This is a thoroughly believable novel, or rather thriller, or maybe it's suspense, about contemporary life in London. Since the author is/was a contemporary London schoolteacher (secondary i.e. ages 11-16), I can well believe the sorts of things that go on; it's a far cry from my experience of school in London.

Muzna is an engaging character, full of the normal doubts and fears about her place in society - especially the classroom - with the added confusion of a strict, potentially sheltered upbringing by parents who wish to engage their Britishness while not upsetting their tight-knit Muslim community.  Thinking of how stressful those teen hormone years are anyway, it's a wonder Muzna, and others like her, don't explode under the pressure of all this contradictory conformism.  The writing comes across as a sensitive study from one who has seen this pressure on kids, over and over again.  Yet it does not inhibit a freshness of language, and some amazingly descriptive pieces that launch the wired world into your face. "Picturing a Wall of Calm, I imagined sticking my head in it" was the only quote I highlighted, but there were plenty of paragraphs that deserved cherishing.

I feared where this was all heading.  On the one hand, I feared it descending into a Reluctant Fundamentalist clone for YA, another revelation of how the West forces reasonable people into corners until all they can do is fight back.  I also feared for the relationships between the teens, and especially Muzna's blindness to what was obvious to everyone else.  But that was only too real. Jane Austen would have recognised the syndrome.

The big build was slow, detailed and full of cultural confusion. The climax was horrific, horrendous, and brilliantly developed. The finale was carefully wrought, and sensibly unsensational.  It's a brilliant book. I hesitated to award five stars because I was, for two considerable periods of time, afraid to go back to it.

It's not to everyone's taste, full of teen angst, and a lesson to adults in both what grooming is and the cack-handed way we're addressing it.  But actually, everyone should read it.

I don't usually read much YA fiction. It's never for any reason other than I have a million other books on my TBR and they're never at the top. But I Am Thunder kept being talked about one of THE books of 2018 so I thought I would give it a go.

I am so glad I did. It was so much more than a love story, so much more than a coming of age story, and so much more than a novel about radicalisation. I hadn't taken much notice of who the author was until I finished the book and did a bit of research so I was really astounded that an adult male had managed to create such an authentic voice for a teenage girl. A great read to start off 2018 and one that I'll keep thinking about all year.

It may only be January, but I will be very surprised if I Am Thunder doesn’t make it to my ‘top books of 2018’ list come the end of the year. It tells the story of fifteen-year-old Muzna Saleem, an aspiring novelist, whose parents have her life planned out for her: get educated, become a doctor, marry a cousin from Pakistan. When she moves to a new school and meets high school hottie Arif Malik, she can’t believe her luck. Why is Arif interested in her, the quiet new girl?

I Am Thunder was inspired by a 2015 news story about the radicalisation of three Bethnal Green schoolgirls who fled to Syria to join the self-proclaimed Islamic State. It is an eye-opening insight into how radicalisation happens and it is, quite frankly, terrifying. As Muzna uncovers a terrible secret and is left to decide whether to risk everything by speaking up, I was completely gripped. I refused to put the book down for an entire afternoon and, in the end, it left me speechless.

I can’t quite believe that this is a debut novel. Muzna’s voice is incredibly strong and she is an intelligent, imaginative young woman. We fall for Arif just as she does, despite some hesitations, and we follow her journey as her experiences bring up a lot of questions for her about what makes a ‘true’ Muslim.

Muzna’s story is very clearly written by a secondary school teacher who is surrounded by teenagers most days of his life. He understands the language teens speak – the words they use, their body language and how they relate to each other in the school setting. The writing is colloquial and it cleverly integrates some key phrases from Islam without isolating readers who might not be familiar with them.

I Am Thunder is important, timely and, above all, a fantastic read. I can’t recommend it enough, whether you usually read YA or not. It’s a modern classic in the making.

The overall plot and concept were great. You witness how Muzna is swept along unknowingly into a dangerous lifestyle through manipulation and grooming. I just didn’t enjoy the character voice and the pacing was a bit off.

4.5 stars

Reading this book was an excellent way to start off the year. It's powerful and thought-provoking, with an incredibly believable voice.

It's a while since I've read a book this compelling. The plot is utterly gripping, and at times hard to read because of the experiences that Muzna has. I am Thunder deals with a tremendously difficult subject in a realistic, unflinching manner, at the same time as being empathetic.

I'm still thinking about Muzna as a character. Her thought processes and voice were very believable to me, and this book made me think a lot about the treatment of young Muslims by people who don't share their beliefs and those who do.

This is an incredible book, which is enjoyable at times and heart-wrenching at others. Everyone should read it.

Sometimes I feel like YA novels are a little reserved when it comes to talking about serious issues. I'm not sure why, maybe the author hasn't fully committed to the idea, maybe they don't think YA readers could handle it or maybe they are afraid to write something that could end up being a little controversial. But when I read those books that are afraid to really talk about an issue, it just kind of skits around the issue and the book often ends up being forgettable, one-dimensional and just vapid. This book was not one of those books and so it ended up being something quite powerful and striking, while also being an enjoyable read and it did not feel preachy at all. Khan really didn't hold back while talking about massive issues like racism, islamophobia and radical terrorists.

I think what really helped the novel was Muzna. Apart from being an awesome characters who was so funny, smart, three-dimensional and caring, she had some great character development. From the start of the book to the end of the book, she goes through things that mature her and change her. She is just trying to find herself, like any other teenager and it was hard to see her struggle with what she wanted vs what her family wanted for her and struggle with people bullying her just because she was a Muslim. I certainly don't understand why people can be so prejudiced, ignorant and horrible to people just because of where they come from, what religion they are or what colour their skin is. I did really enjoy how Muzna wrote about being an immigrant family's daughter. Her family expected her to be "proper" like a Pakistani girl but Muzna thought that it was unfair because she had been brought up in Britain with British traditions and British people all around her. She considered herself to be British and she was but her family just couldn't understand her.

The writing was good. Muzna did sound like a teenage girl so that really made the novel believable. The writing was simple but I really enjoyed reading it. I especially liked the dedication at the start of the book.

I would definitely recommend this and I would read more by Muhammad Khan.

* I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I wrote Muzna’s story for you. Muslim or non-Muslim? It doesn’t matter to me. It shouldn’t matter to you. You are thunder. Don’t keep quiet.”

“‘The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any’ Alice Walker, Pulitzer Prize-winning author.”

“It was cruel to bring me up in Britain, make me go to school with British kids, then expect me to act like a girl from back home. Outside of having brown skin, speaking the language, and half-heartedly cheering the cricket team on with Dad, I had no real idea of what it meant to be Pakistani.”

Muzna is a plain looking girl who lacks self-confidence. Her Muslim parents move her to a new school when her father loses his job and her best friend is deemed to be a bad influence. At her new school she falls for Arif, the school heart-throb who, unbelievably, falls for her too. His brother persuades Muzna to wear the hijab. Her own parents disapprove. Gradually, she finds she’s become enmeshed in more than she’s comfortable with. Can she be true to herself?

This story is immediate and compelling. It’s upfront and up-to-date and I read it over 24 hours in two long sessions. It considers, without preaching, what life is like for a young, British-born Muslim girl who feels herself pulled in different directions. I highly recommend this for young and old readers.

I Am Thunder is a YA novel unlike any I have come across before, just because it takes a topic that is timely and significant and tackles it head-on. Muhammad Khan doesn't pull any punches when it comes to exploring the vulnerability of young Muslims when it comes to being recruited into terrorist organisations. The second half of this book, as we watch Muzna struggle with her identity and come to terms with the truth is truly powerful and amazing.

I did have a few issues with the first half of the book. There were times the writing was a bit clumsy, and the fact that the novel takes us from Muzna's youth to near adulthood in the space of a few hundred pages meant that some things felt a little lacklustre, instead of being properly explored.

I was also really moved by the note from the author at the beginning, about what prompted him to write the book: "Writing [the book] was painful, but I needed to understand what might lead someone to make these bad choices." And I think that's something a lot of Muslims - unfortunately - have to try and deal with, a question they have to ask themselves. That Muhammad Khan has gone ahead and written a book that does deal with this question head-on is kind of amazing.

A powerful coming of age story featuring young British Pakistani Muzna, who is struggling to please her parents and find her place. When we first meet Muzna she is dealing with many of the issues that all young girls face, stressing about her appearance, crushing on attractive boys, trying to do well in school so that she will be able to fulfill her parent's dreams and become a doctor, despite her own desire to be a writer. When things go wrong and her family is forced to move to another area of London Muzna must start all over again in a new school, and it's not long before the handsome Arif catches her eye, but despite his cool attitude it soon becomes clear that there is something darker lurking behind the handsome face. Muzna soon finds herself being drawn into a new world of religion and radicalism , and before long is way out of her depth.
Clever, thought provoking and well written , this is an excellent book. I have never before read such and interesting and believable account of how a young girl could become swept up in radical Islam, with potentially disastrous consequences. The characters are well drawn and incredibly believable, and the dialogue is on point throughout. It tackles a tough and controversial topic in a non sensationalist way, and I found the perspectives and opinions voiced by Muzna within the book made me really stop and think, an impressive feat for any work of fiction.

I heard about this book when the publication deal was announced in The Bookseller magazine, and thought it would be very interesting to read this sort of book written by someone who is actually Muslim. The book begins with Muzna as a 13 year old, and it introduces what life is like for her. Her parents already have high expectations for her and are determined that she'll be a doctor one day. They disprove of her friend who is becoming more interested in boys, and who they believe is leading Muzna astray from being a good, dutiful daughter. While I liked this section of the book in that it set up the family, their expectations, as introduces some of the racism that the whole family faces in everyday occurances, Muzna herself annoyed me quite a bit - she makes some very silly choices and I was quite skeptical that in this day & age any teenager would be that ignorant.

The story then jumps forward to Muzna when she's about 16 (if I remember correctly). She moves to a new school, and it's the opportunity of a fresh start. I loved the supportive English teacher, and how he tries to encourage Muzna, and handle the anger and racism amongst his class. You could definitely tell in the classroom scenes that the author Muhammad Khan has worked as a teacher in the past.

I thought that the slow steps Muzna is lead down towards extremist views were quite believable. It was done in small enough increments that you could see why she was agreeing to Arif's suggestions and going along with his view of Islam. There were times again where I wanted to shake her because she couldn't see that teachers and friends were genuinely concerned about her and wanted to help her, and that she'd drastically changed from who she had been before she met him.

I found I Am Thunder to be a really interesting book giving a believable look at how young women can be radicalised. It was also very educational for me to read another book about someone from a Muslim & Pakistani background, as I really don't know as much about the culture as I should. That said, the book wasn't quite as interesting or gripping as I had hoped. Taking that into account, I'm giving it 6/10.

I found this book very hard to put down - an important book which challenges our preconceptions of Muslims, radicalisation and terror.

It made me aware of the pressures young Muslims must be under in our society today and how easily they can be sucked into a hardline view of Islam.

This is a book which I will be putting on my library shelves.

I wanted to read this book because I work in a school with a fairly high Muslim population and we don't have enough representative fiction. I think this will definitely start to fill the gap as it portrays Muzna, a young Muslim girl's journey to discover her own faith as opposed to her parents' version and also finds the courage to be herself.
It touches on what practices are due to culture and what come from religion but the central theme explores the way minority extremist versions of Islam affect the majority. Muzna's strong desire to break from her parents plans for her life lead her into dangerous territory as she unwittingly gets involved in extremism and the book has an exciting climax.
I did feel at times that Muzna's character was more male than female, mainly in the way that she spoke to herself. However, she is a budding writer so she is quite articulate. Her classmates and Arif, the boy she falls for, did seem believable.
I hope there will be more from this author.

This young adult fiction book is from the point of view of a young Muslim girl, Muzna, who grows up being the victim of bullies, being pressured by her parents to follow a certain career and told by the media that her religion is evil. After a scandal she is forced to go to a new school where the dazzling and handsome Arif, much to her surprise, takes an interest in her. He and his brother try to guide Muzna and teach her more about Islam, which she is open to as her non-practicing parents have not taught her much about her religion.
Reading this book, as a Muslim, I could relate to a lot of Muzna's experiences; getting stares for wearing the hijab; cruel comments after a terror has taken place somewhere in the world; trying to defend Islam to people who don't want to listen. There were many scenes involving things like this which were well written and they were sadly, very realistic.
Muzna struggles to find her version of Islam; meanwhile she is trying to defend it against racists and Islamophobes and stop the one closest to her from being radicalised and slipping into the extremist version. As the story progresses, Muzna's character develops as she learns more about herself and the way she wants to practice her religion and as a reader this was satisfying to see.
I'm so happy that Muhammad Khan wrote this book. Young Muslim girls, and in particular Asian Muslim girls, now have a character that they can relate to and represents them as well as a book that stands up for them. I also hope that people of all backgrounds, ages, ethnicities and beliefs will read this book and will hopefully sympathise.

