My undergraduate degree is in International Relations and I've taken a few classes in grad school about working in humanitarian spaces so I was super intrigued by the premise of "Fundamentally". It did not disappoint. "Fundamentally" was laugh out loud funny while also providing the reader with lots to think about concerning saviorism, internationalism, and how we generally approach peace and aid work as a society.

Generally, I'm not a huge fan of the "disaster woman" trope (where everything seems to always go wrong for the main character). However, I couldn't help myself but root for Nadia. While she is absolutely impulsive and can be a tad self-centered, I always felt like her heart was in the right place and she generally approached her work in a way that was compassionate and (somewhat) self-aware. While this was a humorous and satirical novel, I thought it approached the many of its more sensitive topics with care.

So many moments of "Fundamentally" were so funny. Younis did such an apt job of capturing that kinds of characters you encounter when working on humanitarian and diplomacy issues. She also cleverly and humorously portrayed some of the contradictions that exist in this work.

I think it will be important for readers to view this book as what it is: satire. While a lot of beats and moments may ring true, this is ultimately a novel meant to entertain and gently poke fun, not something intended to educated or accurately describe aid work. I think it was overall very successful at what it set out to do. Reading this book, in the best way, felt like looking at a car crash in slow motion. You basically know what is going to happen, but you just can't look away.

4 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Tiny Reparations Books for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Imagine getting the opportunity of a lifetime and it not being what you expected at all. Deradicalizing ISIS brides is no joke. Through triumphs and disasters an amazing story evolved. One for the grandkids. Nussaibah’s writing is both confident and punchy. Everything she wrote was supported in some way during the book. I’m so happy I got to read this book. It made me feel compassion for the women that get trapped in situations like these and brought awareness and perspective to a matter that doesn’t get much attention. I particularly loved the ease in her sexual encounters and I loved the determination of the characters throughout the story.

I'm of two minds with this book. While I did enjoy reading about the program set up by the UN agency, the relationship between Nadia and Sara, and Nadia's internal struggles, the author seemed to fall back on a lot of lazy tropes. Some of the characters seemed to be complete caricatures and left me wondering if the author had ever actually met someone from California. I'm saying this as someone who has lived in the Middle East, has met a few reverts, and has never found them to be so unserious and dismissive of a religion they were embracing. Overall though, Sara's story had me glued to the pages and I would have loved to have heard from more of the women in the camp.

Nussaibah Younis’ Fundamentally is a daring and thought-provoking novel that balances sharp humor with the weighty themes of radicalization, humanitarian intervention, and personal identity. At its heart is Nadia, a determined yet deeply flawed UN worker, whose mission to repatriate a young British woman from an ISIS camp leads her into a moral and bureaucratic quagmire.

The novel shines in its biting wit and unflinching social commentary. Younis does a commendable job portraying the messiness of international aid work, peeling back the noble façade of organizations like the UN to reveal the flawed, often self-interested individuals running the show. Nadia’s voice is sharp and engaging, and the novel’s irreverent humor makes the heavy subject matter more accessible.

However, Fundamentally doesn’t always fully grapple with its most profound questions. While the novel raises thought-provoking dilemmas about belief, agency, and redemption, some aspects feel underexplored in favor of humor or plot momentum. Additionally, certain characters, particularly those in supporting roles, could have been developed further to add more depth to the story’s emotional stakes.

Overall, Fundamentally is a compelling read that challenges assumptions and entertains in equal measure. Though it doesn’t always reach the depth it aims for, its originality and wit make it a novel worth reading. Fans of dark humor and politically charged fiction will find much to appreciate.

Thanks to Penguin Group Dutton and Tiny Reparations Books for the ARC.

A bad breakup plus long existing familial issues leads Dr. Nadia Amin FMC to take a job in Iraq with the United Nations where she is tasked with leading a program to "deradicalize' ISIS brides. What could possibly go wrong?! Nadia bumbles along trying to get this program off the ground. She is pretty ill equipped to handle the bureaucracy, political landscape and complex issues of the women at the camp. Although Nadia means well even if she is rather clueless her hyper fixation on one woman in the camp gets her into some trouble. She sees herself in Sara and is determined to help her no matter the consequences to herself or the program. I seriously don’t think this should’ve been as funny as it was. This book tackles some pretty serious topics Islamic culture, religious beliefs, terrorism, religion, humanitarian aid programs, deradicalization, complex mother/daughter relationships, etc. These topics are made light hearted with humor thrown into what are very serious situations. These characters were sometimes well meaning and a whole lot cringey in their pursuits. The book was thought provoking, incredibly amusing in its absurdity. It also introduced me to many things I knew very little about. It's obvious the author is an expert on these topics and delivered a book that was entertaining, humorous and easily digestible. It was my kind of satirical read. This story won't be for everyone but I would recommend.

