
Member Reviews

Fundamentally wins for the most unique and fresh idea for a book that I've read in a long time. Nadia is a recent PhD graduate who travels to Iraq to run a rehabilitation program for ISIS brides. In the process, she deals with her own relationship and history with Islam. As an academic myself, I was drawn in by the academic themes, but I found the content about ISIS and Islam to be much more interesting than I anticipated. It's clear that the author did a lot of work to make the characters feel genuine and relatable, and I really enjoyed reading something that was so different from everything else I encounter on the shelves.

Rarely do I laugh out loud but I did several times when reading this book. The humour draws you in and then the reality kicks you in the stomach. This book was so unexpected and I would have felt guilty to laugh if the author hadn’t been in Iraq and dealing with some of those situations. It made me think of Shamina Begum. Whatever she has done she should be in her country and facing justice here if required. All those young women just left in camps as people just want them to be out of sight and out of mind

I loved this book so, so much - it had me both laughing out loud and thinking out loud, which is a great combination in a book. Nadia is a recent PhD student who takes a job at the UN "deradicalizing" ISIS brides in Iraq, even though she has no experience in deradicalization and knows very little about the conflict in Iraq or the complicated political and societal dynamics. Without giving anything away, her woeful unpreparedness, the unending bureaucracy, and colorful cast of characters make for an incredibly entertaining and impactful read.
The very first sentence of this book sets the tone in an amazing way. This book is so witty and shrewd, and it really takes aim at the white savior industrial complex and the complicity of "well-meaning" aid workers in enabling further discrimination and oppression, without feeling heavy-handed or overly preachy. The book deftly explores Nadia's own relationship with being Muslim and her own difficulties fitting into society, and the bond Nadia forms with one of the women in the camp perfectly encapsulates how easy and seductive it is to project our own beliefs on someone else, and how we can flatten people to the barest facts about them and ignore their inherent complications. That was maybe a bunch of gobbledygook (what a great word lol), but I thought this book really powerfully depicted messy human relationships and how hard it is to understand anything about each other when we only have preconceived notions to go off. This book is hard to explain - just know I found it so much fun and also deeply interesting.
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks does not seem sufficient for the gift that was Fundamentally. And yet, thank you Tiny Reparations Books for this copy.
“You didn’t see Iraq before; it’s a miracle we survived. Foreigners get frustrated and leave, but this was the home of my mother, and every time it is destroyed, we thank God we are alive, and we rebuild.”
This is the type of review that starts with me inhaling and releasing a deep breath.
I have learned a lot in the last sixteen months. A lot of what I thought I knew about my country has changed. A lot of what I thought about the purpose of the UN has been altered. The way I have viewed the world has changed. And while it isn’t just me who has just begun learning about this, there is a deep shame boiling in my stomach that it’s taken me this long. In books written in the late 70s, I am hearing about the conflict between Palestine and Israel. All this time. All this time, I have blindly believed what I was told.
The blindfold is off, and I am learning as much as I can. Ceaselessly. Obsessively. As is my autistic way. It’s all or nothing. Burnout or bust.
So when Tiny Reparations reached out to me, I thought, sure. This is fine. But I did not expect the lessons Fundamentally would teach me. I did not anticipate the emotions I would feel.
To save from droning on, I have been “radicalized” time and time again over the last sixteen months. Witnessed people turning a blind eye to atrocities I can’t look away from. Let that settle. Witnessed the dismissive way the UN treats atrocities in the world when I thought their entire purpose was to prevent them. Let that settle. Watched the news try to scare me the way they have since 2001. Let that settle. Until all of that settling bubbled and burned up.
Dr. Nussaibah Younis uses humor and imposter syndrome to bring attention and light to a serious problem. A problem many middle eastern countries face because of the West. So many times I laughed out loud and then was slapped in the face with a reality check. “Two truths and one falsehood.” “Palestine, Palestine, Israel.”
Read this. Let it radicalize you in the best ways.

This is a laugh-out-loud interrogation and satire of how best intentions can go very wrong in aid work. Nadia is so real and her voice is so incredibly funny. I loved how everything became more and more ridiculous as the story progressed - literally LOLed reading on the treadmill when we met Sheikh Jason and absolutely cackled at the biblically accurate description of HEAT training. I could not put this down and read it in just 2 sittings. Loved the scene with the other aid workers talking about programs that had failed.
My only complaint is with the ending - <spoiler> it felt a bit too neat and tidy. There are no consequences for our protagonist (realistic though tbh)? We worry that Sara is going back to ISIS for about 20 pages and then it's magically resolved by her seeing her estranged parents and getting a job? </spoiler>
Overall a great read and I have already been yapping about it to all of my colleagues in the aid sector!

