You Think You Know Me - Ayaan Mohamud

A book review after ages! It feels good to be back with one.

I’d love to say that I was actually reading loads over the past year but just never managed to share it, but… that would be a lie. My reading has been pretty non-existent, and I’d say one of the reasons for that was because I couldn’t really find something I wanted to read.

I picked up this book after a friend recommended it to me. And honestly I was over the moon! Finally, a book I could get swept into.

Synopsis

Hanan has always been encouraged to be a good girl, a quiet girl, never making trouble. When her classmates treat her as a target for their racist bullying, and her teachers use her as their perfect Muslim poster girl, she keeps smiling and keeps her mouth shut. They don’t see past her headscarf, but she knows she is so much more than that.

Then a local man is murdered, tensions run high and Muslims become targets for even worse abuse. After a terrifying attack, Hanan decides that it’s time to make her voice heard…it’s time to shake the world.

The power of fiction, familiarity and nuance

So many themes were explored in this book.

This book reminded me the power of fiction and its ability to help a reader step in the shoes of someone completely different from them and view the world through their eyes.

As a Muslim living in the UK, so much of this book felt familiar. The undercurrent racist comments, the new policies coming into play in the education systems to help students ‘integrate’ better, the blatant media bias held against ‘Muslim’ perpetrators.

These are all subtle experiences that are difficult to sit and describe to someone else, but its the life lived by so many of us. But the book paints the experience through Hanan’s eyes beautifully.

Hanan as a character felt familiar too. The idea of keeping your head low is something that was ingrained to a lot of us who come from immigrant backgrounds. It was all taught to us to help keep us safe. But just like for Hanan, as you grow older you realise that its not always the best idea. It is, most definitely, not what helps create change.

The other characters too were fleshed out well. I loved the nuance the author held for even the bullies in school. It’s sometimes easy to paint a character as a victim and villain and leave it like that. But in real life, there’s always so many more layers. In this story, we learn how it’s the parents bigotry opinions that made the children averse to people who looked different. It showed the importance of educating the next generation so that the next generation of kids have better, kinder parents.

Overall, a really enjoyable read. I think books like this need to be read more in schools and youth clubs. It helps create greater empathy and understanding towards those who have different experiences than your own.

— — —

If you reached till the end of this reflection/ book review, thank you my friend. I appreciate it!

I hope we get to meet each other in my next reflection too. Until then, if you have any thoughts about what you’ve just read let me know (in the comments or any other way). I’d love to start a conversation!

And if you’d like to have my reflections reach you directly, consider subscribing with your email below.

Until next time,

Thasneema 🌻