This book is described as a courtroom thriller, but I do not think that does this book justice. The author explores so many issues that divide us as this story develops. Jodie has been living with an alcoholic mother along with having facial deformities that make her a target for bullying, even from her own mother. She accuses four Muslim boys of immigrant families of rape and that is just the beginning of the story. The author explored the complexities of the lives of the characters. I love a story where I get invested in all of the characters and this one had me invested.

Take It Back is a book that I will be recommending for a long time to come. Kia Abdullah does an amazing job tackling the sensitive subjects of racial and sexual violence. This dark and richly layered story is not going to be for everyone. Anyone who is overly sensitive to the topic of rape might want to steer clear but for anyone that can handle the topic this book will take you into a story that does justice to some of the most relevant topics of our time.

It would be weird to say I enjoyed this book considering it’s focus but the story absolutely drew me in and kept me on the edge of my seat until the final twist is revealed. All of me wanted to be on Jodie’s side but Kia did such an amazing job shaping the stories of the victim and perpetrators that at no point could I say for certain which side I thought was telling the truth. I was on the verge of being angry with how I thought the story was going to end but Kia had one more trick up her sleeve that left me speechless.

Kia’s flawless telling of Jodie’s heartbreaking story made me forget that Take It Back is a work of fiction. I commend her for tackling some very controversial topics head on and not making this a book with a fluffy happy ending.

I have never read this author before, but I’m here to tell you that I will read any book she writes. This is a great book book and I’m here to tell you that you will be sorry if you don’t pick this one up! Thanks for writing such a great book!

Been part of an emigrant Muslim family has its drawbacks.
In the mix we have a Muslim Layer, four Muslim teenage boys from good families and Jodie who has a facial deformity and claims to be raped by the four boys.
All through the book you feel bad for Jodie. Jodie is living with a mother that resent her daughter's disfigured face and blames the daughter for her current living condition.
Going through the court procedures you feel how hard it is for the victim and how easily the jury can be convinced from guilty to not guilty and vice versa. Why did Jody lie when she was telling her story?
You don't know who to believe a very intense and sensitive story.
If all this wasn't enough you have the Muslim community coming to the defense of the boys and harassing Zara for been a traitor, even her own family tries to distance themselves from her.
Love to see more books about Zara and how she resolves the conflicts within her own live.

I have just spent the last week reading a psychological thriller involving the rape of a sixteen-year-old Jodie Wolfe who had a disfigured face. She has accused four Muslim boys. Her mother is an alcoholic. Enter Zara who has left a successful barrister career to work as an advocate for rape victims. When I first started this book, I stopped after about three hours. There are so many characters that it became confusing as to who each character was and what was going on in each of their lives. A few days later I decided to start over and take notes. I am glad I did!

This book is like a jig-saw puzzle. So many complex societal problems are rolled into this story. From addiction, racial problems, teenage angst, parent-child relationships, justice…...It has now been a couple of days since I finished, and my head is still swamped with thoughts. This is a book I would read again after a period of time passed. I do think shorter chapters would help. I am also not totally sure about how I feel about the ending. I look forward to reading another book by Kia Abdulah. My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC. The opinions in this review are my own.

A thank you to NetGalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As soon as I read the description, I was desperate to read it - and terrified to pick it up. Sexual violence and bullying are obviously incredibly difficult to write about, not to mention with respect and sensitivity. It was gut-wrenching, raw, and emotionally exhausting. However...Exceptional and I could not put it down. The characters are finely drawn, the story so finely drawn that I was swept away by the painful ride. It goes without saying that cultural misunderstanding and collective violence have a history of going hand in hand - and incredibly timely. Particularly startling (and much appreciated) just when you think you know the truth, it turns out that you definitely don't. Will be counting the days until book 2 in the series.

I couldn't put this book down. The story was interesting & dealt with the current topic of racism & how it divides people severely, even in England. Jodie was a very sympathetic victim being 16 years old & having facial deformity. The boys were sympathetic as well with their version of events being totally different from Jodie's of that night. Zara was an interesting character that added to the race issue. Riveting book & highly suggest reading it.

