Take It Back is a courtroom thriller that follows young Jodie Wolfe who accuses 4 muslim boys of rape. Jodie enlists the help of Zara, a muslim attorney that works as an advocate for crimes against females.

Jodie is a girl with facial deformities that has made her a victim of bullying her whole life. Her mother makes fun of her, as does her 'best friend' Nina, and neither of them believe her accusation that those boys raped her.

The 4 boys are from good families, however, as the story unfolds they each have some bad blood and aren't necessarily the 'good boys' they claim to me.

Zara is a tough attorney that fights hard for justice. She has had her struggles within her family life, tending to lean away from her family traditions, which pushed her away from her parents and siblings.

The case gets a lot of press and racial tensions are high. We get to see various POV's and since details are kept hidden, we never see the full picture of what really happened that night. My only difficulty with this book was that because it jumped around a lot and introduced a lot of different characters with each POV (parent, siblings, friends, etc.) plus some muslim language I didn't understand, I found it hard to catch up and understand who was who and what exactly was going on. This is my own personal perspective due to my lack of knowledge with muslim names and language that I found things confusing. Overall, it was a good story and an interesting take on how race can play a huge part in determining an individual's guilt or innocence.

"Tell the truth, or someone will tell it for you." (Stephanie Klein)

Kia Abdullah has struck the match and lit this one on fire. Seriously.......My jaw is locked in the dropped position for good reason. Ya gotta check this one out. I'm still feeling the embers burning inside my head.

The door swings open and sixteen year old Jodie Wolfe slowly makes her way to the desk of Zara Kaleel, former lawyer extraordinaire and now sexual assault victim advocate. What Artemis House in East London lacks in decor and ambiance, it makes up for in dedicated individuals willing to fight the good fight on behalf of their clients.

But the tiny figure of a shadow cast upon Zara's desk will forever change the lives of all those who will come close to this case, including Zara herself. Jodie softly begins by telling Zara that she suffers with neurofibromatosis which has left her face severely disfigured. But Jodie has a story that will lead with more impact than her physical frailties. Jodie had been raped by four Muslim boys. She knew them from her school where, on a daily basis, she's been taunted and ridiculed by her classmates. We'll shake our heads in dismay as the details come to light. And most of all, whose truth is the truth?

Kia Abdullah sets this story in the midst of surround sound. We'll get a birds-eye view of Zara as well with the imprints of her life as a young Muslim woman encased in a strict Muslim family. All her efforts to becoming her own person are met with negativity from her domineering brother and sisters. In reality, we all bring the heavy weight of our own baggage into every encounter, every situation, every interaction, both lightly and intensely, with another human being in our presence. Alongside Zara, we'll see this within ourselves.

Throughout Take It Back, we will experience the fine lines drawn between gender, religious denonminations, culture, societal norms, and familial expectations until the lines broaden and broaden into thick, impassable stains of demarcation. I entered into these pages sitting back and letting the words dust over me as the unfolding of a typical Mystery/Thriller. Those thoughts have completely drifted away and have been replaced by my spine sitting up with rigidity.

Take It Back is one of the best reads of 2020. And I don't say that lightly. Abdullah forces us to see things as they really are.......the pockets of comfort that we create for ourselves and the solace of lies that get us through the day. It's a brilliant read and a must read for all of us.

I received a copy of Take It Back through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to St. Martin's Press and to the talented Kia Abdullah for the opportunity.

Not only is Take It Back a tightly woven mystery-thriller, it's an important commentary on a number of social issues including misogyny, racism and rape culture. The author does an amazing job of integrating these into a well-paced, fascinating story. Highly recommended for fans of mysteries, procedurals, feminist literature or all three!

Take It Back is a story that will make the reader uncomfortable, as stories about rape inevitably do. A teenage girl whose suffers from a facial deformity alleges that four of her school mates perpetrated a sexual assault. Her victim's advocate is a Muslim ex-lawyer and the alleged perpetrators also happen to be Muslim. Tangled, inflammatory feelings about the incident resound in both the teen and her advocate, as well as the wider community. The complexity of the situation leads to some irrevocable results, but there is also personal development in both the advocate and her charge.

Take It Back by Kia Abdullah is one of the best books I have read this yer. An accomplished lawyer, Zara left it behind to work with victims of sexual abuse. When 16 year old Jodi walks in and tells her she was raped by 4 boys from her school, Zara and Jodi begin a journey through the legal system. The boys are Muslim, Jodi is not, but Zara is and faces criticism, threats and violence from from strangers who think she is betraying her religion. It is so much more than a he said, she said trial. It is more than the race differences in the characters, it is more then Zara trying to decide where she fits in with her family, her job and her heritage. Thought provoking with an ending I did not see coming at all, I hope the author continues with Zara's story.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the free copy for an honest and fair review.

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of Take it Back. This was a very ebbing read, and it did keep me guessing to the end. Great courtroom thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for my fair, honest review.