Provocative, satirical, and wildly discomfiting. What a fascinating concept - and the writing did it justice! Younis's style is sharp and, unexpectedly, laugh-out-loud funny, reminiscent of Tom Wolfe, Priya Guns, and Lauren Oyler. While I'm not sure I fully bought the ending - perhaps a bit too pat? - I couldn't put Fundamentally down and haven't stopped thinking about it since. Looking forward to carrying this at the store.

What a great debut! I wish I read the authors note first, as it really tied into the story- the author took a lot from her personal and professional work to make up a fictional story. Overall, a fast-paced, funny novel about an un-funny topic- repatriating & deradicalizing ISIS brides- and the frustrating UN bureaucratic speedbumps.

A really strong and concise debut. It knew what it wanted to be, and forged a way through some out of the box elements to get there. I think it has a really strong concept and a quite straightforward plot that a lot of readers will get hooked into. It didn't quite work tonally for me and felt repetitive at times. Still I can see that there are plenty of people who would enjoy this more than me and would recommend it to people for sure.

Wow, it’s hard to know where to begin with this book other than to say that I loved the writing. When novels are described as razor-sharp, this is what they mean.
The story involves a well intentioned woman traveling to Iraq as part of a UN mission to rehabilitate ISIS brides. While it is a weighty subject it’s told with humor and hope, but also with a whole lot of bureaucratic red tape.
The book was a little out of my comfort zone but also very eye opening. I’m glad I took a chance on it.

A woman joins UN efforts to deradicalize ISIS brides in order to repatriate them. The book tackles themes of (white) saviorism, the difficulty of deradicalizing and how often it fails, why we help others, religion and family.
I think the author did a good job of weaving in her own life experience while keeping the story fictional enough to make a point. Obviously a fully realistic depiction would’ve been a bit less hopeful and impactful. Overall I’d recommend this book not just for an enjoyable (and queer) read, but for one that gets you thinking.

Fundamentally had me alternating between laughter and frustrated sadness.
Dr. Nadia Amin has a comfortable job as a lecturer at UCL, but the sting of her partner's rejection, and the frustration of her mother's nagging her to be a better Muslim have her wanting to leave England, and on something of a whim, she accepts a job with the UN in Iraq. She will be in charge of a program to de-radicalize ISIS brides. Nadia has no actual relevant experience, and unsurprisingly, she is completely unequipped to handle the job she has accepted. She is naive, and surprised by the bureaucracy and corruption she meets.
With all of this baggage, Nadia is a likeable character. When she befriends one of her clients, going to wild extremes to help her, I was unsurprised. Ultimately, the "bad guy" in this book is the United Nations and its complicity in the regimes where it operates. I'm not sure I'm willing to agree whole-heartedly with that assessment, but it does make for interesting reading.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

What I'll say is that while FUNDAMENTALLY is an objectively good debut -- a novel that endeavours to pair a serious subject matter with a punchy and humorous narrative voice -- ultimately, I just didn't vibe with it. I certainly didn't hate it, but honestly, that's more because it didn't leave me feeling much of anything. The problem, in my opinion, was that the more intense, dramatic, emotionally resonant aspects of the plot felt oversimplified, if not underdeveloped, in favour of a tone and pervasive humour that felt better suited to a romcom or a beach read. While I certainly wouldn't want to suggest that writers shouldn't write about serious topics in funny ways, there was something about this one that strayed a mite too far over a personal line, and made connection with any of the characters -- but especially Nadia, the protagonist -- or the challenges they encountered difficult. But I think I just wasn't the right reader for it; I can see it resonating more successfully with commercial audiences.

When Dr Nadia launches a new deradicalization program for ISIS wives living in a camp, she quickly realizes that theory doesn't always translate into practice. Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis is a one of those rare novels that invites you into another world and asks you to view the things you thought you knew from a different perspective. I struggled to like Nadia at first, but the more I learned of her backstory, the more I understood her. I really enjoyed the invitation to view the plight of ISIS wives, in particular those who are from western countries and convert, in a new light. I walked away with some more nuanced thoughts than I had before. Overall, this is a good read and I would recommend it.

