Take it Back by Kia Abdullah (Review by Jacqueline Agregan)

Rating: 4.2/5*

As a lover of the legal drama show Law & Order, I was definitely intrigued by the legal thriller Take It Back by Kia Abdullah and was thoroughly impressed with the story and Abdullah’s writing.

“One victim. Four accused. Who is telling the truth?”I myself enjoyed wondering and guessing throughout the entire book who in fact was telling the truth. Take It Back is about Jodie Wolfe, a teenage girl with facial deformities. She accuses four classmates Amir, Hassan, Farid, and Mohammed of sexual assault. What makes the story more complex is the fact that Jodie is white while the four boys are muslim. Caught in the middle is Zara Kaleel, a muslim sexual violence advisor . Throughout the book, Zara wants to do the right thing and help with Jodie’s case while her family repeatedly cautions her to leave the case alone until it is too late.

Abdullah kept me interested in the story through her great storytelling, especially during the interrogations and trials. Within each chapter, we are told the story from multiple characters- both main and supporting. I appreciated this style of narration and it was very clear whose perspective we were reading at any given time. What I didn’t care for and often found myself skimming through was Zara’s more romantic storyline. In my opinion, the character of Luka was unnecessary to the story.

All of the shock and twists to experience will be revealed within the last 100 pages or so. I was constantly eager to keep reading to finally reach the resolution. A shocking event interrupts the trial at one point, which was a brilliant move by Abdullah that I had not predicted. The final twist left me satisfied but a part of me wishes there was another chapter afterwards.

I would highly recommend Take It Back to thriller lovers as you will not want to put the book down.