Bookish Devices is thrilled to be a part of the blog tour for Kia Abdullah’s Take it Back.
Summary ~ One victim. Four accused. Who is telling the truth?
Zara Kaleel, one of London’s brightest legal minds, shattered the expectations placed on her by her family and forged a brilliant legal career. But her decisions came at a high cost, and now, battling her own demons, she has exchanged her high profile career for a job at a sexual assault center, helping victims who need her the most. Victims like Jodie Wolfe.
When Jodie, a sixteen-year-old girl with facial deformities, accuses four boys in her class of an unthinkable crime, the community is torn apart. After all, these four teenage defendants are from hard-working immigrant families and they all have proven alibis. Even Jodie’s best friend doesn’t believe her.
But Zara does—and she is determined to fight for Jodie—to find the truth in the face of public outcry. And as issues of sex, race and social justice collide, the most explosive criminal trial of the year builds to ashocking conclusion.
My review ~ Imagine yourself at a ping pong tournament or tennis match. Picture your head going back and forth, side to side, as you follow the ball. That’s what reading Take it Back felt like. I believed Jodie. No wait! I believe the boys. Oh hell, I don’t know who to believe!
Compelling and engaging from the beginning, Abdullah wrote a book that found this reader eager to know all the answers. Take it Back is a solid mystery that never let this reader really settle on solving the mystery, which is one mark of an excellent story in my opinion.
Goodreads indicates this is the first book in a series about Zara. Zara is flawed and I enjoyed getting to know her character in Take it Back. I’m eager to continue exploring her life in forthcoming books. And if her cases are as hard to figure out as this one, I’ll have a new favorite series to follow.
I’m still shaking my head at the ending! A good twist that finally stopped the back and forth of my head seeking answers. You’ll have your answers and I hope you’ll enjoy the road to them as much as I did.
Thank you St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read/review and participate in the blog tour! All opinions are my own.
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewer: Jennifer
Release Date: December 8, 2020
Buy Links
Amazon • Barnes & Noble • Macmillan • Books-a-Million
KIA ABDULLAH is an author and travel writer. She has contributed to The Guardian, BBC, Channel 4 News, and The New York Times. Kia currently travels the world as one half of the travel blog Atlas & Boots, which receives over 200,000 views per month.
Website • Instagram • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads
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