After a harsh breakup, Nadia unexpectedly finds herself with an opportunity to go to Iraq and lead a deradicalization program for ISIS brides. Once she gets to the refugee camp, she quickly finds herself latching on to a woman named Sara, who reminds her a lot of her younger self. When Nadia is unable to find a way to get Sara repatriated to Great Britain, she takes matters into her own hands.
This book was so unexpectedly funny. The characters were lovable and quirky, and even though the book touched on really heavy topics, the dark humor was just perfect.
I think Nadia in particular was a really great character. She had such an interesting voice, and seeing this story through her eyes was great. She grew up in a very religious household and then rebelled in college, so getting to hear her inner monologue regarding the girls in the camps was so interesting. Then putting her alongside of Sara and seeing these woman who were essentially two sides of the same coin was really impactful to the story.
The story made me laugh a lot, but I also wanted to scream at Nadia about a dozen times for the decisions she was making.
Definitely a great debut from this author!
Thank you to NetGalley and Tiny Reparations Books for the ARC!

Thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Random House, and Nussaibah Younis for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Nadia, a young academic reeling from a bad breakup, finds herself working in Iraq for the UN rehabilitating ISIS brides. Struggling with her teammates and work politics, Nadia forms a friendship with Sara, a young British-Afghani Muslim ISIS bride with a daughter she has been separated from. Nadia and Sara share a rebellious attitude, crude sense of humor, and tumultuous relationships with their parents; Nadia knows she could have been duped by fake love in the same way Sara was.
Fundamentally is filled with larger-than-life characters. Nadia’s colleagues range from a snooty French man to a body building security guard (who is Nadia’s friend with benefits) to a California, surfer-boy Sheikh named Jason. Nadia - with her dark sense of humor, tendency to make mistakes, and single-girl ways - is almost an academic, Muslim sort of Bridget Jones. Nadia is navigating life as a young, bisexual, British-Muslim female balancing the demands of a complicated humanitarian career with late twenty-something exploits.
At times, Fundamentally was difficult to read, uncomfortable. As a white, American woman more familiar with Christianity than any other religions, I wasn’t sure I should be laughing about Iraq, ISIS, UN humanitarian work, or Islam. Fundamentally is Dr. Younis’s first work of fiction, but Younis has extensive experience as an academic with expertise in contemporary Iraq. Ultimately, I let myself trust Dr. Younis and enjoy the hilarious, fictionaly, touching, and complex world she created in Fundamentally.

This was a pretty good book! When meeting the characters, i really liked some, like Sherri, but found others, like Nadia herself, a little meh at the start. Nadia grew a lot though. The political situation was done well. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

Thank you Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for the ARC!
This book was an absolute powerhouse. I had no idea what to expect, but I am sooooo glad I was invited to read this one. I've never read another story like this, and it truly blew me away. Obviously it's a delicate plot, but the author handles it with grace, humor, and care like I've never seen before. Check the trigger warnings before reading this one, but you won't regret it!
Thank you again for the ARC!

I wasn't sure about this book being pitched as hilarious given its subject matter, but when I started to see the building buzz for the novel, I decided to check it out. This is one of the more unique book summaries I've ever seen, and I was excited to get to read about a setting and a place (her work at the UN) that I don't know much about. Immediately, though, I struggled with the writing. There was just something I didn't mesh with in the tone and descriptions, but I wanted to give it a fair chance. The book lost me at the description of the first character she meets on her first full day, which after a long romance novel-like description ends with "Holy mother. Imagine coming back to London with this specimen on my arm. His leg was bigger than an average man's torso." The paragraphs that followed didn't help change my mind. This just compounded my feelings about the voice trying way too hard in a way that doesn't work for me. This has definitely resonated with some readers and will likely appeal to a more commercial audience maybe, but the voice and tone is just not for me.
This review is just for NetGalley.

I so wanted to like this. It sounds right up my alley- a queer academic heads to the Middle East to distract herself from heartbreak- but I couldn't settle into the humor. There plenty of good elements and character arcs, but my mind kept wandering and I never actually got excited to read this. I would try this author again though!

My absolute favorite thing about this story was the mix of humor into the storytelling. I love the diverse representation mixed in with the popular women on a journey story. This one was really special.