Oct 4

Oct 4 When You Ask Me Where I'm Going

Five Star Books, Fiction, 2019 Best, Poetry, Diverse Reads

Score: 5/5 Bookmarks

Thank you to BookSparks for sending me a review copy of When You Ask Me Where I’m Going by Jasmin Kaur. I’ve never come across another book that was quite in this format, it’s split into six parts and is primarily poetry sprinkled with illustrations. The book talks about being a young woman, and follows Kiran as she tries to escape a traumatic existence with her daughter, Sahaara, while living undocumented in North America.

The author’s writing is raw and real and you won’t be able to escape deep introspection. Here is just a taste:

some of the men
pray for you
prey on you
pray that god will save you
prey that god will break you
pray that they never marry women like you
prey that they tame women like you
pray that their daughters never hear you
prey that their daughters sound nothing like
their mothers

And another of my favorites, that I think we could all stand to keep front of mind:

if you treat yourself like a poem
that needs to be read aloud
that requires hours of analysis
that contains a background story
behind each metaphor
and context beneath each word
how is it that you can dismiss others
as one-dimensional characters
static and stock
from the beginning to the end
of the story you have written
about them?

I highly recommend reading this book, it’s an amazing debut by the author! Click the button below to get yourself a copy.

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Synopsis:

Jasmin Kaur’s stunning debut novel is a collection of poetry, illustrations, and prose.

scream
so that one day
a hundred years from now
another sister will not have to
dry her tears wondering
where in history
she lost her voice

The six sections of the book explore what it means to be a young woman living in a world that doesn’t always hear her and tell the story of Kiran as she flees a history of trauma and raises her daughter, Sahaara, while living undocumented in North America.

Delving into current cultural conversations including sexual assault, mental health, feminism, and immigration, this narrative of resilience, healing, empowerment, and love will galvanize readers to fight for what is right in their world.