Cover Image: I Am Yours

I Am Yours

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Member Reviews

“Tell the truth or someone will tell it for you”

This is what I think of while reading this book. It’s a memoir of Reema Zaman, organized from Birth to adulthood. I don’t read a lot of non-fiction, but I’m really glad I had the opportunity to experience this memoir. She writes about her childhood, relationships with her parents, career, and more importantly – her relationship with the word “LOVE”. Reading abuot her life made me stop and think back to her college days – women’s studies, being opinionated to becoming more observant, and going through the emotional changes in my 20s.

I wish she had explained more about her cultural challenges in life. She gives us an introduction to it in each phase of life. I was drawn to it more so because of my Southeast Asian heritage and how liberal her family was. At the end of the day, it’s her story and her view, I find it hard to judge someone’s memoir.

The book is well organized in ACT – which correlates perfectly with her theater background. It makes the memoir into a play, and makes you think of Shakespeare’s concept of everyone being an actor in this play of life. It’s also organized by age, helping you feel and understand the change we go through from innocence to adulthood.

This book is a strong voice for anyone that has struggled with being different and finding a path.

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This is a heart warming and loving memoir and I thoroughly enjoyed and recommend it.
If I ever wrote into a diary it would be one like this.
From a young Bangladesh girl into a grown woman and all it entails.

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I Am Yours is unlike any memoir I’ve read. It’s written as a love letter to her inner voice, an outpouring of love and acceptance. Reema Zaman has taken back her voice from those who wished to silence it, writing for all of us whom have ever felt invisible. This book is intrinsically female, and that is its overwhelming beauty and its strength. Zaman takes the reader from her childhood through an path littered with men who sought to own her, diminish her, and wound her, and then brings us out into the light of reclaiming herself, her voice, and her power. Laced through it all is the reflective, wiser narrator, putting the events of her life in context of the greater feminine experience. In this way, Zaman makes the personal universal.

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I Am Yours is a wild ride from page 1. Zaman's experience growing up as an average-looking Bengali girl where she stood out no matter what in Oahu and Bangkok gave her the strength and tenacity to endure the chaos of becoming a working actor and model in New York while juggling difficult romantic relationships, anorexia, and a desire to make an impact on this wold. This book is that impact. It's clear the author draws inspiration from writers like Elizabeth Gilbert and Glennon Doyle and her memoir could easily stand amongst those ranks. Absolutely recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Amberjack Publishing for a reader's copy.

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The writing is nice, and it's an interesting read. The stories at each age, the relationships. I just dont feel like this book is for me. It does appear to be a culture that I am unfamiliar with. Parenting is hard so i can understand part of where the parents are coming from in the beginning.

I almost feel like there was some low confidence with being overweight and its a real thing people are hard on themselves about in general.
I liked the quote "mai pan rai" (nevermind, just go with the flow).

There is a mentioned here and there of an eating disorder, anorexia.

I don't like how her uncomfortable feeling with a male cousin is brushed off by her father like "boys will be boys". No sir, responsibility, its a thing. Not cool with that attitude.


There is other things that liked and disliked that i cant think of but i would give it a 3/5 stars.


Thanks for giving me the chance to try this book and i hope others love it.

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This book is not for me, however I’m sure it will be an enjoyable read for many people. If you love words, and are a lover of prose that jumps out and grabs you, than this book is for you. The author has a wonderful way of expressing her views and experiences. I received this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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I didn't know that this was a memoir when I requested it from Netgalley and I'm so glad that I didn't because I normally don't read that genre very often. It wouldn't have been my first choice and then I would have missed out on this absolute gem of a book. That said, addressing some of the negative reviews of the novel, this is a memoir of HER life. She doesn't have to be representative of anything other than herself, or explain why she made any of her decisions because it's HER life. That's literally what a memoir is. I'll never understand picking someone apart for their beauty simply because they are beautiful. That doesn't make her any less deserving of compassion for the struggles that she's encountered in this life. Her DNA strand was put together in a particular way. How is she responsible for that? Pfst. Anyway. Back to the book. Her writing is absolutely gorgeous. It's lyrical, it's poetic, and it brings her story to life in a way that I've seen few authors accomplish. Her story in and of itself almost fell by the wayside sometimes because I got lost in the music of her writing. The subtle way she made changes in her life, to bring herself back to life and to heal from some of the traumas that she endured was more convincing to me than some of the so called *self help* books that I've read because I read them, and I don't identify with them. I don't see myself in them. I read about people that have come back from addiction, and they have these great life changing epiphanies, and I think, I struggled with alcohol for years, where was my epiphany? There wasn't one. Reema didn't struggle with alcohol but her healing was a subtle shift too, and I identified with that more than some of the addiction memoirs that I've read. There was one passage in particular that was stunningly beautiful: "Wounds tally. Addictions anesthetize the pain. We try to stitch while moving. But life's racing pace continually tears open old scars and mangles the new ones. Mending-while-enduring is well meant but ultimately futile, the sutures never tight enough to hold."

