gaps.
Of course, I really did love the individual storylines. I loved how they each grew into their own. I especially loved Farah’s story as it was more family orientated and really heartwarming to see.
January 7, 2022
my first arc!!!!
February 11, 2022
4.5 stars rounded up!
This was such a powerful book. This book follows three Black Muslim teenage girls (Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah) who come together to create an online safe space for other Muslims following a terrorist that spurred an onslaught of Islamophobic sentiment.
Honestly, the audio is the way to go for this one because you have three different narrators for the POVs that really allow the reader to get immersed into each of the girls’ mindsets.
I really loved the intersectionality that is addressed in this story. As a Black female, I could easily relate to the fears that they faced as Black women, but also seeing how their Muslim faith was integrated was eye opening for me.
While the events in this story do move quickly, at no point did I feel like this couldn’t be something that happens within a marginalized community.
This was a fantastic debut, and I can’t wait to see what else this author has to offer.
Thank you to Recorded Books for providing a review copy. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.
This was such a powerful book. This book follows three Black Muslim teenage girls (Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah) who come together to create an online safe space for other Muslims following a terrorist that spurred an onslaught of Islamophobic sentiment.
Honestly, the audio is the way to go for this one because you have three different narrators for the POVs that really allow the reader to get immersed into each of the girls’ mindsets.
I really loved the intersectionality that is addressed in this story. As a Black female, I could easily relate to the fears that they faced as Black women, but also seeing how their Muslim faith was integrated was eye opening for me.
While the events in this story do move quickly, at no point did I feel like this couldn’t be something that happens within a marginalized community.
This was a fantastic debut, and I can’t wait to see what else this author has to offer.
Thank you to Recorded Books for providing a review copy. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.
February 1, 2022
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
CWs: Islamophobia
"Was the terrorist Muslim?"
Like the characters in this book, it's the first question I ask when I hear news of an attack, followed by a silent prayer: please don't let them be Muslim. Please don't let me watch and hear people bashing the religion I love with renewed fervor. Please don't give right-wing politicians another reason to further restrict the rights and freedom of Muslims.
Please don't let there be more hate.
With this introduction, the author made the characters instantly relatable because I intimately understood their fear.
Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah live in different cities and under different circumstances. Sabriya's father is Muslim but her mother isn't. She's a dancer, she dates, and she wears a necklace with the name of Allah around her neck.
Zakat is a hijabi who often goes to the mosque, but her parents are very strict and don't easily give their daughter permission to step beyond what they consider safe. And even though Zakat could have been full-on rebellious, she loves and respects her parents even as she struggles to redefine the boundaries they've set for her.
Farah was raised by her Muslim mother. Her non-Muslim father left them when she was young, and has now invited her to spend a few weeks with him and his family. Even though she doesn't want to be away from her boyfriend this summer, especially since he will be leaving for college after, this might be a good way for her to see if a long distance relationship would work out.
Despite their differences, all three are united by the blog Sabriya inadvertently starts when she publishes her private journal, full of her anger at the Islamophobia after the attack. I really liked seeing their friendship, which was very solid despite what the official synopsis seems to imply. Rather than threaten to break them apart, when one of them is threatened, the other two show nothing but love and support. It was an amazing depiction of online friendship and how strong it can be, even if you've never met face to face.
I do think that the book needed some polish. None of the characters truly stand out, the writing is somewhat uneven, and the storylines are all tied up just a bit too neat for such a heavy topic. I also wanted more from their friendship than we ended up getting because the separate storylines never felt like they really came together. The three young women each deal with their own challenges on their own rather than uniting to solve them together. Yes, they offer each other encouragement and support, but that and working on the blog is where the collaboration ends.
The last thing that bothered me a bit was how they all used Western nicknames for the blog. We have three young Muslim women with beautiful, Arabic names, and they get condensed to Bri, Kat, and Rose. Yes, they should have used aliases, but making them so blatantly English rubbed me the wrong way.
I am happy this book exists, and I hope young, Black Muslim girls will feel represented by the characters here. I look forward to more books from this author.
CWs: Islamophobia
"Was the terrorist Muslim?"
Like the characters in this book, it's the first question I ask when I hear news of an attack, followed by a silent prayer: please don't let them be Muslim. Please don't let me watch and hear people bashing the religion I love with renewed fervor. Please don't give right-wing politicians another reason to further restrict the rights and freedom of Muslims.
