I'm not the best at reviewing, so it's nerve-wracking being the first. Please read this book yourself so we can get some more thoughtful contributions in here!

I think this was a beautiful and important work. Rana Abdelhamid has an accessible and moving writing style. I thought it was so powerful that she brought so many stories from her community to the forefront when creating this loving guide.

It's important to go in knowing this book is only intended as a starting point though. Some of the sections feel incomplete and that's because a lot of the safety and support you seek needs to come from your local community. She doesn't have a means of writing your local resources into the pages, so she mostly introduces where you should focus your energies.

The most challenging part of this book was understanding some of the diagrams included in the "Strike Back" section--but at least she understands the limitations of conveying technical movements on paper, so she does encourage readers to partner their exercises with video tutorials available freely on YouTube!

I also found the "Secure the Bag, Secure Your Safety" section to be a bit sparse, but I did like the Savings Circle idea that she detailed. The rest was a bit vague and open ended because it is going to come down to individuals/communities to work through the rest. She did provide you with a great place to start though! It will just take a lot of your own research to actually complete this step.

All in all, I think this was a wonderful book. I wish I could make everyone in my community read it--I feel like that would lay a great foundation!