What a great story concept! Representation matters and this book will make people feel seen. Its powerful messages of finding your home and being brave in the face of adversity come through strong and clear. When not addressing hate, the story celebrates girls doing what they love, learning about relationships with family and friends, and figuring out life.
You Truly Assumed is set up to be something special, but is let down by the writing. The story wants to be compelling but lacks the emotional depth to manage it. The pacing struggled and so much happens off page that is vital to the believability of an overnight viral blog and a solid friendship. The three main characters, while having very different backgrounds and life stories, are flat. I found myself still mixing them up dangerously late into the book.
Voices like this author are ones I'd like to see more often on bookshelves. I hope future novels from Sabreen will improve the weaknesses here and give us more books with just as beautiful cover art.

You truly assumed I'd read this and not yell about it till next year. 

I'm so thankful for #netgalley and #harpercollins for providing me with an arc of this beautiful masterpiece. 

This book holds so much power and love in it. This sounds cheesy but its true. I've never been so moved by how close a community is as I was in this book. The love between the main characters and their families, between them themselves, between the members of the community. It put me in tears each time. 

While we're on the theme of tears, I cried from chapter 1. What these characters all think when they hear about the attack in the beginning, the way its like a synchronised heartbreaking choreo all Muslims go through when in the same situation, hurts me. And from then on my attention was on this book and this book alone. I've finished it in a couple of days! 

The themes the book gets to are so important. The way it discussed the different identities, of being both black and muslim and discussed the prejudice faced for being either or both was well done. The colorism in the muslim community is unfortunately still so prevalent and the islamophobia does still exist no matter which community you belong to and having those characters talk about their experiences with each identity and how they tried to separate and polish them separately until they realised that the two identities are interconnected was wonderful. Intersectionality is so important to me in books and this one was done very well however briefly it was mentioned.

I feel like no matter how affected I was with the islamophobia and the collective freak out of the muslim communities over terrorist attacks, and how much I cried simply reading these characters thoughts it will never compare to the hurt and devastation Muslims in non Muslim countries feel in these situations. It makes me more thankful to have the opportunity to see part of what they feel like and go through as a Muslim who always lived in the security of Muslim countries. 

The way the book also shows friendship and solidarity hit so close to home. The girls connecting so fast over shared experiences and forming such a beautiful friendship filled with love and support and using it to create a safe space for everyone like them touched my heart. They really had so much love for their communities it puts me in tears! 

The characters themselves are diverse with their own experiences with Islam and being black. All of them have different family situations affecting them. There's the strict protective family, the outgoing loud family, and the two families in one. I loved how all of them are showed to be loving and proud and appreciative despite how different they are.

*I received a copy of this audiobook from Netgalley, and I'm leaving an honest review.*

I don't often give five stars to contemporary fiction, but I could not put this book down. I love the premise for the novel, and despite the challenges that the characters go through, I found it very inspiring. To quote Amanda Gorman, "There is always light. If only we're brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it." This book was a journey for three Black Muslim teens as they discovered their voices and found the courage to be the light for their communities. They combatted racism and bigotry and found support in love and family. Sabriya, Zakat, and Farah all came from different backgrounds with different interests, and their stories and growth were very relatable. The narrators did an excellent job bringing them to life. This book is a stellar debut from Laila Sabreen, and I can't wait to see what she comes out with next.

“Everyone deserves to see themselves represented…” ♥️

I adored this story - all three girls went on such an identity journey and I loved how they embraced their multifaceted identities.
I especially loved the blogging element and the indie book shop Zakat works at!! Loved the narration too, the voices were distinct but not over the top

You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen

Personal Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 Stars

Book Statistics:
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Fiction
Trigger Warnings: Islamophobia, Racism
Year of Publication: 2022
Pages: 352

Thank you to RB Media and NetGalley for providing me an ARC of 'You Truly Assumed' in exchange for an honest review.

'You Truly Assumed' was one my most anticipated releases for this year. Not only because of it's unique synopsis and the representation for Black Muslim women all over the world but also because, they were the center of the story.

It was a story that helps people understand more what others might be going through. 'You Truly Assumed' gave me as a person another taste of the discrimination and injustice people of color and people of other religions face every day. As a reader that bonds easily with the main characters of each story I read, the only thing I wanted to do is protect and help Sabriyah, Zakat and Farah.

Each of them have a different story that with each page I wanted to know more about. With their differences, with their dreams and fear about the future, their lives and of those they love, I wanted to read more and experience their pain, relief and be as hopeful as they were, with them.

It was also beautiful to witness Sabriyah, Zakat and Farah have this deep, honest and true connection to their religion and their culture and how devoted they were to defend their community!

By their actions and bravery, I was inspired to do the same. Be brave, be hopeful and give the world my most honest self despite what other people say.

'You Truly Assumed' is an important book that everyone should read and then reflect on it's impact in their lives.

It's only January 31st and this is already one of my favorite books of the year. This is such an empowering YA novel. I've already told my best friend who teaches high school English that he needs this for his classroom library ASAP! I love the three different narrators and seeing how their relationship evolved over the course of the novel. The audiobook is fantastic! I'll be picking up a hard copy after pub day to have in my personal library!