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scholastic_squid's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Great story about one women’s trials reaching the Olympics and winning medal. She struggled to accept her families faith as a child due to school bullies and struggling of adopting hijab once she turned of age. From the diligence of her parents and the desire for all their children to be in a sport for every season, Ibtihaj chose fencing to alleviate her stress of wearing hijab during practice/competitions and keeping modesty during sports. Competing outdoors caused undue stress on her body due to the extra layers of clothing in high heat scenarios, and other times standing out in the crowd as a black Muslim in a sea of white teammates took a toll mentally.
She found strength in family, and the few friends and teammates made along the way and thankfully maintained her mental health later on in her Olympic training with a psychologist.
Training took over her life and her social life was essentially nonexistent. Every minute of the day was dedicated to mental, physical, and emotional training to be in top form.
I learned that placing in the Olympics is based on competitions from countries teams and even then it’s an isolated path of improvement and learning with heavy reliance on oneself to locate coaches and trainers and everything else. Maybe since her team shunned her in ways one could possibly be unwelcome made that more so in her case however, I honestly believe how difficult it is to take that path and how much it can destroy your mental health if the team around you does not provide the positive feedback and constructive critiquing you desperately need to excel.
Ibtihaj faces racism, sexism, and religious discrimination throughout her whole career as an Olympian and it severely did not help that she was doing this through the initial stages of Trump & his dictatorship-like behavior and the downfall of America.
She found strength in family, and the few friends and teammates made along the way and thankfully maintained her mental health later on in her Olympic training with a psychologist.
Training took over her life and her social life was essentially nonexistent. Every minute of the day was dedicated to mental, physical, and emotional training to be in top form.
I learned that placing in the Olympics is based on competitions from countries teams and even then it’s an isolated path of improvement and learning with heavy reliance on oneself to locate coaches and trainers and everything else. Maybe since her team shunned her in ways one could possibly be unwelcome made that more so in her case however, I honestly believe how difficult it is to take that path and how much it can destroy your mental health if the team around you does not provide the positive feedback and constructive critiquing you desperately need to excel.
Ibtihaj faces racism, sexism, and religious discrimination throughout her whole career as an Olympian and it severely did not help that she was doing this through the initial stages of Trump & his dictatorship-like behavior and the downfall of America.
knod78's review against another edition
5.0
I went to Ibtihaj’s booking signing a couple of years ago, but I was saving this read until right before the Olympics to give me inspiration. Well as with many things, the Olympics were rescheduled and I forgot about this book in May. So I decided to start reading, because the Olympics would be going on right now and I would be watching fencing. Seriously, I became a fan of fencing because of this woman.
With many athletic books, you have to weed through bad writing and dribble. But not this book. It didn’t jump around. It was well written. It was organized and thought out. It made me sad and happy and on the edge of my seat, because I only started watching her at the Rio Olympics. I didn’t know what she did, if she won or lost that match. The book put me there in the moment. Her USA team coach reminded me of my varsity basketball coach who made me feel inferior to the other girls on the team and that he was forced to deal with me like garbage, but I had the support of my team. So I can’t even imagine what that was like and it made me so sad to know she didn't have the team dynamic.
I will say that I did get tired of the constant reminder that she wears a hijab. I think I counted five times mentioned in one small paragraph. After the first two sentences, I got it. And some of the information repeated itself.
Overall, if you want to feel inspired, read this book.
With many athletic books, you have to weed through bad writing and dribble. But not this book. It didn’t jump around. It was well written. It was organized and thought out. It made me sad and happy and on the edge of my seat, because I only started watching her at the Rio Olympics. I didn’t know what she did, if she won or lost that match. The book put me there in the moment. Her USA team coach reminded me of my varsity basketball coach who made me feel inferior to the other girls on the team and that he was forced to deal with me like garbage, but I had the support of my team. So I can’t even imagine what that was like and it made me so sad to know she didn't have the team dynamic.