This was an interesting book, with a timely premise. But, It didn't grab me and want me to keep reading late into the night. I am not exactly what made me feel that way. I really didn't feel a connection to any of the characters. If anything I found them all to be lacking.

There were a bunch of twists and turns throughout, but it still seemed to be missing something for me.

This is a layered legal thriller that follows a trial from the moment the victim comes forward, through the investigation, and to the end of the court trial.

First, a note on the subject matter: it is a rape case discussed in some detail. It is clearly written with care and is not graphic for the sake of it or for shock value; all details are pertinent to telling “her story” and “their story” and are limited to that purpose, but the details are on the page.

The story is set in London and follows Zara Kaleel, a former barrister who now works for Artemis House as a sexual violence advisor. She has a slew of personal issues—a divorce, constant fighting with her family, grief, and a dissolving romantic relationship to name a few. Her newest client is white, sixteen-year-old Jodie Wolfe who has neurofibromatosis and accuses four Muslim classmates (Amir, Hassan, Mo, Farid), of rape. Jodie’s mother, an alcoholic who blames Jodie for her problems, and her best friend, her only friend who is really more a frenemy, do not believe her. The only person who does believe Jodie is Zara. Jodie is not only treated cruelly by children but also by adults and strangers due to her condition.

Zara convinces her to go through with the trial after we watch the police investigate the four boys, including police interviews and a search of their homes. We meet their families and watch their friendships. The trial reveals lies on both sides, and throws the community into chaos as Islamophobia escalates and some members of the Muslim community turn on Zara as a “traitor.” Zara herself is clearly going through her own concerns about her community, and while I think she sometimes paints with too broad a brush (slotting Muslim women in only two boxes that are polar opposites), there are also other voices in this story. This also gets into the discussion of how marginalized voices are expected to speak for an entire community, so there’s more to discuss and chew on here, I think.

Anyhoo, this is equally a page-turner for the thrill of never knowing how this case will end and a layered look at rape culture, immigrant communities, Islamophobia, misogyny, privilege, and the treatment of anyone considered an “other.”

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre,  however I wanted to take the opportunity to read something from outside my norm. And I am glad I did!! Thank you for  opening up my mind to something totally different. Characters were so well developed that I felt as though I knew them. I love when a book draws you into the story and it feels like you are living it with them.

Beautifully written, Kia Abdullah's novel Take it Back brings us to the British court of law with the case of lifetime. Weaving misogyny, racial and religious tension, as well as cultural expectations, Abdullah tells the story of Jodie Wolfe, a deformed English teenager who comes to lawyer Zara Kaleel with the accusation that four Muslim boys raped her. What follows next is the terrifying fallout that speaks to what we are experiencing today. When the story explodes outside onto the courthouse steps, protestors, police, and the media are intertwined...Zara has to ask herself...is this worth it...and is Jodie telling the truth?

I enjoyed learning about the British courtroom procedurals as well as taking a deep dive into the British/Muslim culture. There were a few parts that began to drag, notably Zara's personal life apart from the case, but all in all I felt this was a reflective courtroom drama.

I should have read the back of this book a lot more closely before I requested it on NetGalley. I am not a fan of courtroom dramas, so this book just did not hit its mark with me as a reader. I still believe that it is probably a fantastic book (based on the other reviews that I read), but this is not not quite for me. My apologies to the author and to the publisher for not doing my homework earlier.

Thought on this one for quite a while. I couldn’t really nail down the stars I thought it deserved. On the one hand, this is a storyline that has been told for many, many moons. And it is a storyline that will continue to be told. So writing something like this is going to be tough to make your novel stand out against the masses. I think Abdullah acknowledges that in this story and tries to address it by adding some interesting elements. But there is such a thing as too much.

The author did a good job of hooking readers from the start. She introduced readers to Jodie and gains readers empathy by her horrifying rape story and physical deformity. But tricky Abdullah also paints a nice picture of the boys involved. As the story progresses, there is a web of deceit that keeps you guessing as to who is the being truthful. I had my opinioned swayed quite a few times. Which kept it entertaining.

But there were some problems. All of the boys and their stories were kind of hard to keep track of. And we had so many point of view switches which caused confusion for me. Now I think when reading electronic files, ereaders kind of format things interestingly sometimes. So maybe there are breaks to indicate the transition in the finale publication. I don’t know. But I did find her jumps from each and every character a bit aggressive with good or bad formatting. To add on to that, she really had too many storylines going on. She should have narrowed her focuses or goals a little more. She is trying to get so much to the readers it all became jumbled.

Overall, I think Abdullah does a decent job trying to make this storyline her own. But I also can’t remember much of the story since reading it. And that speaks to me in a way. So I will say 3.5 stars rounded down to a 3 for me. But when it is all said and done, I think this is going to be a successful publication!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the read.

Take it back really covers a lot of ground from racial tensions in the solicitors family and her problems within it to the court room trial of four Asian boys accused of raping a facially disfigured white girl.

