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nataliecoyne's review
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Solid 3.25 stars. That being said (and before I get into why), I think this would be a great book for teens to read (you know, the typical target audience for YA). From the fact that it focuses on the Black Muslim experience (which is very underrepresented) to the power of young people using their voices for good (and the power of friendship and all), it has great lessons.
But, I'm not a teen. I'm 27, and so this book just didn't hit the spot for me. That's fine, like I said the typical target audience for YA is teenagers. I'm an adult who knowingly picked up a YA book, but the reason I did was because there are a lot of YA books I do like and the plot seemed interesting (plus, again, the representation of such an underrepresented community). Unfortunately, the overarching plot didn't seem really that strong, and that it was more mini-plots and some slices of life of the three teenage main characters.
What made that worse is that, while I found Sabriya's story to be very compelling and Zakat's to be somewhat compelling, I couldn't really get into Farah's story. Yes, again, I appreciate her strong sense of justice and using her voice, but the things with her dad, siblings, boyfriend, computer science, etc., well, it just lost me. That's also why I only find Zakat's story somewhat compelling, as the stuff about deciding on colleges, whether she will stay in-state or go out-of-state, just lost me. These are probably very relatable for teenagers, but it just made this not the book for me.
An actual critique I have, though, is that this book was a bit outdated for the fact it was only published in 2022. I do love reading acknowledgments so I see the author mentioned starting this book in 2017, and that's probably why, but I think it should've undergone another round of editing to make sure it still stood up to when it was published. The references to Trump's Muslim ban, and the fact there were questions about if the characters ever used Zoom before (and one of the characters hadn't), made it seem outdated. Post-2020 (and, again, this book was published in 2022), Americans who have never used Zoom are the overwhelming minority.
That's all I really have to say. I recommend it for teenagers. But I wouldn't necessarily recommend this for those of us who are adults, even those of us who do enjoy a lot of YA.
As a final observation, I did begin to wonder about three-quarters of the way through if Sabriya was somewhat of a self-insert for the author. This isn't a critique per se, Sabriya's story was the most compelling to me (as I previously mentioned), but the fact both are from DC and the character's name (Sabriya) resembles the author's last name (Sabreen) made me very curious about this.
But, I'm not a teen. I'm 27, and so this book just didn't hit the spot for me. That's fine, like I said the typical target audience for YA is teenagers. I'm an adult who knowingly picked up a YA book, but the reason I did was because there are a lot of YA books I do like and the plot seemed interesting (plus, again, the representation of such an underrepresented community). Unfortunately, the overarching plot didn't seem really that strong, and that it was more mini-plots and some slices of life of the three teenage main characters.
What made that worse is that, while I found Sabriya's story to be very compelling and Zakat's to be somewhat compelling, I couldn't really get into Farah's story. Yes, again, I appreciate her strong sense of justice and using her voice, but the things with her dad, siblings, boyfriend, computer science, etc., well, it just lost me. That's also why I only find Zakat's story somewhat compelling, as the stuff about deciding on colleges, whether she will stay in-state or go out-of-state, just lost me. These are probably very relatable for teenagers, but it just made this not the book for me.
An actual critique I have, though, is that this book was a bit outdated for the fact it was only published in 2022. I do love reading acknowledgments so I see the author mentioned starting this book in 2017, and that's probably why, but I think it should've undergone another round of editing to make sure it still stood up to when it was published. The references to Trump's Muslim ban, and the fact there were questions about if the characters ever used Zoom before (and one of the characters hadn't), made it seem outdated. Post-2020 (and, again, this book was published in 2022), Americans who have never used Zoom are the overwhelming minority.
That's all I really have to say. I recommend it for teenagers. But I wouldn't necessarily recommend this for those of us who are adults, even those of us who do enjoy a lot of YA.
As a final observation, I did begin to wonder about three-quarters of the way through if Sabriya was somewhat of a self-insert for the author. This isn't a critique per se, Sabriya's story was the most compelling to me (as I previously mentioned), but the fact both are from DC and the character's name (Sabriya) resembles the author's last name (Sabreen) made me very curious about this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Racism, Violence, and Islamophobia
Moderate: Racial slurs, Police brutality, Religious bigotry, and Stalking
Minor: Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, and Xenophobia
rainbow_colored_glasses's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
~ This audiobook was provided by NetGalley in exchange of an honest review ~
You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen is a YA book that deals with heavy topics such as islamophobia, racism, anxiety and cyber hate. It's about finding people like you, somewhere where you can see yourself in, a community. Three black muslim seniors in high school and the last year before everything changes. But things changes faster than they expected.
