Reviews with content warning for Racism - We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir

A Poignant life story about how the writer, Samra Habib, managed to merge her queer identity with her Muslim faith and help others do the same. The book does not shy away from the flaws of her parents, yet it understands why they acted the way they did without passing judgment or excusing their behavior. The writing was engaging so that I breezed through the book much faster than usual.

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atreegrowsinbooks's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

4.0

This was an insightful memoir, about finding your own queerness. I appreciated the overall structure of the book, where overall we follow Samra as she grows up, but there were a few times when the timing or pacing of the chapter or contents within pulled me out of the story and then caused me to be confused about when in Samra’s life were learning about.

I appreciated Samra’s words and will be looking for her photography and photo project mentioned in this book.

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quantumponies's review against another edition

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3.5

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mitzee's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

While short/brief I enjoyed this memoir for its heart and emotion. Thinking about my own journey some of the things Habib wrote really moved me, like “leave young people better than you found them” - and this is in reflection of relationships/dating.

I also found their realization that they were using relationships with cis men as a mask to continue to avoid being real with oneself to be profound but also a sneaky way of exploring one’s identity.

Would recommend this book as a little intro into the world of queer Muslim stories because it’s so short and sweet. I’m sure there’s so many more perspectives to explore.

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bookdragonkatie's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

4.0

It felt like the author wanted to expand and say more about certain topics but they ended up stopping themselves. Overall, great piece and highly recommend.

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ewitsmich's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.5

Raw and honest. I love the perspective of queer Muslim women, so often ignored by western media.

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sneaky_snake22's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

A truly beautiful, inspiring, and infirmary story. I'm readout grateful that she had the ability to share her experiences and I was able to read them.

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