Trisha is a fighter. She practices Muay Thai kickboxing. She is of Trinidadian descent, and she lives with her mother in Toronto. Her dad comes to visit from Trinidad, and is killed when she accidentally hits him with her car. However, she suspects that there is more to his death. She throws herself into her fighting to distract her from her suspicions about her father’s death and her mother’s new boyfriend.

This was such an original story. There were unexpected twists. There was also lots of tension when it came to Trisha’s kickboxing. She went through a lot of pain and suffering, both mentally and physically, which was difficult to read at times.

I loved that this book was set in my hometown of Toronto. I could imagine where Trisha lived and the things she would do in the city, like taking the subway to her kickboxing class. I had friends when I was growing up who were from Trinidad, so Tricia reminded me of them.

This is a great story!

Thank you Penguin Random House Canada for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A huge thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of Fight Like a Girl in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and not influenced by anyone.

I was drawn to this book by its cover. I wanted to know what the colour, the emotion and the girl’s face represented and the reasoning behind it. The description of the book just made me want to read it even more.

It’s never been easy for Trisha, a Trinidadian Muay Thai kickbox fighter. Her father would come and go to their townhouse in east Toronto, leaving punches on Trisha’s mother. Then one night, he stumbles in front of a car. A car Trisha was driving. Her father is killed and her mother is unbothered. Trisha doesn’t know what happened that night, but her mother has a new man in her life and Trisha is afraid it might happen again.

The story started off immediately and kept me intrigued from the beginning. Fight Like a Girl was riveting! I was hooked and wanted to know what would happen next. It’s one of those books where you think you know something but then you realize there were pieces missing, and still, you don’t have the whole picture. The novel had a sense of mystery to it. I also loved how the author, Sheena Kamal, incorporated Muay Thai kickboxing into it and gave it an importance to the story and Trisha’s life.

I’ve read multiple books that are based around or talk about dysfunctional families and they look at a few of the same aspects but they all are unique and hit differently. In Fight Like a Girl, these topics were well-delivered by the way the author had it impact Trisha. It’s always heartbreaking to read about toxic families and the suffering that comes with it.

Trisha was an interesting character to read about. She is a strong female protagonist that this novel needed. I was never really annoyed by her in this story, although there were moments where I wish she wouldn’t act a particle way towards her friends. However, I did get angry at how other characters treated her. She’s determined, she won’t let anything or anyone get in the way of her competing in fights, observant and clever, she knew there was something off about that night and it didn’t add up, so stating digging into it. And most importantly, she kept fighting. I’m not saying she was perfect, far from it, but what even is perfect, anyway? There are things she could have done better but I wouldn’t hold anything against her because we all cope with things in different ways. The ending was a bit painful because I was hoping a different turn to her life, and I want to what happens to Trisha next.

Sheena Kamal wrote this novel amazingly and did not hold back when playing with my emotions. Even when there was a moment of achievement and celebration, there were still sad undertones in the story that never lets you be happy to your fullest. If that makes sense? It added to the impact of the words. Sheena Kamal has written several novels before this one but this is the first one I’ve read, now I will be checking out more about those books.

I definitely recommend this book! You should get your hands on this book as soon as possible because Fight Like a Girl deserves a chance. Overall, I give this novel 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.

A debut YA novel set in Toronto, Sheena Kamal's main protagonist is Trisha, an 18-year-old of Trinidadian descent living in the east end of Toronto with her mother. Trisha is a determined Muay Thai kickboxer who longs for that big win in the ring and acceptance into the business management program at Ryerson. But when her father dies, Trisha is concerned with the behavior of her mother and her neighbors and she begins to wonder if she really knows everything about her family.

I was left with some mixed feelings at the end of this book. The author dabbles in both the thriller and paranormal which were both intriguing but lacked a little bit of polish in executing them into the storyline. Trisha is given a love interest at the gym but it seemed ill-placed and more of a distraction from the other parts of the plot. I wavered between a 2 and 3-star rating while writing my review before deciding that the main protagonist, Trisha was compelling enough to weigh in on the latter.


Goodreads review 06/03/20
Expected Publication 10/03/20

I found this book very difficult to like. I really wanted too... I loved the cultural history of it and Trisha was such a badass character... but nobody was really likeable. Not Trisha, not her trio of smothering females and nobody at the gym that she fought with. I felt like the book tried to be about the strong female warriors out there and instead I found myself lost in a book about a drowning child who nobody rescues.

Fight Like A Girl by Sheena Kamal is a story that I was excited to read. The idea of strong girls fighting back is one that we need more of, and Sheena mostly delivers.

The best thing this book has going for it is that it’s a quick read, but honestly, I felt let down by the time I finished it. The closure for the characters, especially Trisha, just wasn’t there for me. The book, marketed as a thriller, also feels a bit too shallow to really thrill.

My biggest problem with the book, and that almost got me to stop reading, was the writing style. I can get behind a more casual voice, but honestly, Trisha interrupts herself mid- thought so many times that it got a little exhausting, and at times it really pulls me out of the moment.

*I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley*

I was really looking forward to reading this book - I couldn't pass up the idea of reading about a strong, young woman of color, who is a badass Muay Thai fighter.

There were definitely some interesting concepts in this book, like when Trisha questions what leads her mom to tolerating domestic abuse, when she's such a strong, independent woman when her dad isn't around. Or when she has her first sexual intercourse and it isn't amazing at all, just.. meh. Which is the reality of so many young girls out there. Who also don't know what orgasms feel like - because they're not educated about them. I also appreciated the part where one of her teachers wants her to write a book report about a book based on mythical concepts from Trinidad, instead of writing about the classic book pick, like her other classmates. I feel like her teacher meant to spark her interest and read more about her "culture". I know that POC or often thought of as "foreign", even though they're born and raison in Canada, like Trisha. Her teacher meant well, but it's not because her parents identify to a certain culture that she does too.

I had a bit of trouble with the writing style, it felt too informal, as though the character was just talking out loud or writing in her diary. Also, I don't know if it's because the book wasn't properly adapted to read on a Kindle, but I'm really picky about this kind of stuff, so I thought I'd mention it : there were a lot random dashes in the middle of words, like "neigh-borhood".. which brought on a lot of awkward pausing 😅 Same goes for words in italic, they were always jammed right onto the next word, with no space in between.

It was an okay read, but I wasn't that into it. Yes, there was a lot of mystery regarding her parents' past, her father's death, etc. And there was a major plot twist toward the ending. But it's still a 2.5⭐ for me.