It did keep you guessing as to who was telling the truth and who was lying.. I did enjoy the book but found it quite slow moving. I was also disappointed with the end as it finished and you are left wondering what happened next. I would like it to have been a clearer end.

This is a heartbreaking, well-written and thoughtful book about sexual assault. Set in the present day London, this is a brilliant court room drama about a rape trial that becomes much more and turns into a trial about race. The entire book centers on an accusation of gang rape by four high school boys against a fellow student. The accuser is a disabled white girl with a severe facial deformity. The four boys are of a different ethnic background and socio- economic areas. The ultimate question of the book is, did the four boys rape her or did she make it up?

Although I found some of the scenes disturbingly graphic, the novel was perfectly suspenseful and though provoking. I will certainly look for more by this author! Well done!

This book covers a lot of sensitive subjects including rape and how Muslims are treated in the UK. I found it extremely depressing and without much hope. I was left confused by the ending and why the author and/or girl in the book would choose to let things end that way. Overall, I just kept wondering what the author was trying to accomplish by writing this. It was so difficult to read the courtroom scenes where the rape victim is being questioned and in the end (trying not to give too much away) you are left to wonder what the point of all of it was. Maybe that everyone lies??

WOW, I loved this book! I love courtroom dramas but this book brought so many other issues into play such as race, bullying, culture, and family responsibilities. The characters face many dilemmas as the story progresses and gives you many opportunities to pause and think, "What would I do in that situation?" I found myself changing my mind about several scenarios. I thought I could guess the ending but I was wrong! I recommend this book, you won't be disappointed!

Brilliant, powerful, haunting, terrifying courtroom thriller about a 16-year-old girl's rape case. So real it's genuinely scary.

I haven't read many courtroom thrillers before, but I'm pretty sure Take It Back is one of the best ones ever published. Kia Abdullah has written an astonishingly realistic story which is a thriller not just because it's this well written, but also because it is completely realistic. And the subject matter is beyond disturbing.

Jodie Wolfe, a white 16 year old girl with facial deformities, is accusing four Muslim schoolboys with an immigrant background of raping her. Her alcoholic mother doesn't believe her and neither does no one really - it's just her word against the boys' - except her rape counselor Zara Kaleel, Zara is also Muslim, because of which her own community ostracizes her as a traitor.

This story gets ugly, but it's a much needed and very, very good exploration of sexual violence, social and racial divisions, religion and gender. It's incredibly well written, too.

*Thank you to the Publisher for a free advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book makes me feel gross. I think mostly because I saw it coming. And I saw it coming because this kind of thing actually happens. There were a few moments near the end where I vowed to give this a 1 star rating because I was FURIOUS that there would be a book where the rape victim was lying all along. Obviously, I know this happens in real life sometimes unfortunately. I also obviously know that, because this happens a small percentage of the time, it's used as a battle cry for not believing rape victims almost ever. I was furious because it's bad enough real liars hurt real rape victims. We don't need fictional novels, which are supposed to be entertaining, to add to the cacophony and hurt real victims, too. It was very little vindication when it turned out she wasn't actually lying. But man was I still enraged because she withdrew her complaint. Begrudgingly giving this 4 stars because it really got a reaction out of me.

My book of the year so far. The best book I have read this year by a distance. Utterly compelling, disturbing, engrossing, questioning and strangely addictive. I couldn’t put the book down. When I had to to get on with real life I couldn’t wait to get back to it. I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

The story of a 16 white year old girl with severe facial deformities accusing four Muslim boys of roughly the same age of rape.
Our main protagonist is Zara, a 30 year old Muslim woman, an ex barrister who gave up a hugely successful career to work for a charity that helps women who are victims of sexual assault. She takes Jodies(our 16 year old accuser) case and so the story unfolds.
That’s all you should know about it really. Go in as blind as you can. It will grab you by the scruff from the start and won’t let go of you until you turn that last page.

There’s a huge amount in here. A thriller. A courtroom drama. Social commentary. A look at culture, racism, misogyny, disability. The list goes on. Most importantly what we have is an utterly compelling read. I mean I’m nearly shaking after finishing it.

The star of the show for me was Zara. A fantastically written character that you were rooting for the whole way. An absolute rock of a character(yes I say that despite her fragilities)to centre the book on.

As I said at the start, my book of the year so far. If you read one book this year try and make it this one. It is that good.

Many thanks to Netgalley, St Martins Press and Kia Abdullah for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! Kia Abdullah has packed quite the punch with her novel TAKE IT BACK.

In this crazy world we live in, I find books to be an excellent escape from reality. However, it’s also important that fiction tackle social issues—which is exactly what this courtroom thriller does.

TAKE IT BACK is emotional, difficult to read at times, and does contain some controversy, but it’s a compelling read with a strong cast of characters and a few plot twists thrown in to keep you on your toes. It hits on some very hard truths—truths that can be seen in our media today. If you’re looking for an honest, gut-punching novel, you’ll find it here.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy!