gauri's Reviews > You Truly Assumed

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!