Zara Kaleel is a hardworking and intense lawyer. She has made her career on defending those who have been sexually assaulted. Zara takes on the case of a lifetime to defend a 16 year old girl with facial deformities who has accused four boys of rape.

As the story moves to a twisty and readable conclusion, you cannot decide who is telling the truth and who are truly the good guys.

A great book! The twists were believable and the family backstory is interesting. Recommend!

This was an interesting book that really made me think. I honestly wasn't sure how I felt in the end. However, did keep me turning the pages.

I don't feel as if I can give a true, honest review of this book. I have started it several times and put it aside each time. It just hasn't kept my attention enough to really get into it. I will go back and try to finish it at some point, for now I will give it 2.5 stars because because I honestly think it's just not a my type of story.

I honestly was going to DNF this book at first because I couldn’t get into the story. I thought there were to many questions not being answered and I did not like that. However, I am glad I stuck it out to the end. By the time I got to the end my emotions were all over the place. By the time I got to the climax I was like no stop this cannot be happening. Then we get to the end of the story and I was just dumbfounded. Before the story ended I kept saying to myself this can’t be the end there has to be more. I just had a feeling about the direction the end of the story was going to take and I was waiting for it. I’m glad I wasn’t disappointed. Our main character Jodie has facial deformity and deals with emotional abuse on a constant bases from her alcoholic mother and terrible best friend. Jodie accuses four Muslim boys of taking advance of her which in turn sets of a crap storm of epic portions. Jodie’s lawyer Zara is a nonpracticing Muslim herself who always takes cases for the underdog. This was a well thought out story and tastefully done. Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins Publishers for the advance copy of this book.

I had problems getting into this book. It cam across a bit too preachy with with respect to religion and morality. and moved at too slow a pace.

A courtroom drama that kept me guessing until the end. Serious in nature but a really great read. This book was graciously provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book started with a lot of punch for me, and while I was fully clued into the subject matter it was and it DID capture my attention quickly, it was a bit more intense than I bargained for when I picked it up. I didn't finish it but may return to it at a later date.

I was able to read this book thanks to NetGalley. I really enjoyed the story and it was a quick paced thriller that I couldn’t put down. I will be recommending it to family and friends snd will be looking for more from this author in the future. Thanks again for the opportunity to read this book.

Just ok. The characters needed improving. Difficult subject matter to read. Especially during quarantine.

This was SUCH A GOOD THRILLER! I’ve always said that thrillers have become a bit over saturated and very similar, but I really enjoyed that this one was different and fun to read!

What a fascinating book. I was impressed by the storyline and the characters were all well written and complex. Where there are complex storylines combined with intriguing characters the reader experience is magnified tremendously. To have a book that is well written as well as entertaining is a delight. Reading is about escaping your world and entering another one. Here I forgot about my own life and was immersed in the world created by the author. I would recommend this book.

A tough book to read these days, but a worthwhile courtroom thriller/drama if you can get through the difficult subject matter.

Wow. Kia Abdullah has written an outstanding book. I was not sure what to expect since this is my first book by Abdullah. But if Take It Back is any indication of future works, I will be reading them.

Where do I even begin? This is a book that leaves you guessing until the very end. It is a she said he said book. Who do you believe? Who is telling the truth? One minute I am sure she is telling the truth and the next I am sure the he is telling the truth. Abdullah does an outstanding job at keeping the readers guessing until the very last word. And even after the last word, I am still trying to wrap my mind around this story and what did happen.

This is a story that is not easy to hear. A story about sexual assault. A story about cultural differences. A story about a mother's indifference and cruelty to her daughter. A story about gender differences. A story about families. It is a story about a girl who just wants to fit in and be liked. Wow. So much was packed in to this story.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5. The only fault I found, which was slight, was Jodie's testimony during the trial felt contrived without more questions from her attorney. She went on this long well-spoken accounting of facts which did not seem realistic to me without any questions from her attorney. minor issue with a great story.

Now that's a thriller! The writing and character work in this book is phenomenal and I found myself continuously gripped as I tried to guess what was going on. 4.5 stars!

Did not care at all about any of the characters. I did not finish it. It was a heavy heavy topic, and I guess I just wasn't in the mood for that kind of story.

This is a total gut punch of a book that is about justice, identity, and belief. Good for Kia Abdullah for writing something raw and hard to read, while at the same time being so unputdownable.

I really enjoyed this book. The way it was written really had me thinking back and forth which way the outcome would end and kept me guessing until the end. Thank you for writing about such an important topic. I really look forward to reading more of what is to come in the future.

Take It Back is a thrilling and twisting courtroom drama thriller that keeps you wondering until the last page is turned. I loved it! I highly recommend it.

This book is way beyond a court drama, it is fast paced, it is explicit and tackles a LOT of different issues from
rape to religion, from islamophobia to the media to a woman’s place in society.
The meat of the book revolves around 16y old Jodie Wolfe who accuses 4 schoolmates of rape. Judy is white and deformed, the boys are good looking muslims from hardworking, upstanding families.
Is she lying or did they do it ?

Enters the gorgeous, beautiful, intelligent Zara Kaleel, former barrister turned rape counselor. Zara demons are many leading her to breakups, hookups and drug abuse. She is a muslim parting her own way against muslim expectation of women in society.
The tension is palpable and will sustain until the last page with a surprise ending.

Personaly I felt annoyed by Zara’s character who morphs from tough as nail, no emotion woman to being a mess, disappointing for someone her supposed stature.
Also, I didn’t care for the author writing style, a lot of elaborated words used outside of their common usage. Appropriate, yes, but definitely felt like a book written by a foreigner using all her fancy vocabulary words. Maybe the difference between British English and American ?

Again not a bad book at all, and definitely worth reading, just not this perfect book for me.

* Thank you to the St. Martin Press and Kia Abdullah for the ARC in exchange for my unbiased review

This book will make you angry. It is shocking that you just have to keep reading to find out what really happens. Who do you believe? You'll have to read to find out. It's so good!!