❇ Three point of views with different narrators each;
❇ This book deals with really especific but extremely realistic and relatable situations such as:
- Being the (one of the) only black girl(s) in a certain place and be mistaken for them
-Having your family invalidate what you want to work (art, history, etc) and wanting you to do a 'more realistic' kind of job
❇ the thing where people have a racist/homophobic phase and then years later change but not knowing how people where hurt because of them and wanting to just brush it off!!!!!!;
❇ the side romance in the right dose; annoying-guy-I-know to friends to lovers and of course slow burn!!!! AND one of the protagonists already are in a relationship so there's this kind of second chance romance too??;
❇Not to mention, the love not only in a romantical way, familial love and friendship are a central point of this book;
❇ different familly backgrounds;
❇ development of the main characters AND the side characters;
❇ ONE. ONLY. thing I didn't like: strangely enough there weren't as many scenes with the three of them as I'd like.
❇ Quotes:
"Sadness fades fast because I'm no longer capable of being truly shocked. The only. residue? left behind is anger, quietly shimmering because if it boils and spills out of me, I'm afraid of what would happen."
"You truly assumed that the world would heal and stay healed while spinning constantly. A spinning driven parts by half-truths and rumors that gets *rikken*(idk what is the real word) as facts"
"Reading is the definition of adventure in my mind, who knows what worlds those readers are going to get sucked into? And who knows who they'll be after they turn the final page? Reading is its own form of magic"
"I know what is like to feel unseen and unheard, to read books or watch shows and not see yourself represented or to see yourself misrepresented in them."
"Everyone deserves to see themselves represented as the protagonist"
"You don't have to prove anyone right and you don't have to prove anyone wrong, you only have to be you for you."
"It was good to hear you laugh" My traitor's heart flutters.
"I have to keep speaking so that when other young muslins womem come after me and they speak, their voices don't only echo in isolation, but their voices and their words move mountains, create waterfalls, mend hearts and makes this world closer to what it can be"
"I'm not perfect but I'm growing and right now that's enough"
You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen is a YA book that deals with heavy topics such as islamophobia, racism, anxiety and cyber hate. It's about finding people like you, somewhere where you can see yourself in, a community. Three black muslim seniors in high school and the last year before everything changes. But things changes faster than they expected.
❇ Three point of views with different narrators each;
❇ This book deals with really especific but extremely realistic and relatable situations such as:
- Being the (one of the) only black girl(s) in a certain place and be mistaken for them
-Having your family invalidate what you want to work (art, history, etc) and wanting you to do a 'more realistic' kind of job
❇ the thing where people have a racist/homophobic phase and then years later change but not knowing how people where hurt because of them and wanting to just brush it off!!!!!!;
❇ the side romance in the right dose; annoying-guy-I-know to friends to lovers and of course slow burn!!!! AND one of the protagonists already are in a relationship so there's this kind of second chance romance too??;
❇Not to mention, the love not only in a romantical way, familial love and friendship are a central point of this book;
❇ different familly backgrounds;
❇ development of the main characters AND the side characters;
❇ ONE. ONLY. thing I didn't like: strangely enough there weren't as many scenes with the three of them as I'd like.
❇ Quotes:
"Sadness fades fast because I'm no longer capable of being truly shocked. The only. residue? left behind is anger, quietly shimmering because if it boils and spills out of me, I'm afraid of what would happen."
"You truly assumed that the world would heal and stay healed while spinning constantly. A spinning driven parts by half-truths and rumors that gets *rikken*(idk what is the real word) as facts"
"Reading is the definition of adventure in my mind, who knows what worlds those readers are going to get sucked into? And who knows who they'll be after they turn the final page? Reading is its own form of magic"
"I know what is like to feel unseen and unheard, to read books or watch shows and not see yourself represented or to see yourself misrepresented in them."
"Everyone deserves to see themselves represented as the protagonist"
"You don't have to prove anyone right and you don't have to prove anyone wrong, you only have to be you for you."
"It was good to hear you laugh" My traitor's heart flutters.
"I have to keep speaking so that when other young muslins womem come after me and they speak, their voices don't only echo in isolation, but their voices and their words move mountains, create waterfalls, mend hearts and makes this world closer to what it can be"
"I'm not perfect but I'm growing and right now that's enough"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Islamophobia
Moderate: Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism