Hi everyone! Today I'm super excited to talk to you all about a YA book that I recently read that was so powerful and so meaningful- a book that touched my heart- You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen.
Thank you to Qamar Blog Tours for allowing me to participate in this book tour. I received an ARC via Net Galley.
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Publication Date: February 8th, 2022
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Cover illustration: Alex Cabal
Cover design: Gigi Lau
Synopsis:
Dear White People meets Love, Hate, and Other Filters in this powerful, thought-provoking Own-Voices debut novel about three Black Muslim girls who create a space where they can shatter assumptions and share truths the country doesn’t see.
In this compelling and thought-provoking debut novel, after a terrorist attack rocks the country and anti-Islamic sentiment stir, three Black Muslim girls create a space where they can shatter assumptions and share truths.
Sabriya has her whole summer planned out in color-coded glory, but those plans go out the window after a terrorist attack near her home. When the terrorist is assumed to be Muslim and Islamophobia grows, Sabriya turns to her online journal for comfort. You Truly Assumed was never meant to be anything more than an outlet, but the blog goes viral as fellow Muslim teens around the country flock to it and finds solace and a sense of community.
Soon two more teens, Zakat and Farah, join Bri to run You Truly Assumed and the three quickly form a strong friendship. But as the blog’s popularity grows, so do the pushback and hateful comments. When one of them is threatened, the search to find out who is behind it all begins, and their friendship is put to the test when all three must decide whether to shut down the blog and lose what they’ve worked for…or take a stand and risk everything to make their voices heard.
"you truly assumed that the world would heal and stay healed constantly while spinning constantly."
" I’m black and Muslim and a young woman. Have you all ever felt like this before? Feeling like you have to separate your different identities to fit a particular space? ”
Review
You Truly Assumed made me feel close to its characters in ways that I didn't imagine. It had so, so many aspects that hit the soot in my heart just right. It was not just the representation, which I, as a south Asian Muslim content creator, thought was incredible.
But it was other facets of the characters as well, most of all their love for their respective art forms.
We have three main characters, Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah.
Sabriya is a dancer, and she is getting ready to pursue it properly. But she's also a writer by hobby and she is someone who takes risks by expressing her opinions and standing up for her community- and that was inspiring as well as motivating. Even if it was not 10,000 readers at first, she's making a difference.
Then there's Farah, who is a passionate artist, and Zakat, whose field is computer science.
I would be honest and say that this isn't the story I would put in the "fun, adorable, read" category, just because I think that it carries a lot of meaning as more than just a book I read. It talks about so many important topics that are first-hand so close, so noteworthy and powerful and relatable to me and so many others.
There's always some or the other controversy or issue going on in my country or the world about Islamophobia and racism that this kind of story will never just be a passing trend or ever fail to impact and connect to its readers.
It's not only a story to relate to, but to learn from. It shows its readers that there can be more than one interpretation of religion and people can live in harmony despite that.
It breaks so many stereotypes about Islam and I loved that about it.
I don't want to completely ignore the fact that more anything, it stresses on the identity of being a black Muslim. Even if I'm not a person from that community, I appreciate everything I understood and discovered about them. I love how the author made me empathize with not just their religious identities, but their personality as a person.
The side characters were also certainly well written and there were also quite a few cute couple moments that I loved.
Overall, I highly enjoyed reading this book I think it's a very important story and it was told very well.
Author’s Information:
Laila Sabreen is a writer of young adult contemporary. Raised in the Washington, DC area, she currently attends Emory University and majors in English and Sociology. Her love of writing began as a love of reading when she fell in love with the Angelina Ballerina series. When she isn’t writing, she can be found working on essays, creating playlists that are way too long, and watching This Is Us.
Time to Chat!
Thank you for reading! I'd love to know your thoughts. What's a book that you read that made you feel closest to it's characters?
Until next time,
Bye!
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