I wish there had been trigger warnings for sexual assault and other sensitive issues.
I won't be able to read and review this.
I apologize.

When We Were Sisters is a lyrical novel about the nature of grief as it reverberates through the life of Kausar and her sisters. It's a story of the abuse they survive when their unnamed uncle becomes their guardian after the deaths of their parents. In these beautiful and wildly experimental pages, Fatimah Asghar weaves a story that is part collage and part lyric and all gorgeous.

Though at times I wanted a little more heft -- at times the shifts in form and perspective seem to elide a deeper investigation of the story and characters -- overall this is a gorgeous debut novel and I cannot wait to read whatever Asghar writes next.

Thank you to One World and NetGalley for a free review copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thanks to One World and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!

Available Oct 18.

Don't read this book unless you are utterly willing to have your heart stomped on. It is absolutely beautiful, moving tribute to the power of sisterhood and the many ways it saves us and the many ways it cuts our soul. When three sisters become orphans, they are forced to rely on each other like never before. Told in lyrical prose from the youngest sister's perspective, this unique coming of age is mired in violence, sexual, physical and emotional. It is dark and gritty, but there is a tenderness to the voice, a yearning, a romantic. Just an incredible mastery of the written word and the heart.

2.5/5

an urgent and poignant story. the author has poured a lot of themselves into this book, and it's visible from the emotional weight of kausar's narrative — i just wasn't enamored by the storytelling style, which is an opinion that ultimately came down to personal preference. asghar's writing is experimental, flitting in between prose and poetry, but their stylistic choices didn't quite resonate with me. their sentences are often like this. choppy, and strikingly emphatic. less stream-of-consciousness than chunks-of-consciousness. some readers might enjoy it. for me, it interrupted flow and focus.

with sparse dialogue and vignette-like snapshots of narrative, i found it sometimes difficult to keep myself attentive. the book is spent inside kausar's head, which isn't inherently a bad thing; i just think it was harder to parse the bond of sisterhood that is meant to take center stage of the story. the characters don't quite feel real to me because of the internal nature of asghar's narration, to the point where i think the book's craft hindered me from fully engaging with the novel. that being said, there are some powerful turns of phrase and tender interactions that paired well with asghar's writing, and its moving story of loss, alienation, and coming to terms with oneself is one that will no doubt be compelling for those who jive well with the book's style.

Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC! I will be leaving a longer review on my blog in the next few weeks, but for now, here’s a general compilation of my thoughts and feelings:

Likes:
-the format
-the heavy topics and how they were handled
-the structure and the use of tones throughout the narrator’s life
Dislikes;
-the “dual pov” (with kausar and (maybe??) her mother before she died)
-the pacing
-sometimes a little too ambiguous

Neutral/random thoughts:
-would’ve loved to know more context about what happened to Meemoo and Aunty

When We Were Sisters is one of my most anticipated reads of 2022 and it did not disappoint. As a fan of Fatimah Asghar, I was overcome with joy that the beauty of her lyrical poetry is very much present in her debut novel. This is the story of three sisters, orphaned when they were young who are raising themselves under the guise of an uncle who is barely present. The sisters, Norren, Aisha, and Kauser experience their coming of age journey while navigating the stressors of being unprotected and often neglected. They meet many different characters who have a role to play in their developmental journey along the way and end up taking three very different paths in their life. At the end of the story, the sisters reunite and the culmination of just how much is lost between them in the end is a heavy weight for the reader to process. At the same time, the bond between sisters remains present no matter how time much time has passed. If nothing else, grief bonds them and brings them back together.

The power of this story, for me, is that our narrator is Kauser, the youngest sister. Through Kauser's lens we witness the fragility and vulnerability of a child left to figure things out on her own. She begins the story optimistically sure that her sisters will be able to look out for her until she realizes that they can't even protect themselves.

Thank you to the author and publisher for the E-ARC copy of this stunning debut!

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy. I started out enjoying the story, but the plot and progression of abuse continued to get worse and worse for me. The writing style is wonderful, mixing poetry and points of view to build the emotions and fill in background information. There is profanity, sexually explicit scenes, and LGBTQ content that I was not expecting, either. The ending is not tragic, but it also does not feel fulfilling. Ultimately, I cannot recommend this book, not even for those suffering from neglect, abuse, or sexual assault, since it will be more disturbing than helpful.

Three sisters find themselves orphans and in the custody of their uncle. He collects the money that the state sends him and barely cares for the girls. Kausar, the youngest, and her sisters, Noreen and Aisha, must learn how to be in a world that does not always see orphans, especially female orphans. As they get older, the sisters start to forge their own paths, away from one another. Kausar struggles with all aspects her her identity: her gender, her sexuality, her Muslim identity, and her identity in her family. In a stream of consciousness novel with some poetry, Fatimah Asghar explores identity and home in an intense and beautiful way.

When We Were Sisters is the story of three Muslim sisters trying to make their way through the world after the death of their parents. Each play a role and they grow up absolutely attached to each other.
They have formed an unbreakable bond as they all have clung together to maintain a family.

As inevitable happens, one of the sisters seeks to break outside of her role and place inside the family - to venture out on her own.

A tender story about the role that love and family play in creating who we are - while simultaneously keeping them from venturing out into the larger world.