Reviews

Unashamed: Musings of a Fat, Black Muslim by Leah Vernon

brittbrittcarter's review against another edition

slow-paced

3.0

k_aldrich's review

3.0

An interesting read for sure. It simultaneously seems to follow a linear timeline while focusing on specific stories. Leah Vernon gets vulnerable in this book as she explains what it means to her to be fat, black, and Muslim.

bookishballard's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring fast-paced

5.0

 When I say I devoured this book, I mean I finished it in like..three hours. I've followed @lvernon2000 for awhile because of her ferocious fat acceptance stance, as well as her being a proud Muslim woman (I'm constantly learning about other religions and/or cultures- especially ones I'm lacking exposure to). Vernon has written something so crushingly vulnerable and beautiful that I was legitimately stunned after a few of the essays. This is one of those collections that makes you fully aware of how much work the individual put into themselves, and how beautifully the outcome has been. Not that there's any saccharine sweetness or unrealistic happy endings here, Vernon is brutally honest about the challenges she's still having to navigate, but overall, I get the vibe that she is a much stronger woman than her previous selves.
I guess it mainly felt like a lil piece of proof that alllll the hard work you put in on making yourself your best self, and saying fuck off to all those who would hold you down, DOES pay off.
[Picture ID: the cover of Leah Vernon's book "Unashamed: Musings of a Fat, Black Muslim" is laying on a background of green fuzzy blanket] 

emma103's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

3.5

melanie_page's review

1.0

I almost put Unashamed down and called it a day. “Unashamed” it says on the cover, but the book is overflowing with personal insults and deep body shame. At one point, I skimmed several pages, noting Vernon had chosen to pick apart her entire body, using horrible language at every chance. Even when she starts modeling, she refers to her body in degrading ways, attaching curse words and body parts. Is it possible to troll yourself? This is supposed to be the “unashamed” part of the book, the part in which Vernon writes that she started to not care what other people think, but she doesn’t know when that happened. It was gradual, she writes. I see almost no evidence.

Originally reviewed on Grab the Lapels.

lmblanchard's review against another edition

3.0

A little classy and a little brassy - Leah Vernon holds nothing back.

ercm's review against another edition

4.0

2020 Read Harder - Read a memoir by someone from a religious tradition (or lack of religious tradition) that is not your own

megabooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny informative reflective

3.5

ejoyce's review against another edition

emotional funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.25

emilyinherhead's review

4.0

Leah Vernon is not someone I knew of before picking up this memoir, but I immediately fell in love with her and her voice. Growing up was not easy for her, but despite a mostly absent and occasionally outright cruel father, an emotionally distant and unstable mother, a fat body that didn't fit the societal standard of the model she wanted to be, and a religious identity that has continually brought distrust and animosity from other people, Vernon has ultimately thrived. She has carved out a space for herself and others like her in the fashion and blogging worlds, and she is helping to change the mainstream idea of what is considered beautiful, fashionable, and fierce. I really enjoyed getting to know her through reading about her life thus far, and I'll be looking forward to more from her in the future!

(Read Harder challenge #12: A memoir by someone from a religious tradition, or lack thereof, that is not your own)