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A review by balto_hon
If I Tell You the Truth by Jasmin Kaur
5.0
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book.
I appreciate those times when I simply cannot put a book down and when I reach the end of the book, I wish I knew what happened next in the lives of the characters. This book provided that experience.
This is the story of family, both biological and chosen. The plot spans 20 years in the lives of a Punjabi mother who relocates to Canada, pregnant as the result of an act of violence. She spends years undocumented while her daughter grows up keeping secrets. The daughter questions the lack of extended family and her parentage: is it better to know, even if one is the result of rape, or is it better to live in ignorance?
The mother and daughter make a new family in Canada, one comprised of a college friend and her mother. Their presence in the story shows the lengths that women often go to support and protect one another. It also shows that speaking out can lead to questions and catharsis at the same time.
The format of the story itself is the shining star. Told in a mixture of prose, verse, and text message screenshots (cracked screens and all), the lyricism sings. There were chapters that simply left me breathless such as “Joti Told Me”: “that love was a heavier anchor/than the currents that tried/to force us apart.” The verse lacks punctuation and capitalization in the vein of e.e. cummings but packs an emotional punch like Elizabeth Acevedo.
I appreciate those times when I simply cannot put a book down and when I reach the end of the book, I wish I knew what happened next in the lives of the characters. This book provided that experience.
This is the story of family, both biological and chosen. The plot spans 20 years in the lives of a Punjabi mother who relocates to Canada, pregnant as the result of an act of violence. She spends years undocumented while her daughter grows up keeping secrets. The daughter questions the lack of extended family and her parentage: is it better to know, even if one is the result of rape, or is it better to live in ignorance?
The mother and daughter make a new family in Canada, one comprised of a college friend and her mother. Their presence in the story shows the lengths that women often go to support and protect one another. It also shows that speaking out can lead to questions and catharsis at the same time.
The format of the story itself is the shining star. Told in a mixture of prose, verse, and text message screenshots (cracked screens and all), the lyricism sings. There were chapters that simply left me breathless such as “Joti Told Me”: “that love was a heavier anchor/than the currents that tried/to force us apart.” The verse lacks punctuation and capitalization in the vein of e.e. cummings but packs an emotional punch like Elizabeth Acevedo.