Reviews

The Things I Would Tell You: British Muslim Women Write by Sabrina Mahfouz

dianacantread's review

4.0

Favorite selections from Kamila Shamsie, Imtiaz Dharker, Nafeesa Hamid, Ahdaf Soueif, Leila Aboulela, and Sarbina Mahfouz. Everything else is pretty peak, too.

4/5 stars

readtotheend's review

3.0

I think this is an important collection of work and these are definitely voices we need to hear. However, I think this particular collection was a bit scattered in focus.. Of course, it's such a broad category - British Muslim women and there is a diverse representation of voices and types of writing but I found it a bit too random, besides the thread of British Muslim women. I mostly picked it up became Kamila Shamsie has a work in there and her writing is outstanding. It was the strongest piece in this collection, for me. I also loved This Body is Woman by Nafeesa Hamid and related mostly to My Other Half by Samira Shackle. Blood and Broken Bodies by Shaista Aziz was really powerful..

pardonmywritings's review

5.0

Reading The Things I Would Tell You was like coming home and knowing that you're safe. That you're understood. Finally. A collection of stories, plays, poetry and commentaries, British women of colour lay their voice on the frustrating and tiresome image of the 'Muslim woman'. From Islamic Tinder to a grandmother who was a former prostitute, I loved that the book included literary heavy weights like Leila Aboulela as well as first time published Nafeesa Hamid and a 14 year old student from a local school near me.
~
Some of my highlights:
- Kamila Shamsie's 'The Girl Next Door' on talk show maulanas forcing a caller to divorce his wife.
- Shaista Aziz's 'Blood and Broken Bodies' is a cry for help for Pakistani brothers and dads to look at themselves and not God when they honour kill.
- Azra Tabassum 'Brown Girl and other poems' is everything I wanted to hear growing up.

faayza's review

4.0

A book where I felt both very seen and also very aware of my privilege in life. An amazing collection of stories/poems/drama by muslim British women (living in Britain but of so many various backgrounds) all put together perfectly in this one collection

zzz_reads's review

5.0

A big fat Thank you to Sabrina Mahfouz for bringing this compiling this book and bringing it to us. A million hugs and thank you's to each and every writer in here. You go,Girls!

silvianotsylvia's review

3.0

A book that demanded to be written and voices demanding to be heard. The issues of identity, Muslim identity and womanhood are as relevant as ever in today's Britain. I appreciated the effort, but I felt the selection lacked equilibrium. I understood why the editor choose variety, but it felt like a bit too much, and some pieces shone way more than others.

user_sobriquet's review

3.0

I really enjoyed The Girl Next Door, Islamic Tinder, Over my Dead Body, Stand by me (probably my favorite), Staying Alive, Take Me There, Last Assignment, Belongings, and My Other Half. Some of the other writings did not resonate with me. And it was difficult to switch from one genre to the next. But I am grateful to have been introduced to these diverse authors and I'll keep a lookout for longer works from my favorite ones.

encharro's review

3.0

I read this book because Emma Watson told me to (via Our Shared Shelf). My first impression was that I probably didn't understand as much of it, especially the poetry, in no small part because I don't have as much cultural knowledge. And that's okay. I liked being confronted by that. There's a good mix of fiction/non-fiction. Poetry vs prose. British locale vs foreign locale. The role of religion was varied throughout as well. By that I mean for the majority of the stories, faith/religion are crucial; the story/poem wouldn't function the same if the character/author weren't Muslim. For some pieces it was more universal and the fact that the author identifies as Muslim is irrelevant to the writing. Obviously I had favorite pieces within the book but the collection as a whole is strong. There was only 1 dud for me but I won't name it here. Each piece is quite short so you could easily dip in and out of the book.

elllliedin's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

incredibly insightful and every essay, short story, poem & play was so beautifully written.

oumeima_intobooks's review

4.0

I started reading this collection with no expectations as this is my first time coming across British muslim writers let alone female writers. Overall, I enjoyed quite few stories and poems while others were just okay. Surprisingly, I loved some of the poems which says a lot as I don't usually like contemporary poetry. I was also very inspired by the different experiences of these women as well as the young age of some of them (14 and 15 years old highschool girls ♥)