This was my first read of the year and it was incredible. We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra HabibĪ triumphant memoir of forgiveness and family, both chosen and not, We Have Always Been Here is a rallying cry for anyone who has ever felt out of place and a testament to the power of fearlessly inhabiting one’s truest self. There are some beautiful lessons here in the importance of community care and the strength people have when they all come together. Emezi bases the story around an important question, “ How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist?“, and it’s one that challenges the way we think of our own interactions with our communities. It’s something that feels very recognizable in our present day, with people increasingly calling for awareness and reform regarding issues impacting minoritized groups. Kids are taught about how the ‘angels’ of the city led this revolution to drive out evil but many folks avoid directly talking about the kinds of crimes and societal issues that this community has supposedly moved past.
This book has an interesting premise in that it takes place after all the ‘monsters’ have been driven out of the town. It’s the first I’ve read by Emezi and I’m glad to have finally checked out this well-loved author. I’ve talked about this one a bit before and of course so have many in the book world. A thought-provoking and haunting novel about a creature that escapes from an artist’s canvas, whose talent is sniffing out monsters in a world that claims they don’t exist anymore.
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