That paragraph stopped me in my tracks. It reached out to me and tapped on my heart and brought me to tears. I fought for years with alcohol, trying to do as she said. Stitch while mending. And like her, it didn't work. The wounds always tore back open. And like her, there came a time when I had to stop. I had to take stock and over a period of time, had a subtle shift in my life where I was able to truly heal. I guess this book isn't for everyone. But if you're a lover of words, a lover of prose that leaps off the page like music, a woman finding her voice, this book is for you.

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Memoirs are so hard to review. Their authors expose themselves on the page and my impulse is to clap and cheer and wish them well. So let me start by clapping, cheering, and wishing Ms. Zaman well!

But a brave and eventful life does not guarantee a good book, and what I am evaluating here is the book, not the life.

This book is addressed throughout to "my love." We learn that this is both the voice in Ms. Zaman's head, and her since-childhood imaginary friend. I found this jarring. And much of the language throughout is inflected with Bangladeshi idiom in a way that must be an editorial choice, but that I found unnecessary and distracting. For example, "a toddler hasn't concept of patience." In taking a look at other works of this author on the web, there's no hint of this affectation.

The author also seems a bit too close in time to the events she recounts to do them justice. For example, a theme running through this work is her use of her appearance and sexuality to get her jobs and attention. She seems both repelled and committed to her stiletto heels, cocktail dresses, and even her anorexia.

I suspect that I am not the intended audience for this book, and that it may be more appreciated by other readers.

With thanks to NetGalley and AmberJack Publishing for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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This is a really captivating read that speaks to women/girls of all ages. I would definitely recommend this to be read by high school female students.

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The beauty of memoirs is that they give you an insight into an author’s experiences, struggles and life changing moments. Reema’s childhood is one where she sees what conforming does to the voice of her loved ones.

"I search myself for hunger only to realize I haven’t the kind that can be sated with a meal. Still, I should join them."

She also struggles with control and the strong desire to be heard, respected and most of all- to have her word taken as first of all her truth and also law like she’s seeing in the lives of the women she encounters.

“It’s just how it is. The sentiment I hate the most after that’s not allowed.”

I love the prose of this book. It’s divided in different sections that Reema calls ACTS and each brings to light different stages of her coming to terms with who she is, what she wants and most of all, why and how she wants it. Anyone who has ever been silenced or yearned to be heard would answer this book’s call, perhaps the greatest question and sorrow is that even after all these years/ movements/ milestones and policies women are still fighting to be heard.

Thank you Netgalley for the eARC and since we live in a world of ratings my verdict would be 4-stars!

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I am a bit baffled by the description of this book versus the content. It is clearly a memoir, as it depicts the author's life from her literal birth up until the decision to write said book. It seems to be a lot of platitudes from someone who has a very privileged background. I feel for the author's trauma and struggles, but I do not understand how this is translated into the description of a women's revolution and freeing our voices. I was also taken aback by the fat-shaming, and discussions of eating disorders which seem very flippant and not addressed in a healthy manner.

I worry that readers will not find many things to relate to Zaman in her life's story, as she describes herself as a beautiful, popular, and intelligent person who people seem to fall in love with constantly. She continuously asks the reader to remember her as a chubby, lonely, and acne prone 15 year old as to try to make us feel amazed by her now gorgeous looks, which lend to her model and acting careers. However, who has not felt this way at 15? Instead, there are few of us who have the opportunities she has had in her life. Her descriptions of working with under privileged children also left a bad taste in my mouth, and added nothing to her overall thesis; instead coming off looking as a savior in her eyes (especially in the chapter about her working at a Thai orphanage).

I appreciate the sentiment of wanting to be the voice for those who don't have one, but I was not convinced as to why Zaman is the one to have this honor. She says throughout she was searching for a certain book her entire life, coming to realize that said book is the one that she needed to write. Unfortunately, I think this book is also only meant for her as well.

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