Please don't let there be more hate.
With this introduction, the author made the characters instantly relatable because I intimately understood their fear.
Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah live in different cities and under different circumstances. Sabriya's father is Muslim but her mother isn't. She's a dancer, she dates, and she wears a necklace with the name of Allah around her neck.
Zakat is a hijabi who often goes to the mosque, but her parents are very strict and don't easily give their daughter permission to step beyond what they consider safe. And even though Zakat could have been full-on rebellious, she loves and respects her parents even as she struggles to redefine the boundaries they've set for her.
Farah was raised by her Muslim mother. Her non-Muslim father left them when she was young, and has now invited her to spend a few weeks with him and his family. Even though she doesn't want to be away from her boyfriend this summer, especially since he will be leaving for college after, this might be a good way for her to see if a long distance relationship would work out.
Despite their differences, all three are united by the blog Sabriya inadvertently starts when she publishes her private journal, full of her anger at the Islamophobia after the attack. I really liked seeing their friendship, which was very solid despite what the official synopsis seems to imply. Rather than threaten to break them apart, when one of them is threatened, the other two show nothing but love and support. It was an amazing depiction of online friendship and how strong it can be, even if you've never met face to face.
I do think that the book needed some polish. None of the characters truly stand out, the writing is somewhat uneven, and the storylines are all tied up just a bit too neat for such a heavy topic. I also wanted more from their friendship than we ended up getting because the separate storylines never felt like they really came together. The three young women each deal with their own challenges on their own rather than uniting to solve them together. Yes, they offer each other encouragement and support, but that and working on the blog is where the collaboration ends.
The last thing that bothered me a bit was how they all used Western nicknames for the blog. We have three young Muslim women with beautiful, Arabic names, and they get condensed to Bri, Kat, and Rose. Yes, they should have used aliases, but making them so blatantly English rubbed me the wrong way.
I am happy this book exists, and I hope young, Black Muslim girls will feel represented by the characters here. I look forward to more books from this author.
February 9, 2022
This book is a love letter to Black Muslim girls and it was just as good as I imagined it would be. I read it in one-sitting and it was such an emotional journey. (TW: racism, anti-Muslim hate, and online harassment).
The story follows three Black muslim girls after a terrorist attack near the place they live and the repercussions the latent islomophobia has on them.
I liked the way the story was told. Every chapter alternated between the girls’ point of views, always in the same order (Sabriya, Zakat and Farah), which helped the reader remember who they were and made the reading experience better. It was nice to have their unique point of views and see how the story brought them together. This was such a nice way of showing the diversity between three women who are similar because of the fact that they are Black women and muslim but emphasizing that even though it brings them together, they are not a monolith and each have obstacles to overcome. It was nice to read how they had their own challenges and things they wanted to figure out and I loved reading about their growth.
The writing style was so beautiful and I kept highlighting so many quotes such as this one:
The way this story was told captured the voices of these young women who were hurting and trying to make their voices heard. I loved how the author managed to capture their pain and their anger, their fears and their hopes and dreams. . The author didn’t shy away from the racism and islamophobia they had to go through and while this was a work of fiction, it echoed what so many Black muslim women go through. I also loved how the author focused on identity and how much being both muslim and Black affected the lives of this women; the racism within the muslim community and the ignorance from Non-Muslim Black people. Some aspects were so honestly captured that they made my blood boil and nearly brought me to tears. I felt as helpless, sad , hurt and disappointed as the characters but fortunately this book gave out a message of hope. The blog You Truly Assumed as well as the book were such wonderful ways of sharing this story. I loved how encouraging it was, how the girls and the story still chose joy and happiness; how much the emphasis on community both from their families or support system and their muslim community was. It was so beautiful to read about and an important reminder.
I also loved the subplots. Some parts were heavy at times and it was nice to have these girls being loved unconditionally for who they were and not what people wanted them to be. I also loved how artistic they were; Sabriya was a dancer and hearing her talk about the lack of diversity in the ballet world was so important. I also loved how well spoken she was and how she managed to convey her feelings so wonderfully into words. Zakat was an illustrator and I loved how she expressed herself through her drawings. I almost wish they were real so I could see them. Farah is a computer genius and I love how the author included that. Being a Black woman in computer engineering is hard especially because there’s a lack of diversity and putting these girls in these settings made me enjoy the book even more.
