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.

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.