You Truly Assumed: 04/01/22

You Truly Assumed by Laila Sabreen is about a trio of Black Muslim teens collaborating on a blog after a terrorist attack at Union Station in Washington, D.C. Sabriya is a ballet dancer turned writer; Zakat is an artist and comic book author; Farah is a budding computer programmer.

The chapters shuffle between first person accounts from each of the young women. They have unique voices, hobbies, and family situations. They share, though, being Black and Muslim in a post terrorist aftermath. Even though the terrorist wasn't a Muslim, the worst bits of American society are using the attack as an excuse to be public with their racism, bigotry, and xenophobia.

You Truly Assumed or YTA ends up being the name of the blog that Sabriya starts and then recruits Zakat and Farah to contribute to. Many chapters end with the latest blog post. The chapters themselves, more and more, show the good and bad aspects of running the blog. It becomes a place for other young Muslims to feel safe and seen. But it also becomes a target for alt-right groups, some of whom are people the three girls know in person.

YTA is a debut novel. I'm eager to see what Laila Sabreen writes in the future.

Five stars

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