Review: Tight Rope

This review was only supposed to go up on the 1^st of June but I wrote it far earlier than expected and I thought I’d share it sooner. In fact, I had only planned to read Tight Rope at the end of May. On a whim, I opened the PDF and started reading. Hours later, I’d burned through the entire novel – quite contrary to my initial plans.

Tight Rope is refreshingly real. It paints a worrying picture of the societies that we live in and it serves as a reminder of how lucky some of us are. Tight Rope also reminds us that there are battles being fought every day – people are fighting against prejudice from all corners. And we have a duty to assist them in those fights by acknowledging that they exist and by refusing to let unacceptable behavior continue when we are confronted with it.

Tight Rope was written by Sahar Abdul-Aziz and is due to be released on the 1^st of June In Shaa Allah. One of my favorite things about it is the alternating points of view. We get to see parts of the story through the eyes of many different characters, my favorite of which was Maryam. Her difficulties struck a chord with me and I loved reading the parts about her.

My other favorite thing about Tight Rope is that there is no caricature of a villain. Each twisted person in this book has reasons and motivations for what they do. It’s a subtle reminder that prejudice often stems from a need to make an enemy when one is not readily available, to blame others for perceived injustices and slights.

Tight Rope does have a plethora of xenophobic and racist slurs as well as the corresponding mindsets to go along with them. There are some references to rape and threats of violence. There are also run of the mill profanities and, obviously, Tight Rope delves into the minds of some very hateful people. Please read responsibly.

I would definitely recommend Tight Rope. I think it’s fantastic and, possibly, should be required reading for us all.

Final rating: 5 out of 5 stars.