This was a very moving book about what it means to be a woman in a culture that is toxic to gender. I will say that by no means did the author make this work come off as an Islamophobia piece. Her origins of coming from Palestinian parents wove a very real and raw account of what it means to be present in a household that is so rarely spoken about.

I will 100% say to please check the trigger warnings of this book because there many, but I felt every page of this book as you piece together the struggle of each woman and generation and how that leads to these "norms" getting established. 

The only reason I did not rate this book higher was because there were viewpoints that I felt didn't really offer too much to the story (Fareeda's specifically) or that the ways the characters acted didn't seem consistent. Also, near the end there felt like there was some filler and could have been trimmed out as well as the ending was left in a way that you had to assume what ultimately ended up happening and I would have liked to see it more described. 

Overall this was a very eye opening experience of what Arab and Muslim women might go through (I say might because I'm sure each experience and culture will be different) and in the end you really feel for these characters and how damaging ignoring cries for help just for the sake of "face" can ultimately cost a whole community.