Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

We Have Always Been Here by Samra Habib

19 reviews

parsa's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Islamophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Self harm, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Homophobia

garynoplastie's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Emotional abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Incest, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Blood, Car accident, and Suicidal thoughts

kelly_e's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

Title: We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir
Author: Samra Habib
Genre: Memoir
Rating: 4.0
Pub Date: June 4, 2019

T H R E E • W O R D S

Fierce • Redemptive• Insightful

📖 S Y N O P S I S
We Have Always Been Here details Samra's own personal experiences growing up in Pakistan where she faced regular threats from extremists; immigrating to Canada only to be faced with bullying, racism, poverty and an arranged marriage; and finding herself. An exploration of the intersections of sexuality, religion, and race.

💭 T H O U G H T S

In an effort to read more Canadian content, exploring Canada Reads picks from years past seemed like a good starting point, and I was not disappointed with the Canada Reads 2020 winner We Have Always Been Here. Samra's memoir is beautifully written, oftentimes down right raw and deeply personal, and yet also inviting. It reads somewhat like a diary, offering a sense of connection (despite quite different upbringings and circumstances), which is what I love most in a memoir. Exploring themes and intersectionalities of identity and the need for safe spaces for self-exploration and the power of chosen family this memoir is both beautiful and heartbreaking.

I will say the first two thirds are considerably stronger than the remaining third, and yet her talent is evident.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• memoir lovers
• readers who enjoyed The Death of Vivek Oji

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Maybe home was simply any place where you felt seen and welcome." 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Homophobia, Islamophobia, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Incest, and Pedophilia

moodreaderlesbian's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Sexual assault, and Bullying

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

Minor: Infertility

surelyinthefountain's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring medium-paced

3.75

Enjoyed! Felt the pacing start to drag a little in the last third of the book, but overall, very positive feelings about this book. Learned a lot. The prose is very journalistic and not super "literary", just as an FYI; whether you're into that or not is up to your preference, I guess.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Islamophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and Bullying

Minor: Pedophilia and Self harm

dania_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

4.5

It feels weird to rate a memoir. This book was such a personal story but it resonated with me since I have so much in common with the author. So many things made me tear up - her description of the ESL lessons she had as a first generation immigrant child reminded me of my own experience with them. Her feelings of both wanting and fearing becoming westernised reminded me of how I lost so much of my own mother tongue too. Something that really struck me is her strong conviction and hope to represent queer muslims as multifaceted - our stories are so often used for trauma porn, but she writes with so much hope and shows that there are so many of us, that we have loving and strong connections to each other, and that we've always been here and will not go easily. 

I 100% recommend this book, no matter your identity or knowledge of the LGBT+ community or Islam. If you relate to Samra's identity, you will see a lot of yourself in this; if you don't, you'll learn many new and brilliant and sometimes sad things.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Islamophobia, Incest, and Bullying

nikolas_fox's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.0

"Dedicating your life to understanding yourself can be its own form of protest, especially when the world tells you that you don't exist."

This book was really great. I don't read a lot of memoirs, but I am so glad I picked this one up. Samra's unapologetic queerness in combination with her Muslim identity was amazing to read about. So many people say that queer Muslims don't exist and like the title says 'We have always been here' just because you don't see something doesn't mean it's not there.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

annaminunlukea's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Islamophobia, Racism, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, and Sexism

Minor: Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt

the_literarylinguist's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Islamophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Bullying

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness