I did like this more than I thought. I was quite captivated by the beginning part of the book but I did find the end was a bit convoluted but I do understand the point if the book.

Think this book had great potential, and for the most part it was well executed, but I just couldn't engage with the story as much as I would have liked to.

I really wanted to like this book as the premise was interesting and the topic really important for young people to be able to read about. I didn't enjoy it and struggled through parts that were cringeworthy and badly written. I wanted to keep reading to know what happened but I wasn't enjoying the characters or plot. There were too many stereotypes and too much slang. There was good character development and believable outcomes but the writing let it down.

I was particularly interested in I Am Thunder as it features a Muslim main character, which are not represented very often in YA literature. I feel that it is an important read to understand the pressures facing young people, especially those who are vulnerable to extremism of all kinds.

I purchased this book for my library after publication and it has been available to our students for a couple of years now. It features on our suggested reads list for the Sixth Form book club.

This book foolows Muzna Saleem - a fifteen year old that has been made to move to a new school and start a new life due to a scandal and bullying. Moving to a different school should be better right? Wrong. Bullies have followed her to her new school, predjudice is running rampant and she is finding it harder to fight. That is until she meets Arif. He is everything that she needs at the time, or is he?As you go through the book you start to see the pressures and controlling behaviour, prejudice and racism.

The book to me was well written but just fell short of what I wanted from it. A read if you want to explore and tackle hard subjects head on.

I was very excite to read I Am Thunder by Muhammad Khan. Especially after hearing really good things from other book bloggers and having heard Muhammad Khan speak at a book event. However, I got about 40% of the way through reading this and I didn't feel emotionally invested enough in the story or the characters to continue.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

It's not easy to find me reading an YA book nowadays, but even I can't resist to a good premiss and surprise.

Muhammad Khan is a Maths teacher in UK and he have decided to write "Thunder" following his own perceptions of what is happening around him and in conscience of how is important to discuss sensible matters in our society, because ignorance is the real danger.

I'm most interested to know how this book will behave on selling, but specially how it will be perceived by critics and youngsters, teachers and social workers.

It's even more easy today to get caught on the trap of making labels to everybody and in any kind of situation. The problem is when we can't perceive anything behind that frontpage and consider everybody who belongs to a community (social, religious, cultural or political one) the very same person.



In Thunter, Muhammad Khan show us how easy can be to young people be influenced by their surroundings, with all that costs. It means a young girl can start behaving differently due to being in love, a guy can obbey blindly a family member, since he is his major support; or even, a teenager can simply change ideias sharing thoughts and discussions with their friends.



All extremist and radicalisms are dangereous and should be identified and avoided as soon as possible. The obstacle starts when the changing is so suble that when visible, it's already too late.



The authors made his characters face huge moral challenges and had them discuss subjects that real matter to how present society, since unployed poor masses to religious rituals (or the absence of them as non mandatory to be a spiritual person).



Khan created a chess card, where everybody moves very fast and more than often, in the shadows. Muzna definietly has her own voice - even when clouded - and her definition as main character brought the reader the opportunity to accompany her journey to freedom. Or towards the thunder.

being asian myself, this was a great portrayal of life right now for a British Muslim. Highly recommend you read this book to really understand how life is for a british muslim

Muhammad Khan is a voice that UKYA needs. This book is a YA contemporary about a teenage Muslim girl who unintentionally gets involved in religious extremism. This book gives us a view of what it is like for Muslims in today's world. This is a tough topic that is so needed to be talked about and I love how Muhammad hasn't shied away from it.

Will no longer be reading or reviewing this book due to lack of interest in the title, and the fact that the title has been archived.

A powerful young adult read that gives a timely voice to a young British Muslim girl, struggling with the usual conflicts between pleasing her parents and assimilating with those around her. A refreshing read which brings up many interesting discussion points.

Written by a British-Pakistani maths teacher from London, who has taken on board one of the most important ‘rules’ of writing – write what you know. This book combines the angst of a teenaged girl who is desperate to fit in, while her parents want her to be a ‘good Pakistani girl’. She loves English and wants to be a writer, while her parents are desperate for her to become a doctor and lead the family out of the poverty they find themselves in the UK. Then there is the issue of being a British born Muslim . . .
Muzna’s parents not only refuse to practice Islam, but they forbid Muzna to do so as well. So, when she starts wearing a hijab, there are rows. But why has she decided to wear a hijab? Is it because she wants to explore her religion, or is it because she’s fallen in love with Arif, who won’t respect her unless she does?
The more we learn about Arif, the more we realise that his beliefs are not necessarily motivated by all the good that comes from Islam – there is a lot of hatred there too. As for his elder brother Jameel, who takes them both to ‘meetings’, his radical ideas start to cause Muzna more concern than her love for Arif can hide. What is the truth?
As Muzna takes the slippery path towards fundamentalism, she has some tough decisions to make.
As I said, this book has been written by someone who knows – not only about the dark side of racism, but the good side of those who oppose it, leaving Muzna to find solace in some unlikely places. But it’s also written by an author who cares – and that really comes across.
I am Thunder tackles the thorny issues of racism, extremism and Islamophobia head on. It’s also a cracking read and fast-paced thriller – I expect we’ll be seeing more from this author. Brave and heartfelt.

This book didn't suit my reading taste and sadly I couldn't get into the story. Therefore I did not finish this book.

I got my copy as an EARC on Netgalley. This book is important and if someone asked me to sum it up in one word, that’s what I would say. Munza is a diamond in the rough and a wonderful role model for young girls, especially those who will relate to her on a personal level.

Rating: ★★★.5

'I Am Thunder' is a debut novel from teacher, Muhammad Khan, and it is so evident that he knows, listens to, and understands teenagers.  The dialogue made the characters incredibly realistic, the plot was believable and seemed to just flow naturally and overall, it was  an effortless read that covered a challenging, vital topic.

The relationship between Muzna and Jameel unfolded exactly as I would've wished, but that's not to say it was in any way predictable.  I had no idea where the narrative would take me but I was definitely turning pages to find out.

This is such an important book and I honestly feel that every school library (if the school is lucky enough to have a library!) should own a copy.

Keep an eye out for this one guys, because I think it maybe possibly might just go places.



There’s a bit of a trend in YA fiction at the moment to tell stories that mean something; that have relevance and carry a message and that are capital letter Important and I love that. All the diversity all the time please – I think I’ve talked about it before, about how important it is to write these books for the people who need to read them and maybe I’ll come back at some point and really talk about that, we’ll see, but for now: the world needs more books that aren’t afraid to shy away from the things we need to talk about, that will make those minorities feel less alone and that will make the rest of us check our white privilege.

I Am Thunder is one of those books, relatable to and relevant and actually so so important. It’s also kind of brave, I thought, because this is such a taboo subject – it shouldn’t be and the fact that it is part of the problem, but still it is. I Am Thunder doesn’t care about any taboos; I Am Thunder understands that the fact that people are scared to talk about it is exactly why we should be talking about it. I kind of want to give Muhammad Khan a high five because UKYA is crying out for books like this, so loudly you can practically hear it. It’s an #ownvoices story also which I think is important to note because I doubt it would be as confronting otherwise, and I mean confronting in the sense that it makes you sit up and listen, it makes you think and it makes you question rather than confronting in the sense that it attacks. Does that make sense? It does in my head.

Anyhow. The deal. It’s set right now, in present day Britain and it’s the story of Muzna, a teenage girl who is also a Muslim and it tackles race and racism and discrimination and at the same time because this book, as I said, is brave, it’s talking about extremism and grooming and how it could be that an intelligent, young, entirely Westernised person could end up being radicalised.

It’s really interesting and really clever. I loved how it painted this picture of being caught between waking up in a morning to stories on the news of atrocities being committed in your name and being afraid to step out of you front door and be yourself because somehow along the way being a Muslim pretty much become synonymous with being a terrorist because people are stupid and something as simple as wearing a hijab has come to represent something Bad and Awful: how all you want to do is just study for your GSCE’s and have a crush on the fit boy in your tutor group but you keep being on the receiving end of hate in response to a crime that you never ever ever would put your name to and how somehow in wanting to figure out who you are and what you stand for and what being Muslim means for you, you find yourself in entirely over your head and then the right people are looking in the wrong places in the wrong way and it’s just so….it’s fucked up. Life shouldn’t have to be this balancing act, you know? But it is, and that’s what this book is about.