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for advanced copy in exchange for honest review

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. You can purchase your copy here:
https://www.amazon.com/Take-Back-Kia-Abdullah/dp/0008367450
WOAH BABY! This book is HEAVY! I am asked to read many books for review. Many I read without reading a synopsis prior to starting because once you read some of these, you already start to write the book in your head. I like to go into books with an open mind and not any preconceived notion.
This book is not my typical light and fluffy and it isn’t my deviate from Christmas and enjoy a quick mystery, this is HARD CORE HEAVY! If you cannot handle extreme details of rape, maybe skip this book, because the details are pretty explicit and detail oriented. This book was well-written to the point where I felt so much emotion, emotions that I didn’t even know I had.
This book was so intense and then the ending came and I simply DID NOT SEE that coming!
It has taken me so long to write this review after finishing this book and I was MIND BLOWN!

Merengue

Wow, this one actually kept me up til all hours, so you know it’s good...cause I love my sleep! 😄
It tells the story of Jodie, a white teenager with severe facial deformities who accuses 4 Muslim classmates of rape, and Zara, her barrister-turned rape counselor—herself a Muslim. There are many facets to the story: family & community loyalty, religion, racism, drug abuse, & sexual abuse.
It’s not an easy read—it’s disturbing & shocking, but it was an excellent read nonetheless...the characters were vivid & real, and I truly didn’t know who to believe...the ending was startling.

It’s hard to believe that this is a work of fiction as it relates to social injustices happening in our world today. This is an excellent courtroom drama which kept me turning the pages to hear what would be the outcome. Not the ending I was hoping for and that makes this story an excellent book club selection for discussion.

This book touches on many issues. The primary focus is a trial where the victim is a white physically deformed 16 year old girl who has accused four Muslim boys of rape. It’s a case of he said, she said.where you’re left wondering who’s telling the truth. The secondary issues are the racial divide between the white and Muslim communities and the prejudice, suspicion and distrust that becomes prevalent as the trial goes on. The final issue that the book looks at is loyalty - loyalty to community, loyalty to friends, loyalty to family and loyalty to self.

This is not an easy book to read due to the graphic nature of the subject matter but it does leave you wanting to know how it all ends. It may not end how we would like it to, and that also is possibly more realistic than having everything neatly resolved. There isn’t a lot of action in this book but those who enjoy legal thrillers are sure to enjoy this story.

Take it Back by Kia Abdullah

Brief Summary: Zara is a young attorney who left a high stakes corporate job to work at a sexual assault center. Jodie is a teenager with neurofibromatosis who accuses four of her Muslim classmates of raping her. This incident divides the community. Zara is a Muslim involved in the defense of a white disabled girl; to the dismay of the Muslim community worried for the futures of the boys from respected immigrant families.

Highlights: This is a very timely tale of privilege, bias, and oppression for ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. I was impressed by how these issues were integrated into a compelling legal case. This novel starts slowly but picks up pace and I finished it in 24 hours. Abdullah does a great job realistically portraying and bringing attention to the vulnerabilities for abuse people with disabilities face and the ways that a disability like neurofibromatosis can affect the developmental experiences with sexuality and intimacy of a teenage girl. She also does a great
job portraying Zara as a functional addict.

Explanation of Rating: 4/5; highly enjoyed by this Law and Order SVU Fan

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review

I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Okay I’m not sure why I was expecting but that wasn’t it. I think I flew that way because I was expecting this to be way more fast paced and it wasn’t. I just found it very slow and kind of boring. I liked the twist at the end, but again leading up to it was not as great as it could have been.
Not sure if I’d recommend this one.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for inviting me to read an ARC of this book!

This book completely sucked me in and I never wanted to put it down. This book is probably going to get compared to The Night Swim because they are both court dramas about rape, and I definitely think fans of that book would love this one too. But the stories are definitely different. This book was about rape yes, but it was also about race and gender and truth and lies and it was a really complex story. I couldn't put it down and I couldn't wait to see how it would all play out.

