Skip to main content

REVIEW: Better Left Unsaid by Tufayel Ahmed


Genre: Contemporary Fiction 

Release Date: Expected 14th September 2023

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing 

Three siblings. Three promises. Three lifetimes of saying all the wrong things…

Since their mother’s death, siblings Imran, Sumaya and Majid have drifted in three very different directions, trying to live up to the last promises they each made to her. But when a viral news piece throws an unwanted spotlight on the family, they’re drawn back into each other’s lives for the first time in years.

With the media attention exposing the cracks in Imran’s already fragile marriage, he begs Sumaya to return from New York to help—but living under the same roof again after all this time brings up all the secrets they’d both thought long-buried. And now nothing can stop the truth from coming out…

With the promises they once made in tatters, is this a chance for the siblings to finally live the lives they’ve always wanted and rebuild the bond they once had? Or has too much already been said?

"The individual pain over the loss of a loved one was so unique, but grief was a shared human experienced that touched everyone."

Better Left Unsaid is an incisive exploration into the cracks that form between families and how they can either keep breaking or come back together again.

This tender and authentic story explores all the little things that beautifully weave together to create our identity - loss, love, tradition, race, family, gender, culture, sexuality - all through a thoughtful and contemporary lens. I was touched by the insightful looks into sexuality and masculinity and how these things change in a traditional Muslim culture or family. It was deeply absorbing and emotional but also had time for some witty and humorous observations about modern life.

The prose was delicate and almost poetic in places, switching between quiet metaphors and imagery and an easy conversational tone. As we switch between the perspectives of different family members, we quickly get to know them, and it’s clear they’re much more honest and open with the reader than each other so we’re left seeing the gaps between them and hoping something that can close it again. It was definitely interesting to see the different ways every person interpreted a conversation or an event, showing us every single person experiences their story in a different way — any person could be a hero, villain or bystander depending on who’s telling the story.

Each person has their own story that plays out, their own struggles and flaws but they slowly merge, finding their common threads to reveal a complex tapestry of relationships and people that was something very special. The story was propelled by not only each individual journey of self-discovery and the breaking of generational and cultural toxicity, but the discovery of the different things family can mean at different times in life.

A powerful story about family — and what that really means from an equally powerful voice.


⭐⭐⭐⭐


I was gifted an advanced reviewers copy of this title in return for an honest review. Please check content warnings before reading as this title contains subjects that may be upsetting or triggering, including depictions of islamophobia, abortion, homophobia and trauma. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

REVIEW: This Could Be Us by Clare McGowan

Genre: Fiction | Literary Fiction Release Date: Expected 1st June 2023 Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group | Corsair  Kate has done the unthinkable. She'd worked hard to build a perfect life for herself, while ignoring her growing unhappiness. But when her second child was born profoundly disabled, reality hit. Unable to cope, Kate left - disappearing without a trace. She ends up in LA, with a glittering career and a new family of sorts, but the guilt is still suffocating. Husband Andrew was left to pick up the pieces and care for their disabled daughter and angry, confused son. Bereft and broken, he leaned on Olivia, Kate's best friend. She's been by his side ever since, ignoring her own needs to meet his. Years later, Andrew has written a memoir about his daughter learning to communicate against all odds. But when Kate's new producer husband decides he wants to make a film of it, their worlds collide once again. Now, Kate must return to the life she abandoned and reck...
Post a Comment
Read more

REVIEW: Live, Laugh, Lesbian by Helen Scott

Genre: Non-Fiction | Memoir | LGTBQ+  Release Date: 19th October 2023 Publisher: Jessica Kingsley Part memoir, part guide, part conversation and all queer joy — Live, Laugh, Lesbian is a brilliantly warm and friendly journey into the queer experience, not only from the author but from plenty of other lesbian, queer, bisexual and pansexual contributors who bring a unique viewpoint and voice and also show a beautiful diverse, intersectional scope of the queer spectrum and welcomes in queer people and allies of any kind to come feel the love. The book is very conversational, talking to the reader in a fun, friendly way — at times I rolled my eyes as the use of “famalam” but as a previous patron of Colours and Chicagos I’m not in a position to judge the Essex-isms. It’s full of anecdotes and observations that were witty and relatable as well as talking is through the more difficult side of queerness like dealing with workplace discrimination, religious trauma and coming out to family...
Post a Comment
Read more

BOOK TOUR STOP x RANDOM THINGS TOURS: Thirty Days of Darkness by Jenny Lund Madsen

  " This town has secrets that are best left alone." Author Hannah is a success, on paper at least. She's receiving critical acclaim and praise worldwide and her work is regarded as some of the best. She writes literature, not just books. But the reality is, outside of the literary circles nobody actually reads her work. But when she finally snaps at a book event and publicly criticises the genre fiction books that outsell hers, claiming they're easy and mindless she's challenged to write her own crime fiction novel in just thirty days by an author she loathes. Desperate not to lose to him, her editor arranges for her to spend a month in a quiet, cold village in Iceland hoping that the solitude will spark inspiration.  But instead of writing a murder story - she's in one . Just before she arrives, the body of a young man is pulled from the icy waters and her search for ideas soon becomes a search for a killer. And if she's not careful, she might end up the...
Post a Comment
Read more