You Think You Know Me

Product Information

When I requested this ARC by looking at its cover and plot, it sounded promising to me. But believe me this book is a lot more than that. I have rated this as a 5 star read but in truth, I want to rate it as a 7/5 star read🤭.

Touching on themes of family and cultural identity it is just as much an elder daughter’s story and refugee story as it is a Muslim one, and is all about standing your ground and being true to yourself in the face of hate and prejudice. Of learning to accept that you don’t need to justify who you are and sacrifice your identity to fit in with the status quo or for the benefit to those who are blinded by their ignorance. You Think You Know Me by Ayaan Mohamud. This was such a profound read. Thank you to the publisher and @zekrazaina for the ARC :) release date: 2nd Feb.The story follows a 17 year old student Hanan Ali, who goes through a difficult situation after the death of her respected friend Michael Fleming. The murderer is declared by the police as a Muslim. That’s why Hanan and other Muslims students in the school are in a dangerous situation. Now Hanan, who remained silent despite the discriminations she had to suffer decides to raise her voice against this hatred.

There were a couple of places that had me questioning the continuity of events, or the plausibility of baking a significant amount of food in a short time, these minor infractions had me forcefully suspending belief to move forward with this book but it did not detract from the message - that was blatantly obvious. Whilst we’ll never know exactly what the victims found at Fox Hollow Farm went through, it’s probably not impossible to determine from the various bodies found along the I-70 and this evidence probably assists the author here. I read this blurb and knew the book would hurt, and so it should. Reading this was tense because I came to care for Hanan. Her life had it's tough elements, then the things that happened around her and to her increased that difficulty ten fold. Hanan had a strong family but it was fraying in many ways.

Genre

Hanan has always been a ‘good girl’ accepting of her role as the school's perfect Muslim poster girl. She ignores the racist bullies, the comments and the jibes, she lives by her mother’s favourite saying “ A closed mouth is gold - it helps you get home in one piece’. But her friend is murdered and every Muslim is to blame, violence, hatred and blatant racism rear their ugly heads. It’s time for Hannah to make her voice heard and to challenge prejudice and to speak up against hate and fear. The writing was wonderful. I found some places to be quite poetic and poignant. I reread some passages to appreciate their beauty. The writing was evocative and stirred my emotions to a boil. But it left me simmering with the hope of better things. Compelled to write the story following the tragic deaths of Shukri Abdi, a 12-year-old Somali refugee, and Lee Rigby, a British Army soldier, Ayaan was keen to shine a light on the real-life stories behind the headlines. I enjoy reading true crime books and I have enjoyed all of the books written by Ryan Green. Just be warned: Even though this book is labelled as true crime, the author does take a lot of liberties with the story. Unlike a lot of true crime books, this one reads more like fiction than a dull, fact-filled rehash of the crimes. Anger becomes an ugly, dangerous thing when you fling it around with your eyes closed… Open your eyes, macaanto, before you hurt someone with your words.”

The awful things she goes through really stung. Just a small representation of what Muslims go through everyday. And constantly endure. Some of the descriptions of the crimes are pretty graphic, but if you enjoy the true crime genre, that should not be a problem. Since very few facts are known about Baumeister's crimes, the author has chosen to fill in the story with what might have happened. He does this in a believable and easily readable way.Hanan has always been the good, quiet, well-behaved girl that she not wants to be, but has to be. She’s already a target for bullying by a group at school her friends call The Braids (mean girls amped up) and being loud, speaking up, would make her more of a target for their hate. Even her teachers use her for her image as their flawless, poster child for a Muslim student at the school. But Hanan has dreams, wishes, and desires to speak her mind and stand up for herself and every other person that gets the same racist undertones (which is just blatant racism most of the time.) Hanan is a 'good' student, young woman and Muslim. She's headed for a bright future if she passes her exam for medical school. She's been keeping her head down in her preppy grammar for years so a little longer should be manageable. With a diverse group of close-knit friends, she can let comments and low-level bullying wash over her ordinarily.

This will be upsetting for some readers. Hanan and her family are Somalian, their own beloved father not with them after his murder. So not only do we see the family trying to overcome prejudice and anger in the UK, we see an immigration story and that of a strong family unit with proud traditions. The author doesn't shy away from including phrases of their home language (though I wish I'd realised that there's a glossary at the end!), and you get a feel for their homeland and culture. I loved the sibling relationships between Hanan and her twin brother and younger siblings. And I really loved how we see her friendships too and that it isn’t perfect but they are able to apologise and reconcile. As a British Muslim myself I am fortunate to have lived in diverse communities and attended schools where incidents like those that occurred in this book are rare but you just have to go looking into the news to see that they are more than just fiction.YTYM is a necessary read. After the media coverage of a murder in North West London renders the perpetrator a terrorist based only on race, Hanan Ali, a Muslim Somalian, straight A achieving student, faces bullying and islamophobia at her prestigious grammar school. Hanan always tries to keep a low profile at school, her ultimate goal is to pass the admissions test to Medical School, but the onslaught of abuse from her peers and condescending attitude by the principal isolates Hanan further. The story broke my heart in so many places, especially the second half; Hanan and the bond she shares with her twin brother Hussein is everything. This is a story about finding your voice to stand up against hate crime and the beauty in diversity. Books like this are why I roll my eyes at people when they criticise adults for reading Ya because for those who don't, you miss out on absolute gems like this. Ayaan, the fact that this is a debut astounds me! Your talent is insane! But anyway, let's talk about the book. This was beautifully written. What a debut. Ayaan if you read this, you’re so talented please keep writing.