I also loved all the little details and cute moments they shared together and with their loved ones. From the knock-knock jokes to their siblings, to the heartfelt conversations. This book was nothing short of beautiful. Also the author’s note made me cry.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this eARC! All opinions stated are my won.
The story follows three Black muslim girls after a terrorist attack near the place they live and the repercussions the latent islomophobia has on them.
I liked the way the story was told. Every chapter alternated between the girls’ point of views, always in the same order (Sabriya, Zakat and Farah), which helped the reader remember who they were and made the reading experience better. It was nice to have their unique point of views and see how the story brought them together. This was such a nice way of showing the diversity between three women who are similar because of the fact that they are Black women and muslim but emphasizing that even though it brings them together, they are not a monolith and each have obstacles to overcome. It was nice to read how they had their own challenges and things they wanted to figure out and I loved reading about their growth.
The writing style was so beautiful and I kept highlighting so many quotes such as this one:
"Don't be afraid to bring your dream inside, like how plants are moved inside when it gets cold. Share it with those who you trust to prune it and water it when you don't think you can make it grow anymore. Don't be afraid to keep it away from those things that are weeds, even if ti means taking it away from the sunlight for a bit."
The way this story was told captured the voices of these young women who were hurting and trying to make their voices heard. I loved how the author managed to capture their pain and their anger, their fears and their hopes and dreams. . The author didn’t shy away from the racism and islamophobia they had to go through and while this was a work of fiction, it echoed what so many Black muslim women go through. I also loved how the author focused on identity and how much being both muslim and Black affected the lives of this women; the racism within the muslim community and the ignorance from Non-Muslim Black people. Some aspects were so honestly captured that they made my blood boil and nearly brought me to tears. I felt as helpless, sad , hurt and disappointed as the characters but fortunately this book gave out a message of hope. The blog You Truly Assumed as well as the book were such wonderful ways of sharing this story. I loved how encouraging it was, how the girls and the story still chose joy and happiness; how much the emphasis on community both from their families or support system and their muslim community was. It was so beautiful to read about and an important reminder.
I also loved the subplots. Some parts were heavy at times and it was nice to have these girls being loved unconditionally for who they were and not what people wanted them to be. I also loved how artistic they were; Sabriya was a dancer and hearing her talk about the lack of diversity in the ballet world was so important. I also loved how well spoken she was and how she managed to convey her feelings so wonderfully into words. Zakat was an illustrator and I loved how she expressed herself through her drawings. I almost wish they were real so I could see them. Farah is a computer genius and I love how the author included that. Being a Black woman in computer engineering is hard especially because there’s a lack of diversity and putting these girls in these settings made me enjoy the book even more.
I also loved all the little details and cute moments they shared together and with their loved ones. From the knock-knock jokes to their siblings, to the heartfelt conversations. This book was nothing short of beautiful. Also the author’s note made me cry.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this eARC! All opinions stated are my won.
February 4, 2022
Very important topic, but the pace and some of the characters was like watching a Lifetime movie with bad actors.
January 23, 2022
*I received an advanced reader's copy of this title from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. The subsequent review is absolutely my honest and truthful thoughts on the book I read.*
This book needs to be one of your most anticipated reads of this year, it is enthralling, enlightening, empowering and conversational.
A brilliant #ownvoices novel that explores the aftermath of a terrorist attack in DC & the sort of awful harm that can and does result from white fear.
In this story we follow Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah, three Black, Muslim teens on the verge of graduation and college applications, who on top of this must deal with numerous macro and microaggressions from others around them and with their blog, You Truly Assumed.
Sabriya's main storyline is she loves to dance, but has been told all her life she doesn't look the part, both outright and subtly. She must relent to volunteer work all summer to help families in the aftermath of the attack, where we have a lovely slow-burn plotline with the only other black teen in their volunteer committee who she previously assumed to be majorly annoying, her character growth is mainly learning how to stand up for herself and share her thoughts, understanding her perspective is important in a world that constantly tells her it isn't.
Zakat loves art, and wants to go to school for it, but her parents are protective and would rather see her closer for school, she grows up in a tight-knit Muslim community, however is one of very few Black members. She has to work with someone who was previously bigoted all summer and she struggles with trusting her instincts lest she have a confrontation, but her main character growth is to do with making decisions for her own well-being, putting herself out there, how to deal with confrontation.