I had high hopes for this book, but unfortunately was disappointed. Muzna, a young Muslim girl, moves to a new home and school when her father unjustly loses his job. She is very taken with a young man named Arif who has extremely strong views in regards to how Islam should be practiced and begins to follow him in his thoughts thoughts and actions. This story reads very young, there are a lot of colloquialisms and the story is quite disjointed. The story flips in time and situation and it’s difficult to keep travk of where you are in terms of time.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A harrowing look at how teenagers can be pulled into extremism. This book was excellent in how it swept you along with Muzna - at first you don't understand how a girl from a not very religious background with dreams of being a writer can be pulled into the lifestyle, but Khan writes it so realistically that it offers an insight to what may have been happening in real life cases where young people have run off to join terrorist groups - grooming, propaganda, emotional manipulation and secrecy are all at play here. Muzna is a relatable, sympathetic character with a strong voice, and all of the characters - especially her parents - are well-developed and three-dimensional. I found Muzna's relationship with Arif particularly intriguing.

A great debut novel that explores extremism and Islamophobia with a careful hand. I'd love to see more from this author.

Thanks to Macmillan for the ARC.

I've been waiting for a book like this for a while! Either in my submissions folder or on the shelf. The author is a much needed and unique new voice in YA fiction. Compelling and commercially told, this title boldly tackles important contemporary themes and issues. Fascinating. Every school library should stock this book.

I appreciate the sentiment and intent behind this book and I thought it was an insightful exploration of how young girls can be taken advanof and radicalised. I have certain issues with a few scenes in the book though, particularly the scene in which tallulah upsets Muzna by calling her transgender. That seemed needlessly transphobic and there would be other ways of expressing how subtly cruel tallulah is without risking harming transgender teen readers. I also found the casual use of ‘hoes’ to describe girls that Muzna thinks fancy arif to be unnecessary and offensive. For those reasons I’d given three stars, without them I would have considered it easily to be a four star read.

This was a difficult book to read, and I'm sure even more difficult to write for Muhammad Khan, the English teacher and author from London. This is his debut novel, written in the wake of the schoolgirls who travelled to Syria to join ISIS. Muzna is a fifteen year old Muslim girl who deals with a multitude of problems, from her overbearing Pakistani parents who want her to be a doctor, to bullying at school for being Muslim. When she meets Arif at her new school she can't believe this good looking Muslim boy wants to be her friend and she struggles with his devout older brother who instantly dislikes her for not wearing the hijab. I Am a Thunder captures the feelings of being a second generation immigrant to this country as well as the dangers of radicalisation deftly and thoughtfully, and it's a heartbreaking story, more so because of the elements of truth to it.

Good to have such a strong Muslim female character in Muzna, the ending precipitates the reader into a dilemma where we're not sure which way Muzna will turn.
Muzna is torn between being the obedient daughter to her parents and wanting to live her own life - not so different for any teenager. But she has to gauge the clash of cultures of her Pakistani parents and her British life and feels pressure from both sides. Removed from the situation Muzna finds herself in, it is easy to spot extremism taking its hold, but what to do about it when the stakes are so high is not an easy option. So many people will get hurt whichever way it turns out.
Although a little clunky in parts, the message here is vitally important and deserves a read by all young people.

15-year-old Muzna gets caught up in Arif's world of secrets and terrorism. Influenced by his elder brother Jameel, they find themselves torn between their love for each other and extremists. Having disobeyed her strict parents, Muzna feels she cannot go back to her old life, but the new one with Arif is very dangerous. An interesting read, but I felt the author was trying too hard to find the right voice.