This was a thought-provoking and powerful memoir. I am grateful to have read it because the stories broadened my understanding. I plan on buying a physical copy so I can annotate it on a reread.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. This memoir was beautifully written and makes a definite impression that will stay with the reader. I highly recommend it.

In The Black Period, the author creates a space for the beauty of Blackness, Islam, disability, and queerness as she celebrates the many layers of her existence that America has time and again sought to erase.
Part memoir, part history lesson and part rant, this book rambles and meanders. In one paragraph, readers learn about the current plight of a Native American tribe at the base of the Grand Canyon. In the next paragraph, we read a story about the author's family years ago. I found this bouncy timeline strategy confusing, disjointed and jarring. I couldn't quite accept it or enjoy it and found myself skimming parts of the book because the flow was so difficult to read.
Also, the author is quite against America and white folks. She posits that forgiveness and reconciliation look different for Black and white folks. Maybe. But I'm shocked that her romantic partner is white because her hatred for whites shines through loud and clear on the pages.
And in multiple places, she emphasizes that the children in the Grand Canyon school are not given adequate academic, behavioral or mental health resources and summarizes that this reality occurs because the school is located in a minority community. Unfortunately, this reality occurs in schools across the country regardless of race, gender or location.
I do really appreciate the thoughtful connections between current and past events. Indeed, many of the racial tensions and challenges our country faces today can be traced to slavery and before. One example is the trauma her aunt experienced at the hands of adult men. The aunt then acted out that trauma by abusing the author and preventing her from enjoying a loving relationship with an uncle. However, white folks are not the only perpetrators. Every adult must take responsibility for their actions and seek healing.
In my opinion, this book does not help folks seek reconciliation or understanding. Instead, it promotes hate.
The 70+ original artworks created by the author's father add visual appeal to this book.

This is another one of the books that I'm catching up on from last year, and I'm starting to see this on shelves at the local bookstores under their "bookseller recommended" shelves, and let me tell you, they're right. This is a gorgeously written memoir that marries geology, art, her experience of being Black, raised Muslim, coming into her queerness, navigating generational divides, and finding herself and community through protests against racial injustice. Definitely worth picking up.

The Black Period is an incredible, hybrid, literary memoir that not only takes you through the author’s life, but also offers poetic discourse on race, religion and family. The prose is heavy with grief as she works to define and redefine home. The accompanying art is haunting and beautiful, providing the perfect visual landscape for her words.

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This was an absolutely poetic book, the narration was filled with beautiful, grief-filled words that captivated me from the get-go. Hafizah Geter’s memoir is lyrical and haunting, but her voice demands to be heard. Every word was essential to be read and I found myself lingering on each page to make sure I absorbed everything. Geter’s memoir is an important one to read, it tackles grief, trauma, Islamophobia, and, racism in such a personal manner — reminding us how truly personal those things are at heart.

Hafizah Geter’s novel is not one to be missed. It’s on sale September 20th, 2022.

An intriguing and unique memoir with beautiful language. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This will speak to many.

Reading this felt like poetry to me. I enjoyed it and the cover is simply beautiful. A deeply personal memoir that reads fairly quickly. I find it very difficult to "criticize" someone's memoir as it's their personal story. However, this memoir kept me entertained and engrossed.

Lyrical and wide-ranging, Geter does a remarkable job of crafting a memoir that is both intensely intimate and tackles our greatest moral crises with rigor and care. From racial inequality in every aspect of her life - work, healthcare, the fates of her family, the queer community - to climate change to the value of art and empathy, Geter leaves no stone unturned in this incisive work. The portraits of her family, and their movements across Africa and America, are especially moving and memorable. Throughout, her precision and beauty of language tempers the sometimes overwhelming amount of research - and grief - in this book. Truly essential reading

Lyrical and wide-ranging, Geter does a remarkable job of crafting a memoir that is both intensely intimate and tackles our greatest moral crises with rigor and care. From racial inequality in every aspect of her life - work, healthcare, the fates of her family, the queer community - to climate change to the value of art and empathy, Geter leaves no stone unturned in this incisive work. The portraits of her family, and their movements across Africa and America, are especially moving and memorable. Throughout, her precision and beauty of language tempers the sometimes overwhelming amount of research - and grief - in this book. Truly essential reading.