Farah is a coding whiz and is in charge of blog layout. She has to stay with her absent father for the summer when he suddenly wants to reappear in her life, along with his brand new family. She and her boyfriend Riley are going to be apart when college begins, and she is convinced she has to break up with him now so it won't hurt so much later on. Her main character growth has to do with forgiveness, learning to trust and rely on others, and opening up her heart outside of her comfort bubble with her mom.
I was completely engaged and enthralled with the characters and the story the entire time I was reading. My emotions and anxiety spiked a few times reading, imagine living this reality every single day and not just reading about it, the experience ending once you put the book down .This is an amazing depiction of the experience most Muslims face in America and beyond. the added element of anti-blackness was just so disheartening, but so real. The intersectionality of two identities that don't seem to coincide with each other in most perceptions, yet many people make up these blends of ethnicities in the religion of Islam. To deal with racism as well as Islamophobia is unfortunately most Muslim peoples' experience. Everybody should read this book, for the reason alone that nobody should be ignorant to the behavior towards certain religious minorities perpetrated all of the time by hateful white people. Also, though loads of elements are very real, this story is fictional, and it's really delightful and easy to follow. I read right through it because I couldn't stand to put it down.
Lastly, I'll add a really lovely quote from the book that I really resonated with;
"It's gross that people get to have racist, Islamophobic, or homophobic or any of the other countless "phases" that get written off as them simply being children."
This book needs to be one of your most anticipated reads of this year, it is enthralling, enlightening, empowering and conversational.
A brilliant #ownvoices novel that explores the aftermath of a terrorist attack in DC & the sort of awful harm that can and does result from white fear.
In this story we follow Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah, three Black, Muslim teens on the verge of graduation and college applications, who on top of this must deal with numerous macro and microaggressions from others around them and with their blog, You Truly Assumed.
Sabriya's main storyline is she loves to dance, but has been told all her life she doesn't look the part, both outright and subtly. She must relent to volunteer work all summer to help families in the aftermath of the attack, where we have a lovely slow-burn plotline with the only other black teen in their volunteer committee who she previously assumed to be majorly annoying, her character growth is mainly learning how to stand up for herself and share her thoughts, understanding her perspective is important in a world that constantly tells her it isn't.
Zakat loves art, and wants to go to school for it, but her parents are protective and would rather see her closer for school, she grows up in a tight-knit Muslim community, however is one of very few Black members. She has to work with someone who was previously bigoted all summer and she struggles with trusting her instincts lest she have a confrontation, but her main character growth is to do with making decisions for her own well-being, putting herself out there, how to deal with confrontation.
Farah is a coding whiz and is in charge of blog layout. She has to stay with her absent father for the summer when he suddenly wants to reappear in her life, along with his brand new family. She and her boyfriend Riley are going to be apart when college begins, and she is convinced she has to break up with him now so it won't hurt so much later on. Her main character growth has to do with forgiveness, learning to trust and rely on others, and opening up her heart outside of her comfort bubble with her mom.
I was completely engaged and enthralled with the characters and the story the entire time I was reading. My emotions and anxiety spiked a few times reading, imagine living this reality every single day and not just reading about it, the experience ending once you put the book down .This is an amazing depiction of the experience most Muslims face in America and beyond. the added element of anti-blackness was just so disheartening, but so real. The intersectionality of two identities that don't seem to coincide with each other in most perceptions, yet many people make up these blends of ethnicities in the religion of Islam. To deal with racism as well as Islamophobia is unfortunately most Muslim peoples' experience. Everybody should read this book, for the reason alone that nobody should be ignorant to the behavior towards certain religious minorities perpetrated all of the time by hateful white people. Also, though loads of elements are very real, this story is fictional, and it's really delightful and easy to follow. I read right through it because I couldn't stand to put it down.
Lastly, I'll add a really lovely quote from the book that I really resonated with;
"It's gross that people get to have racist, Islamophobic, or homophobic or any of the other countless "phases" that get written off as them simply being children."
February 10, 2022
DNF @ 70% Bit of a let down if I'm being completely honest. I'm not in the mood for something like this rn, maybe time to for a quick mystery to get me out of the slump. I might be picking it up for a second go closer to publication date though :)
Edit:
(TW: racism, anti-Muslim discrimination, and cyber bullying.)