Muzna’s just your regular teenage girl in so many ways – there’s a boy she likes and she doesn’t think she’s pretty enough and she’s struggling under the weight of expectation – but all of this is tenfold because she’s also dealing on a day by day basis with this inbuilt illogical racism – people call her a terrorist just because her skin is brown and her parents are caught in this weird place whereby they want to be British but they also want Muzna to hold onto the values she’d be brought up with if they were in Pakistan; where they don’t practise Islam, typically, but they call themselves Muslim and so Muzna doesn’t quite know where she fits. It’s so sad.

Muzna’s parents want her to be a doctor but Muzna wants to write, she wants to write books with kick ass Muslim characters so she can maybe go a bit of a way to putting a stop to the racism that she’s dealing with, continually. She’s lost and she’s tired and she wants to make a difference and she doesn’t know how and so when Arif – who by the way is super hot – starts to show an interest in her, things start to look up. Arif is nice in a world where other people are not, he calls her beautiful when she’s spent her whole life being ridiculed for how she looks and he gets her – he thinks she’s smart and clever and important.

It’s a no holds barred exploration this book, of extremism, of Islamophobia, of how there are so many different ways to be a Muslim , of acceptance and fear and growing up and finding your place because underneath it all, Muzna is just a kid, she’s just a teenage girl like pretty much every other teenage girl you ever met and that’s what gives the book the impact – you can see Muzna for who she is and you get her, she’s real, so when you start to see how all of this is going to pan out, it gets to you, right in the chest. I couldn’t read the last few pages fast enough, seriously, because I could see where it was going and I really needed it not to go there and I was so scared and angry and sad.

Other people might shy away from the real tough stuff but I am Thunder: it goes right in there, right into all the dark and scary places that we all kind of like to pretend don’t exist and it makes you look right at them. Open your eyes, it says, because this stuff is happening every single day and we can’t keep on pretending it isn’t. We need this book – every ISIS report, every terror attack, every story on the news that makes you sick to your stomach means we need this book, and others like it, more and more and more.


I think it’s a strong and daring debut and I think it’s one we’re going to be seeing quite a lot of. And rightly so.

Beautiful, emotional and really raw. I loved how the writing style was.

I am giving I am Thunder 3.5 stars. It’s incredibly powerful and honest, but I didn’t love it the way I wanted to.

I did love Muzna’s character and all the things she struggles with – being a bigger girl, facial hair, racism, overbearing parents, religion, all of it felt so real. Her relationship with her parents just broke my heart a little and I would have loved to have seen more of them at the end, after everything – having loads of open conversations, and how different it hopefully was.

I did consider 4 stars because it’s so well written (and it’s nice to see teenagers talking like teenagers lol!) and open about so maybe issues. And I really loved the scene on the bus, and Sade, showing a glimpse of the racism people can face.

My niggles were around how quickly Arif sort of changes in line with his brother, and how stern his brother is not putting Muzna off, though I do get that. Also that the beginning felt really dragged out. I get that it’s all relevant in the end, but it doesn’t feel it for most of the book.

I Am Thunder is the highly anticpated #OwnVoices story of Muzna Saleem: British. Pakistani. Muslim. Her parents are strict in their traditions and moderate (but extremely opinionated) in their religion. They have very strong opinions on how Muzna should live her life. They want her to be modest and obedient like a traditional Pakistani woman, but educated well enough to be a doctor in a modern British society. Muzna is conflicted. She wants to be writer, to bring stories of ordinary Muslims and Muslim heroes into the world: to show others what being Muslim means to her.
Her father was a very well-written and strong character in the novel. At times his strictness and his anger made for uncomfortable reading, but ultimately it is clear that he wants his daughter to have all the opportunities that he hasn’t had. He wants her to be a doctor so that her life can be comfortable and she will be respected. When he parents force her to stop talking to a close friend despite her own feelings, my swinging-brick heart nearly broke for her.
Then she meets Arif and they become involved. Arif and his brother Jameel have different views on what it is to be a Muslim, and Muzna is drawn into their world.
Muzna’s confusion about her own feelings is clear throughout the story. The pressure she is under throughout the novel to be the perfect daughter, student, friend, Muslim and partner is unbelievable and her strength in trying to be all these things whilst trying also to be true to herself and find her “own path to God” is admirable. She activated my mother instinct and I wanted so much to reach into the pages and give her a hug.
I Am Thunder is one of those stories you can’t easily summarise, because to do so will give away the plot and ruin the story. I will say that there are themes of racism, grooming, radicalisation and terrorism, as these could be triggering for some. It is brilliantly written, engaging and thought-provoking. It is a novel that everyone needs to read.