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A review by bookishbena
When We Were Sisters by Fatimah Asghar
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-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
If They Come For Us is one of my favorite collections of poetry, so I had high expectations for Asghar's debut novel. When We Were Sisters definitely lived up to all of them and went beyond.
This book is definitely not written in traditional prose. Going beyond just being lyrical, Asghar plays around with the visuals of the text with space, form, and punctuation. It's like her poetry in that sense, and also in the cadence of the words.
We follow Kausar's life through struggles with gender, family, and selfhood. Asghar wrote the grief and growth of a young orphan so beautifully. The story was heartwrenching, especially the short "him" and "her" sections.
It took me way too long to finally pick this book up. This and their poetry collection have made me forever need anything Fatimah Asghar has ever written. 5 stars.
This book is definitely not written in traditional prose. Going beyond just being lyrical, Asghar plays around with the visuals of the text with space, form, and punctuation. It's like her poetry in that sense, and also in the cadence of the words.
We follow Kausar's life through struggles with gender, family, and selfhood. Asghar wrote the grief and growth of a young orphan so beautifully. The story was heartwrenching, especially the short "him" and "her" sections.
It took me way too long to finally pick this book up. This and their poetry collection have made me forever need anything Fatimah Asghar has ever written. 5 stars.