I gave it another shot and before I even got a full chapter in it was clear to me that this would be a good book and it was a me problem the last time I read it. The narrative follows three Black Muslim girls following a terrorist attack near their home and the effects that blatant Islamophobia on them.
I enjoyed how the story was told. Every chapter varied between the girls' points of view (Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah), always in the same sequence, which helped the reader recall who they were and enhanced the reading experience. It was interesting to hear their different perspectives and witness how the attack brought them together.
This was such a wonderful way of highlighting the diversity of three women who are similar because they are Black Muslims facing similar but varying bouts of stigma and issues. It was interesting to read about how they each had their own struggles and things they wanted to figure out before connecting, and I enjoyed reading about their development. Overall, this was a magnificent story that I connected with through the representation and through a few of the problems the girls have to deal with because those problems, unlike the characters are not fictional.
Edit:
(TW: racism, anti-Muslim discrimination, and cyber bullying.)
I gave it another shot and before I even got a full chapter in it was clear to me that this would be a good book and it was a me problem the last time I read it. The narrative follows three Black Muslim girls following a terrorist attack near their home and the effects that blatant Islamophobia on them.
I enjoyed how the story was told. Every chapter varied between the girls' points of view (Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah), always in the same sequence, which helped the reader recall who they were and enhanced the reading experience. It was interesting to hear their different perspectives and witness how the attack brought them together.
This was such a wonderful way of highlighting the diversity of three women who are similar because they are Black Muslims facing similar but varying bouts of stigma and issues. It was interesting to read about how they each had their own struggles and things they wanted to figure out before connecting, and I enjoyed reading about their development. Overall, this was a magnificent story that I connected with through the representation and through a few of the problems the girls have to deal with because those problems, unlike the characters are not fictional.
April 2, 2023
4.5/5
rep - young black muslim women main characters (incl. hijabi black muslim, and black muslim woman w interfaith family)
tw - terrorist attack, islamophobia
i loved this book !
following a terrorist attack, a young black muslim woman starts a blog called You Truly Assumed. o e thing leading to another YTA will be run by a group of 3 young black muslim women, each with a different background and location.
we follow all 3 of them in their life, shaken up by the previous events, personal lives, and blog creation.
we get to learn about and see sabriya, zakat, and farah and get attached to them. they all have significant and meaningful development throughout the book. i did not feel like one of them had a lesser importance than another.
highly recommend!
rep - young black muslim women main characters (incl. hijabi black muslim, and black muslim woman w interfaith family)
tw - terrorist attack, islamophobia
i loved this book !
following a terrorist attack, a young black muslim woman starts a blog called You Truly Assumed. o e thing leading to another YTA will be run by a group of 3 young black muslim women, each with a different background and location.
we follow all 3 of them in their life, shaken up by the previous events, personal lives, and blog creation.
we get to learn about and see sabriya, zakat, and farah and get attached to them. they all have significant and meaningful development throughout the book. i did not feel like one of them had a lesser importance than another.
highly recommend!
December 4, 2022
4✰
i’m obsessed with this cover!!
for a debut book, you truly assumed was entertaining as well as informative! the characters were enjoyable to read about plus we get black muslim women rep!!
if you’re interested in learning more about the black muslim community, i highly suggest this book! ✧˖°
➪ spice rating: 0/5
➪ age rating: 12+
i’m obsessed with this cover!!
for a debut book, you truly assumed was entertaining as well as informative! the characters were enjoyable to read about plus we get black muslim women rep!!
if you’re interested in learning more about the black muslim community, i highly suggest this book! ✧˖°
➪ spice rating: 0/5
➪ age rating: 12+
September 21, 2021
You Truly Assumed is an incredible and brave piece of literature that looks at not only identity, racism , and islamophobia but also the importance of family, forming meaningful connections and why no one should ever fight for the right to exist. It was a book filled with passion and I could say that it meant a lot to the author.
First of al, the reason I wanted to badly read YTA was that my country went through a very bad period of anti Muslim hate back in 2019 due to Easter Sunday Bombings and I saw so many of my Muslim friends suffer through it. I wanted to know what they felt and I took this book as a learning opportunity.
But I was glad and also sad to realize that I could easily relate to our three teen protagonists' struggle with racism. I didn't need to be Muslim for that . I just needed to be a human being who has experienced racism and micro aggressions for being a minority in my country.
We follow Zakat, Sabriya , and Farah, three Black Muslim Young Women, who are struggling to fit into their hyphenated identities and how they come together to start a blog called You Truly Assumed to create a safe space for other young Muslim women of color after a surge in Muslim hate due terrorist attack where the terrorist is automatically assumed to be Muslim.
While you come in for the blog, you stay for the girls' stories. Laila Sabreen accurately shows that there is no one way to be Muslim or that Islam is not a monolith because, despite sharing a common identity as Black Muslim Young Women, all of the three girls engage with their blackness and faith in a different manner. Their lives are incredibly complex and there's a strong emphasis on family, friendships, and community throughout the book. I think it was incredibly important to show books where teens have supportive parents and relationships instead of the usual broken family stereotype because most of the teens do have supportive parents and it shows the importance of reaching out for help when necessary.
I'm incredibly happy that Laila Sabreen remembers being a teen and wrote teens as real people, and not as stupid caricatures of the complex people they are. For that alone, the author deserves an applause. She was also able to accurately depict the fear, rage and helplessness that you feel as a person when people commit casual acts of racism against you and your community because of their assumptions. YTA centered the recipients of the abuse rather than the perpetrators of the violence which is very necessary because lives of POC are not redemption arcs of racists.
More than that, I wanted to respond to each of those blog posts because I felt how it was like "to be unseen and unheard., to constantly having to put yourself in a box to fit some criteria, to live on the crossroads of identity. I only wish that the prose had been a little more ornate since the simplicity of the prose couldn't sometimes carry through the weight of the themes discussed.
Long story short, I loved how thought provoking the book was and I know that the author will get alot of heat for the representation and while I, as a non Black, non Muslim person, can't personally speak for the rep, I don't think its fair to expect the Sabreen to represent all the Black and Muslim girls in the world in her single book. The only person such a personal book can and should accurately represent is her lived in experience as a Black Muslim young woman and she had done that incredibly.
All the wishes to the author and thank you Netgalley for the E-ARC
First of al, the reason I wanted to badly read YTA was that my country went through a very bad period of anti Muslim hate back in 2019 due to Easter Sunday Bombings and I saw so many of my Muslim friends suffer through it. I wanted to know what they felt and I took this book as a learning opportunity.
But I was glad and also sad to realize that I could easily relate to our three teen protagonists' struggle with racism. I didn't need to be Muslim for that . I just needed to be a human being who has experienced racism and micro aggressions for being a minority in my country.
We follow Zakat, Sabriya , and Farah, three Black Muslim Young Women, who are struggling to fit into their hyphenated identities and how they come together to start a blog called You Truly Assumed to create a safe space for other young Muslim women of color after a surge in Muslim hate due terrorist attack where the terrorist is automatically assumed to be Muslim.
While you come in for the blog, you stay for the girls' stories. Laila Sabreen accurately shows that there is no one way to be Muslim or that Islam is not a monolith because, despite sharing a common identity as Black Muslim Young Women, all of the three girls engage with their blackness and faith in a different manner. Their lives are incredibly complex and there's a strong emphasis on family, friendships, and community throughout the book. I think it was incredibly important to show books where teens have supportive parents and relationships instead of the usual broken family stereotype because most of the teens do have supportive parents and it shows the importance of reaching out for help when necessary.
I'm incredibly happy that Laila Sabreen remembers being a teen and wrote teens as real people, and not as stupid caricatures of the complex people they are. For that alone, the author deserves an applause. She was also able to accurately depict the fear, rage and helplessness that you feel as a person when people commit casual acts of racism against you and your community because of their assumptions. YTA centered the recipients of the abuse rather than the perpetrators of the violence which is very necessary because lives of POC are not redemption arcs of racists.
More than that, I wanted to respond to each of those blog posts because I felt how it was like "to be unseen and unheard., to constantly having to put yourself in a box to fit some criteria, to live on the crossroads of identity. I only wish that the prose had been a little more ornate since the simplicity of the prose couldn't sometimes carry through the weight of the themes discussed.
Long story short, I loved how thought provoking the book was and I know that the author will get alot of heat for the representation and while I, as a non Black, non Muslim person, can't personally speak for the rep, I don't think its fair to expect the Sabreen to represent all the Black and Muslim girls in the world in her single book. The only person such a personal book can and should accurately represent is her lived in experience as a Black Muslim young woman and she had done that incredibly.
All the wishes to the author and thank you Netgalley for the E-ARC
Read
February 6, 2022This is a really great book about standing up for yourself and others and the fear that comes along with that but also the validation when people relate to your experience. It's about finding communities where you feel safe and valued and leaning on those communities in times of pain.
I'm going to start my interview by saying that I was able to listen to an advanced audiobook copy and from what I've read in other reviews I want to mention that I think the narrators brought this book to life. I've read a lot of reviews where people say that the characters were two-dimensional but I had the opposite experience. They use three different narrators for the book and I was actually really impressed with how each of the MC's felt fully fleshed out and like a complete person despite this book being split into three POVs. It is a feat to have a multi POV book and have each of your POVs be complete and complex. The narrators did a fantastic job and I was constantly engaged.
So this book follows three Black Muslim teenagers and different areas of the US. Sabriya starts a blog called You Truly Assumed where she talks about her experience as a Black Muslim after a terrorist attack. Zakat and Farah join the blog and the three of them become fast friends. I kind of love this book highlighting that online friendships can be just as fulfilling and motivating and full of love. There was never any moments of them thinking that their online friendship was less than a in person friendship.
So basically You Truly Assumed gains some traction and in return also ends up having some islamophobic bigots trying to take them down. Each girl deals with this in a different way and each girl has different life experiences happening at the same time. Sabriya is volunteering to help families of the terrorist attack will also navigating some new romantic feelings for a boy. Zakat is spending the summer with her best friend and an unexpected old acquaintance who had been bigoted in the past. She is dealing with islamophobic and racist vandalism in her city and personal attacks. Farah is navigating how she and her boyfriend can do long distance and ends up going to spend a month with her semi absent father and his family. There's just a lot of things happening but it didn't get muddled in my opinion.
I do think it got a little bit predictable at times and things cleared out a little too easily but as a whole I think this was a stellar book and one that I would recommend. This is a debut and the author is like only 21 and so I am impressed. I'll definitely be checking out her future work.
I'm going to start my interview by saying that I was able to listen to an advanced audiobook copy and from what I've read in other reviews I want to mention that I think the narrators brought this book to life. I've read a lot of reviews where people say that the characters were two-dimensional but I had the opposite experience. They use three different narrators for the book and I was actually really impressed with how each of the MC's felt fully fleshed out and like a complete person despite this book being split into three POVs. It is a feat to have a multi POV book and have each of your POVs be complete and complex. The narrators did a fantastic job and I was constantly engaged.
So this book follows three Black Muslim teenagers and different areas of the US. Sabriya starts a blog called You Truly Assumed where she talks about her experience as a Black Muslim after a terrorist attack. Zakat and Farah join the blog and the three of them become fast friends. I kind of love this book highlighting that online friendships can be just as fulfilling and motivating and full of love. There was never any moments of them thinking that their online friendship was less than a in person friendship.
So basically You Truly Assumed gains some traction and in return also ends up having some islamophobic bigots trying to take them down. Each girl deals with this in a different way and each girl has different life experiences happening at the same time. Sabriya is volunteering to help families of the terrorist attack will also navigating some new romantic feelings for a boy. Zakat is spending the summer with her best friend and an unexpected old acquaintance who had been bigoted in the past. She is dealing with islamophobic and racist vandalism in her city and personal attacks. Farah is navigating how she and her boyfriend can do long distance and ends up going to spend a month with her semi absent father and his family. There's just a lot of things happening but it didn't get muddled in my opinion.
I do think it got a little bit predictable at times and things cleared out a little too easily but as a whole I think this was a stellar book and one that I would recommend. This is a debut and the author is like only 21 and so I am impressed. I'll definitely be checking out her future work.
