Sheena Kamal

The Beauty of the Moment meets Exit, Pursued by a Bear. Award-winning thriller writer Sheena Kamal delivers a kick-ass debut YA novel that will have fans crying out for more. Love and violence. In some families they're bound up together, dysfunctional and poisonous, passed from generation to generation like eye color or a quirk of smile. Trisha's trying to break the chain, channeling her violent impulses into Muay Thai kickboxing, an unlikely sport for a slightly built girl of Trinidadian descent. Her father comes and goes as he pleases, his presence adding a layer of tension to Toronto's east-end townhouse Trisha and her mom call home, every punch he lands on her mother carving itself indelibly into Trisha's mind. Until the night he wanders out drunk in front of the car Trisha is driving, practicing on her learner's permit, her mother in the passenger seat. Her father is killed, and her mother seems strangely at peace. Lighter, somehow. Trisha doesn't know exactly what happened that night, but she's afraid it's going to happen again. Her mom has a new man in her life and the patterns, they are repeating.

Fight Like a Girl

The Beauty of the Moment meets Exit, Pursued by a Bear. Award-winning thriller writer Sheena Kamal delivers a kick-ass debut YA novel that will have fans crying out for more. Love and violence. In some families they're bound up together, dysfunctional and poisonous, passed from generation to generation like eye color or a quirk of smile. Trisha's trying to break the chain, channeling her violent impulses into Muay Thai kickboxing, an unlikely sport for a slightly built girl of Trinidadian descent. Her father comes and goes as he pleases, his presence adding a layer of tension to the Toronto east-end townhouse that Trisha and her mom call home, every punch he lands on her mother carving itself indelibly into Trisha's mind. Until the night he wanders out drunk in front of the car Trisha is driving, practicing on her learner's permit, her mother in the passenger seat. Her father is killed, and her mother seems strangely at peace. Lighter, somehow. Trisha doesn't know exactly what happened that night, but she's afraid it's going to happen again. Her mom has a new man in her life and the patterns, they are repeating.

sarina

rita

it was! i don’t know if it left an impression on me because it was good or because it was shocking

Geneviève Rouleau

*I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley*

I was really looking forward to reading this book - I couldn't pass up the idea of reading about a strong, young woman of color, who is a badass Muay Thai fighter. 

There were definitely some interesting concepts in this book, like when Trisha questions what leads her mom to tolerating domestic abuse, when she's such a strong, independent woman when her dad isn't around. Or when she has her first sexual intercourse and it isn't amazing at all, just.. meh. Which is the reality of so many young girls out there. Who also don't know what orgasms feel like - because they're not educated about them. I also appreciated the part where one of her teachers wants her to write a book report about a book based on mythical concepts from Trinidad, instead of writing about the classic book pick, like her other classmates. I feel like her teacher meant to spark her interest and read more about her "culture". I know that POC or often thought of as "foreign", even though they're born and raison in Canada, like Trisha. Her teacher meant well, but it's not because her parents identify to a certain culture that she does too. 

I had a bit of trouble with the writing style, it felt too informal, as though the character was just talking out loud or writing in her diary. Also, I don't know if it's because the book wasn't properly adapted to read on a Kindle, but I'm really picky about this kind of stuff, so I thought I'd mention it : there were a lot random dashes in the middle of words, like "neigh-borhood".. which brought on a lot of awkward pausing 😅 Same goes for words in italic, they were always jammed right onto the next word, with no space in between. 

It was an okay read, but I wasn't that into it. Yes, there was a lot of mystery regarding her parents' past, her father's death, etc. And there was a major plot twist toward the ending. But it's still a 2.5⭐ for me.

Fight Like a Girl

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