It was SO well-written. Jodie and the four boys had such different accounts of what happened and both sounded like the truth. The way the stories came out I truly never knew which was the true version of things until the very end. Sometimes I was convinced that Jodie was lying, and sometimes I was convinced the boys were lying. My opinion kept flip flopping throughout the whole book, and I think that really takes a lot of talent to make me continually second guess my opinion. There were twists and turns throughout and I never quite knew how it was all going to play out.

The characters were really realistic and well-written. Zara was a complex character who was an excellent lawyer but struggling to deal with her own personal struggles with her family and relationships. I thought her internal battles about whether she was betraying her culture by standing up for Jodie was really interesting. Jodie herself was such an interesting character, and the way that she's had to grow up and deal with her physical deformities made for such a compelling story. And I also love how we got everyone's perspective, even the accused rapists, without spoiling what was the truth until the very end. The way it all came together was excellent.

I'd definitely be interested in checking out more from Kia Abdullah, I was really impressed with this book! It was super well-written, had a complex plot, and I was totally sucked in and couldn't put it down. Strong 4.5 stars!!

i was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review - What a book!!
A thought provoking book about a 16 year old with facial deformities who accuses four boys of rape.
You will feel so many emotions in this book - a girl who was always teased - wanting to be loved - - boys being boys or not?
And then being the parent of the boys accused - - and being on the jury hearing both sides - - Who is telling the truth? A lawyer with issues of her own - - a town divided - families divide - - Grab this book for an awesome read!!!

Zara Kaleel is an ex-lawyer who gave up her high-powered career after the death of her father; their once-close relationship had been irrevocably strained after Zara backed out of her arranged marriage. She ultimately realized “she’d become the person she used to hate” and switched careers; now, she works with sexual assault survivors, helping victims navigate the legal system. It’s a more fulfilling vocation, but Zara never imagined that one of her cases would turn her into a tabloid fixture.

Jodie Wolfe, a teenager whose face is disfigured by a genetic disorder, comes to Zara with an account of being raped by a group of boys at a party. Jodie is white, but the four boys are Muslim, like Zara, which leads a co-worker to warn her that a case like this is sure to bring out the sort of “right-wind nutjobs [who] besiege anyone that’s brown.” Still, Zara feels she needs to offer Jodie her full support.

Once Jodie decides to take the case to trial and the identities of the victim and alleged perpetrators become public, it doesn’t take long before Zara is reluctantly dragged into the spotlight, branded a traitor by her fellow Muslims (including some members of her own family). Meanwhile, Jodie comes to realize how difficult it is for survivors to face the harsh scrutiny of the opposing side’s lawyers in court, and even the girl’s mother and her best friend refuse to support her.

Zara is a fascinating but flawed protagonist, someone readers will admire for her strength and devotion to her clients, yet she also carries a lot of baggage; she sabotages her relationships when someone starts to get too close, and she relies on Valium to escape from the pressures of her job. When a tabloid photographer snaps a picture of her being groped by a white man she’s been seeing for no-strings-attached sex, protestors outside the courthouse call her a turncoat and a whore, but even worse is “the cold and heavy dread” Zara feels when she thinks about how her family will react.

Take It Back deals with a lot of heavy themes, but does so in a nuanced way; there are a lot of shades of gray here, as the truth of what happened between Jodie and those boys is not as clear-cut as it might initially have seemed. As for Zara, after all the hardships she goes through in this book, there’s an indication that she’s going to try to make some changes for the better in her life. Fortunately, a second Zara Kaleel legal thriller, Truth Be Told, has already been published in Britain, and I’m looking forward to see what’s next for this wonderfully complicated woman.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. I liked the variety of characters in it. It is made for the 18 and over crowd. I hope to read more books by this author.