March 22, 2022
rep: Black Muslim MCs
trigger and content warnings: racism, anti-Muslim hate, online harassment
sabriya’s summer was disrupted after a terrorist attack near her home. when the subsequent Islamophobia grows, her grand ballet plans has to be set aside. to cope with her fears in the aftermath of the terrorist attack, she unintentionally started a public blog that attracted attention–both positive and negative. joining her are zakat and farah. bri’s thoughts and worries resonated with them, and with their own strengths, they contributed by co-blogging you truly assumed. bri’s the one with words, kat with her art, and farah uplifts the design of the blog.
throughout the whole book, the trio slowly developed a subscriber base with Muslims all over the country reading, commenting, and liking their posts. they felt the same as bri, kat, and farah. not knowing what the future holds for people like themselves, the fear that their community is berated and blamed for something that one person did. as you truly assumed grew more popular, they received really racist and Islamophobic comments. it scared them, worried about being doxxed, and targeted by those aggressors.
overall, the book has such strong characters. while dealing with the Islamophobia, the three girls are struggling with their own problems. they have conversations about being young Black Muslim women. their fight to stay strong despite the wave of racism that goes their way.
trigger and content warnings: racism, anti-Muslim hate, online harassment
sabriya’s summer was disrupted after a terrorist attack near her home. when the subsequent Islamophobia grows, her grand ballet plans has to be set aside. to cope with her fears in the aftermath of the terrorist attack, she unintentionally started a public blog that attracted attention–both positive and negative. joining her are zakat and farah. bri’s thoughts and worries resonated with them, and with their own strengths, they contributed by co-blogging you truly assumed. bri’s the one with words, kat with her art, and farah uplifts the design of the blog.
It’s scary that names can speak for someone before they’re given the chance to even open their mouth. Names can decide between who lives and dies. Between who can live in peace and who has to live in fear. Between those who can tell their own story and those whose stories are assumed before they can even pick up a pen.
throughout the whole book, the trio slowly developed a subscriber base with Muslims all over the country reading, commenting, and liking their posts. they felt the same as bri, kat, and farah. not knowing what the future holds for people like themselves, the fear that their community is berated and blamed for something that one person did. as you truly assumed grew more popular, they received really racist and Islamophobic comments. it scared them, worried about being doxxed, and targeted by those aggressors.
overall, the book has such strong characters. while dealing with the Islamophobia, the three girls are struggling with their own problems. they have conversations about being young Black Muslim women. their fight to stay strong despite the wave of racism that goes their way.
February 9, 2022
This is an important YA contemporary about modern activism, dealing with hate, being a Black Muslim woman, and just empowering yourself and those around you. It was such a wholesome story, too, the friendships at its core a highlight for me. All three protagonists were really individually fleshed out with their own motivations and struggles, and I enjoyed reading from all of their perspectives.
I did feel like this book was a bit too much tell not show, with certain relationships popping out of nowhere, like a father or imam being suddenly a major support for a character. I really like the different forms of support the characters had, but they often needed more development for me. Also, I feel like the book often said "the blog and the friendship it has created means the world to these characters" but it wasn't totally believable because we didn't see enough of the blog and the main friendship.
Nonetheless, I still found myself smiling at the ways our three main characters connected virtually and found a safe space in each other, and that is huge to me. I love when a book can make me smile so naturally like this book did, because it was empowering and powerful to read as a teen who does a form of activism. With Covid, too, I've worked in multiple teams virtually and it was cool to read about teens texting each other to find times to have video meetings and overall just healthy, thoughtful communication.
I would recommend this to anyone looking to gain insight on a Black Muslim woman's experience, anyone who loves supportive friendships and families, and anyone who is interested in contemporary activism.
I can't speak to the representation as I'm not a Black Muslim woman, so I encourage reading reviews by Black Muslim women.
I did feel like this book was a bit too much tell not show, with certain relationships popping out of nowhere, like a father or imam being suddenly a major support for a character. I really like the different forms of support the characters had, but they often needed more development for me. Also, I feel like the book often said "the blog and the friendship it has created means the world to these characters" but it wasn't totally believable because we didn't see enough of the blog and the main friendship.
Nonetheless, I still found myself smiling at the ways our three main characters connected virtually and found a safe space in each other, and that is huge to me. I love when a book can make me smile so naturally like this book did, because it was empowering and powerful to read as a teen who does a form of activism. With Covid, too, I've worked in multiple teams virtually and it was cool to read about teens texting each other to find times to have video meetings and overall just healthy, thoughtful communication.
I would recommend this to anyone looking to gain insight on a Black Muslim woman's experience, anyone who loves supportive friendships and families, and anyone who is interested in contemporary activism.
I can't speak to the representation as I'm not a Black Muslim woman, so I encourage reading reviews by Black Muslim women.
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