This book is extremely funny which made me power through it. Unfortunately I can't say I enjoyed it beyond the snarky humor. It's clear the author is familiar with the UN "peacebuilding" world (as am I), but all of the characters need more development. They are completely flat stereotypes to the point of cringe. Maybe the intention of these stereotypes was to make a point but I just found it frustrating. The bleeding heart who can't let anything go, the misogynist himbo head of security, the woman in charge trying to prove herself, the cheating husband, the gay man sleeping with locals (of course he's French!). Don't even get me started on Sheikh Jason! These characters were so hard to read, I couldn't enjoy this book.

Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis is a fun dark comedy.
A funny, thought-provoking and well-written book.
This story was a blast!
I loved every minute of it.

Thank you to Tiny Reparations Books and NetGalley for my ARC copy! This review contains my personal thoughts and opinions.

This book had a bit of a slow start for me, but once I hit the second half, I was a lot more engaged. Fundamentally sheds light on an important and eye-opening story—one I might not have encountered otherwise. Even with its serious subject matter, the humor woven throughout made it an enjoyable read. Overall, I really liked it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a thought-provoking yet entertaining book!

Fundamentally is different than any book I've ever read. Nadia is a (I think Pakistani-British) professor in London, who has done some controversial writing on deradicalizing ISIS brides, when the UN hires her to run a program in Iraq. After a breakup, Nadia takes the job, and Iraq seems more about bureaucracy and incompetence than any actual counseling. She becomes somewhat obsessed with one of the brides, who she sees herself in and escapes with her - this is in a flash forward so not a spoiler.. Such an original idea for a book, and what an interesting cast of characters.

I was interested to read Fundamentally because I’ve read nothing on ISIS or deradicalization, and because I have been seeing the eye-catching cover everywhere.

Nadia is working for the UN in Iraq. After narrowly escaping radicalization in her youth, Nadia is determined to help deprogram and save other young women who were victim of that fate. With unflagging idealism, Nadia coordinates with other UN programs to get her deradicalization program up and running. At the refugee camp, Nadia meets Sara. Sara reminds Nadia of herself as an adolescent. Nadia immediately becomes obsessed with helping Sara. Single-mindedly so.

Also of note, Nadia is bisexual and has a strained relationship with both Islam and her family. Nadia rebels against her religion with drinking, drugs, sex, and bucking religious customs like wearing a head cover.

Overall, I liked this book. I struggled a bit in the beginning with some of the British slang, finding the conversation hard to follow. Fundamentally showcased some parts of the world I know little about, with some of the story about Nadia feeling unbelievable. I really wanted to smack her back into reality in certain moments. I didn’t love it, but I’m glad I read it and I do recommend it. 4 stars. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I can potentially imagine a novel that successfully married comedy to the story of rehabilitating ISIS war brides, but unfortunately Fundamentally is not that book. I picked this one up because of the premise (Dr. Nadia Amin leaves behind a dead-end life in London to work for the UN and befriends one of the aforementioned brides, Sara) and because of the author’s own expertise working in this sphere.

There were parts of the novel that I enjoyed, including some genuinely funny and enraging moments skewering the corruption and bureaucracy the heroine faces. However, the book never quite manages to balance the real and horrific seriousness of these women’s experiences with the kind of zany, gals on an adventure tone of the friendship between Nadia and Sara. Additionally, Nadia’s dirtbag tendencies and her ill-timed sexcapades really clashed with the darker tone of the book. There’s a sentence where Nadia says that her dreams all night were haunted by memories of her ex’s great breasts and images of the war brides being bombed, and the weird juxtaposition of that sentence sums up the weirdness of the novel. I’m sad to say that this one didn’t work for me.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for an early copy of this book.

Despite its dire subject matter (rehabilitating and repatriating ISIS brides) this novel manages to be both funny and warm. From the ludicrous inefficiencies of international bureaucracy to the byzantine courtly dance of interagency diplomacy, you can tell Younis has up close, personal experience in the world of NGOs. Nadia isn't quite sure how she got to Iraq. Sure, she published a paper about the feasibility of deradicalizing women who left their home countries to join ISIS that had the UN come calling, but culture shock and the end of a one-sided relationship have her reeling right from the start. When she meets a women in the camp who is still a teenager, she feels a kinship she can't ignore. She goes above and beyond for Sara, often at the expense of other women in her care. When the time comes to execute a daring plan, Nadia isn't sure what she's saving Sara from, or if she is even interested in being saved. This book asks interesting questions about what we think we are doing when we help, and how repercussions from those actions can manifest in ways we could never have expected.

this book was really funny and readable, but unfortunately the very real sociopolitical situation at its heart never felt like a laughing matter to me. i wanted it to take this topic more seriously, especially since the author is so knowledgeable about it, but instead it was left by the wayside by the end.

This was a killer debut novel. I knew I was excited for this book, but I didn’t know it was going to end up being in my favorites category. Thank you to NetGalley for the copy!