Zara Kaleel works at Artemis House (love this name)- a company that helps victims of sexual abuse/crimes. We get clues that she used to be a barrister (aka lawyer) and decided to give up the money to do something more meaningful. She takes on the case of Jodie Wolfe, a disformed white girl that claims she was raped by four Muslim boys.

Zara (of course) has her own issues, namely diazepam and trust issues. The book inserts many different perspectives and threads: Jodie's, the four boys, Zara and her family. I liked this, but could have used a sharper edit- a little too lengthy at times and moments where I just didn't care how this case was resolved. Basically coming down to is Jodie lying or not? I didn't like how much pressure was put on Jodie and how she was treated all the way around. Abdullah tackles some tough concepts, but they didn't quite land or work for me. I appreciated what she was trying to achieve but it may have been a bit more than she could chew. Overall, I enjoyed this and looking forward to more from this author as she gains a tighter storytelling ability over time.

Jodie Wolfe, 16, has been a victim all of her life. Born with the elephant man disease, she has significant facial deformities that have brought her unending teasing, bullying, and isolation. Even her mother can't stand to look at her, and tells her often that her birth has ruined her life, causing Jodie's father to leave them. Jodie's mother is a drunk, and a mean one, and her words hurt far more than punches ever would. Jodie is used to taking care of herself, she's had to, but it would be nice to be part of a normal family. She's built up lots of wall for herself, but they don't work well. All she wants is to feel normal, to be accepted.

One night at a party she attends with her friend Nina, she again feels like the outsider, and steps outside to get away from the crowd. Imagine her surprise when THE handsomest boy in school, comes up to talk with her! He explains that Nina went off to a private party and he offers to take her there. She agrees. Instead, he leads her to a quiet warehouse, where three of his friends are waiting.

Events quickly spin out of control and none of the five young people's lives will ever be the same.
In fact, these five young people will soon find their names known around the world. as they become involved in one of the most divisive and sensational courtroom cases ever held in London. Jodie, a white girl, accuses her four Muslim classmates of rape.

Zara Kaleel, a young, Muslim lawyer, left the law to help victims of domestic violence. She is appointed as Jodie's advocate to help her get through the investigation and trial. Her family doesn't accept Zara's desire to make her own decisions and live in her own apartment rather than marry a man of their choosing. To them, she is a disgrace who brings dishonor to the family. When they learn that she is supporting Jodie in the trial, they are enraged.

During the trial, the city explodes with hatred and all parties involved in the case are in danger. And when the trial is over, whatever the verdict, is it really over? Can something like this happen, and then life be lived as if it never had occurred?

The author, Kia Adbullah, takes on a lot of sensitive and hot topics in Take It Back; those that are deformed, domestic abuse, drug abuse, rape, misogeny, cultural mores, racisim, hatred, religious discrimination and persecution, the media, riots, immigration, he said/she said and more. Despite the number of topics, she handles each of them well and fairly, and they are a natural part of the book. To her credit, at no point does the material in this novel feel contrived or gratuitous in any way.

This is an explosive book! It quickly engages the reader and catches them up in the rapidly growing fervor of the city regarding the trial. With complex characters and situations throughout, it is easy to feel asea, not know who to believe. At the end, no one gets out unchanged, not even the reader.

This book deserves to be on all of the BEST OF lists. It is certainly one of the best books I've read this year and I hope you don't miss it!

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me the opportunity to read and review the book which was published on December 8,2020. Please get your copy now!!

This is a fascinating book that covers many timely topics and covers them well. The main character, Zara, is a Muslim woman who has achieved success in her profession but paid for it with her continuing strife with her family and her feeling of rebelling against her culture. She's an interesting character - strong yet flawed. She champions Jodie, a 16 year old disabled girl who is accusing 4 Muslim boys of raping her. Throughout the book, there is the whole he says she says theme that is why so many rapes go unreported. Who's lying? Who's telling the truth?

This courtroom drama has the reader swinging back and forth along with the jury as to who to believe. The conclusion is shocking - - and yet the author has one more surprise before the book ends - and that's more shocking - and sad - than anything else.

This book is riveting and haunting.