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1siobhan's review
3.0
I read this book as part of the OurSharedShelf bookclub. Although the topic was really interesting, I wasn't entirely happy with this book.
"The Things I Would Tell You" combines drama, poetry, essays, fiction and spoken word pieces, all under the topic of "British Muslim Women Write". Some parts of the book were excellent, other parts of the book I could not understand / connect with enough. However, the overall topic was very interesting, offered genuine insight into the lives and struggles of British Muslim Women and gave them a platform to not only show that they are excellent writers but also show how racism affects their everyday lives.
One of the best and saddest pieces was written by Aisha Mirza and was called "Staying Alive Through Brexit. Racism, Mental Health and Emotional Labour": "The music is good, the weather is good, I look good in the photos, my friends are nice and I am the most comfortably gay I have ever been. This hsould be a good or at least average day but I realise I am uncomfortable. [...] As I leave, an intuitive friend asks me how I feel about Brexit. On a quiet corner I cry and gasp and try not to piss myself. Brexit. I have never felt so far from home." (170-171)
3 Stars.
"The Things I Would Tell You" combines drama, poetry, essays, fiction and spoken word pieces, all under the topic of "British Muslim Women Write". Some parts of the book were excellent, other parts of the book I could not understand / connect with enough. However, the overall topic was very interesting, offered genuine insight into the lives and struggles of British Muslim Women and gave them a platform to not only show that they are excellent writers but also show how racism affects their everyday lives.
One of the best and saddest pieces was written by Aisha Mirza and was called "Staying Alive Through Brexit. Racism, Mental Health and Emotional Labour": "The music is good, the weather is good, I look good in the photos, my friends are nice and I am the most comfortably gay I have ever been. This hsould be a good or at least average day but I realise I am uncomfortable. [...] As I leave, an intuitive friend asks me how I feel about Brexit. On a quiet corner I cry and gasp and try not to piss myself. Brexit. I have never felt so far from home." (170-171)
3 Stars.
shortstack930's review
4.0
Powerful and important stories that need to be heard. The only thing I had trouble with was the constant jump between genres.
nikikalyvides's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
angharad's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
stephaniekane's review against another edition
4.0
While it's very difficult to rate an anthology, I found this collection of writing by British Muslim women to overall by very enjoyable! I find that I hardly ever read books by Arab and/or Muslim writers, and I found this anthology to be a great introduction to so many writers I probably would not have encountered otherwise.
Curated by Sabrina Mahfouz (whose short play also appears in the book), the book brings together an incredibly diverse array of writers who all identify as British, Muslim, and woman, although under those umbrella terms there are women who were born and raised in the UK, those who immigrated there, and those who have since left, women who are practicing Muslims and those who are barely involved in the culture, and although it is unknown to me whether any of the authors identify as trans or nonbinary, at least one of the writers openly discusses her queerness. Additionally, the writers come from or are descended from those who came from countries all over the the Middle East and North Africa, including Pakistan, Algeria, Yemen, Iraq, and the Palestine territories.
In addition to the diversity of the authors included, their styles vary greatly. The collection includes short stories, essays, poetry, and plays. I have to say the poetry and the plays were my favorite to read (duh), but I also loved the short stories that featured elements of magical realism or mysticism. I didn't love most of the essays, especially the ones that were just super political, but enjoyed the ones that were based more in personal experiences.
Curated by Sabrina Mahfouz (whose short play also appears in the book), the book brings together an incredibly diverse array of writers who all identify as British, Muslim, and woman, although under those umbrella terms there are women who were born and raised in the UK, those who immigrated there, and those who have since left, women who are practicing Muslims and those who are barely involved in the culture, and although it is unknown to me whether any of the authors identify as trans or nonbinary, at least one of the writers openly discusses her queerness. Additionally, the writers come from or are descended from those who came from countries all over the the Middle East and North Africa, including Pakistan, Algeria, Yemen, Iraq, and the Palestine territories.
In addition to the diversity of the authors included, their styles vary greatly. The collection includes short stories, essays, poetry, and plays. I have to say the poetry and the plays were my favorite to read (duh), but I also loved the short stories that featured elements of magical realism or mysticism. I didn't love most of the essays, especially the ones that were just super political, but enjoyed the ones that were based more in personal experiences.
balladofreadingqueer's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.0
What I remember most about this book is the essay on ‘Muslim tinder’
ranabanana's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful collection of poems and short stories. I think there was only one story I didn’t particularly like but everything else was so well-written. Think it hit very close to home for me particularly as it was so refreshing for me to read about characters that were very relatable and understandable (not something I can always find as books don’t always include Muslim or Middle Eastern perspectives). Definite 5/5 for me.
zararah's review against another edition
4.0
I love that this exists, and wanted to really, really love it as a book - in reality though, I found it a little hard to get into given how much the stories/essays/poems in the book jump around between non-fiction, fiction, personal essays, etc. I really appreciated that just 'being Muslim' wasn't a huge part of many of these books (which would've felt a little tokenising/on the nose)- instead, the themes covered were much broader, and created space that I rarely see in other places. Generally, really appreciate that this anthology is out there, even though it wasn't my favourite!