This novel follows Nadia, a woman who has accepted a job to create a program that focuses on rehabilitating ISIS women in Iraq. There, she navigates lots of political red tape, all while dealing with her estranged relationship with her mother, the end of a ten year romantic relationship, and forming a special connection with one of the ISIS women in the camp.

This book kept me engaged from page one. It was funny and heartwarming in equal measure. Nadia was a lovably flawed character and I almost didn’t want her story to end. The writing style was sharp and witty, and I truly can’t wait to see what this author does next.

A clever, thoughtful novel that occasionally struggled to balance humor with the heaviness of its subject material. The author is clearly brilliant and incredibly knowledgeable, which lent strong detail and visuals to the story. I LOVED the character of Sara, but wasn't totally sold on Nadia as the protagonist. The story is incredibly self-aware and thoughtful in depicting a complicated topic, and does a good job on reflecting of queerness & feminism as they relate to colonization and White supremacy, among other things.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tiny Reparations Books for the digital ARC.

This was a FANTASTIC book. There's many ways to move on after a break up, but moving across the globe might be the most interesting!

I loved the writing , the characters, and the story. Nussaibah effortlessly weaves humor within such a serious topic. I was entertained and learned so much in the meantime! Thank you, NetGalley.

There are many ways to deal with a breakup—moving far away, hooking up with strangers, that sort of thing. Dr. Nadia Amin’s reaction to breaking up with the woman she thought was the love of her life by taking a job with the United Nations setting up a program to deradicalize women who, for a variety of reasons, ended up married to ISIS members. (This surprising change also involves moving very far away and hooking up with people she barely knows.) Nussaibah Younis’s novel, Fundamentally, is a hell of a ride.

Nadia is filled with regrets as soon as she arrives in the Green Zone in Baghdad. Before her breakup with her long-term girlfriend, Nadia wrote a paper theorizing about a way to help women who willingly joined ISIS return to their former homes as a way of creating enough of an academic splash to maybe win a permanent job at University College London. She never expected that paper to turn into a job offer from the United Nations. And yet, there she is, sweating in the Iraqi sun and wondering how the hell she is supposed to turn that paper into a reality. The first problem is that Nadia doesn’t have any relevant experience; she’s an academic, not a social or aid worker. The second problem is that the people she is supposed to work for are deeply jaded from years of fighting bureaucracy and corruption. It’s all a farce.

In spite of a deck stacked very much against her, Nadia finds enough gumption to badger the necessary permissions to get a team out to a camp filled with women who spent years in ISIS. Some of these women were groomed and tricked into joining. Others were kidnapped from areas ISIS overran. A few joined of her own accord. After ISIS was beaten into submission, these women became effectively homeless. No one wants to take them back. Western countries don’t want their citizens back because of their association with violent terrorism. The women taken from Iraq aren’t wanted back in their hometowns because they carry the taint of multiple marriages (even if the woman in question wasn’t a willing participant).

One of the women, a young British woman named Sara, makes a deep impression on Nadia with her brash London banter. In Sara, Nadia sees what might have happened to herself if she’d followed a different path in life. A lot of what follows (apart from the satirical elements with the UN and local politicians) is clearly an effort by Nadia to deal in all the wrong ways: by trying to “rescue” Sara, by throwing all protocols out the window, and by never considering that she might need some serious therapy.

There are some parts of Fundamentally that strained my credulity. Nadia is such a complex character that it was hard for me to reconcile her successes with her program with her occasional emotional paralysis. I didn’t always buy the moments when Nadia would suddenly find the fortitude to bend others to her will. In spite of these moments, I was fascinated by the tale Younis spins and the question of how one is supposed to do even a bit of good in impossible situations.

Fundamentally, a debut novel by Nussaibah Younisl, takes a look at the nature of international aid. Nadia, an academic, is working in Iraq with the United Nations. Nadia challenges the process of rehabilitating ISIS women. In time, her work becomes contentious.
This story covers sensitive themes such as terrorism, religion, and women’s right.

I always love a novel where I learn a lot and laugh a lot too.

This is an excellent debut novel about good intentions with potentially disastrous consequences, the ethics of “saving” someone, and just how far we’ll run to get away from ourselves.

The plot here is excellent and I loved how much humor Younis brought to a subject that is, at its core, a very sad one. She has a deft touch with difficult subject matter, and shows a fine hand at deploying humor to diffuse difficult material without detracting from the significance of it.

I loved Nadia (another fictional character who I wish I could hang out with), and appreciated very much how her worldview and and experiences sent her into a potentially dangerous situation in which she makes a series of well-intended but potentially even more dangerous decisions.

Obviously I wont go into the details, but I wondered a lot about how realistic the ending was. Ultimately and especially after reading the authors note, I felt that it was at least plausible (a relief, as I felt very invested in this outcome). Younis explains her professional background in the authors note, and her evident expertise only enhanced how I felt about this well-written, compelling story.