Take It Back by Kia AbdullahMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Zara Kaleel, the protagonist of Take It Back, does not take the easy route. Not only did she leave the marriage arranged for her by her traditional Muslim family; a talented lawyer, she also abandoned a job at a top-flight London law firm to become a counselor at a rape crisis center.
Little does she imagine, however, the path that will open up before her when she meets with teenage Jodie Wolfe. Jodie, who has a medical condition that causes severe facial deformities, tells Zara that she was lured to an abandoned warehouse and sexually assaulted by four of her classmates, all Muslim boys from hardworking immigrant families. Taking the case will result in attacks on her, both in the form of protests and eventually physical assault, as a traitor to her “people,” and on the other hand, the risk of inflaming anti-Muslim feeling. Still, she feels strongly that she must continue to support Jodie through the charging and trial of her attackers.
Tackling the delicate subjects of sexual assault, disability, and religion, Take It Back walks a fine line, and largely does it successfully. I worried that this book would end up validating one of two stereotypes, either that of girls who lie about rape or Muslim teenagers fulfilling racist nightmares, but with a clever twist at the end, Ms. Abdullah managed to avoid doing either. The characters are complex, although the accused assailants themselves have less time devoted to them than Zara, Jodie, and her family and associates. Zara can be headstrong and stubborn, with a penchant for reckless behavior which causes near disaster to the case on at least two separate occasions, but hopefully, these issues will be dealt with in later books (this appears to be the first in a series) and will give her a chance to grow as a character.
Despite the painful subject matter, I enjoyed this book very much and will keep my eye out for the next book in the series.
I received a copy of Take It Back for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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