I will say that I did get tired of the constant reminder that she wears a hijab. I think I counted five times mentioned in one small paragraph. After the first two sentences, I got it. And some of the information repeated itself.
Overall, if you want to feel inspired, read this book.
sleepy_giraffe's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.25
pinesandpages's review against another edition
4.5
What a life and so many achievements! This is a great one even for a fencing novice, such as myself. I quite enjoyed this memoir, and admired her grit, determination, and perseverance. Which all might be the same thing, who knows! I admired that for her and at the same time it was so difficult listening to the constant “subtle” discrimination she experienced. I called it “subtle” bc it wasn’t like overt slurs and like all caps RACISM or ISLAMOPHOBIA but rather the lower case kind. It happened at every level (including on the US Olympic team) which was very upsetting. Upon listening to all the work and effort she put in, I just wished for her to have the option to rest. I know why she couldn’t at the time bc she wanted to secure her future and gain broader acceptance for Muslims in America, but my goodness I wish she could take a break from always pushing forward and having the world on her shoulders. It’s challenging to be a representative for so many communities all of the time.
I’m definitely going to be following her life now, she does so many various cool and inspiring things. I’m glad the author narrated it, she did a great job.
My 4.5 stars is solely for the writing style, it could a bit smoother and I would’ve liked to hear more about the post-Olympic bronze win.
I’m definitely going to be following her life now, she does so many various cool and inspiring things. I’m glad the author narrated it, she did a great job.
My 4.5 stars is solely for the writing style, it could a bit smoother and I would’ve liked to hear more about the post-Olympic bronze win.
justicepirate's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars
I remember hearing about Ibtihaj when the Olympics were coming, going into Rio. I found her story to be inspiring so I wanted to learn more about her. This book explains the struggles she had being a Muslim black woman in a predominately white sport and how she became interested in fencing. She is hard worker and its shows throughout her story. I love the spirit she endured and I am sure many people would learn a lot from reading her story. I know she has done a lot since she wrote this book and I really admire her.
I remember hearing about Ibtihaj when the Olympics were coming, going into Rio. I found her story to be inspiring so I wanted to learn more about her. This book explains the struggles she had being a Muslim black woman in a predominately white sport and how she became interested in fencing. She is hard worker and its shows throughout her story. I love the spirit she endured and I am sure many people would learn a lot from reading her story. I know she has done a lot since she wrote this book and I really admire her.
drbooknerd's review against another edition
5.0
I already had been so proud (no pun intended, but for the lack of a better word) of Sr. Ibtihaj and how she has represented us American Muslims as far as I had seen on television and print media prior to, leading up to, during and after the 2016 Olympic Games. Of course, I had no idea of the things she had faced even during the triumphant moments - these broke my heart - especially when it came to her fellow Team USA colleagues. Honestly, I lost my respect for one certain Olympian who hails from the same city I grew up in and have lived most of my life in.
But aside from that - this book brought me great joy, and even brought me to tears a few times while reading - both because of the hard times she faced, as well as the success that followed. I loved hearing about how her parents met in the opening pages of the book, their early struggles as they raised Ibtihaj and her siblings. In some ways, I could relate to what her parents expected out of her - the high standards when it came to grades and the like.
In short, hearing her story through her own words only increased my respect for her, increased my desire for her to continue to succeed in all that she does in life and gave me hope in my own life, though my struggle may be of a different flavor. Yet, of course, the same lessons, hard truths and challenges are not unique to the human experience - and knowing that I am facing some of the same stigmas (though I will never be able to relate to being a Muslim, Black woman in the present moment, especially given the increased anti-Muslim sentiment in this nation) as a Muslim in America, it gives me so much hope and optimism that we have someone like Ibtihaj carrying the torch so-to-speak. and though she details that as her platform as a voice for American Muslims increased she felt some trepidation about this fact, I think she has handled it with such grace and poise.
This book is great for fellow Muslims of course, but also for those who are on the outside of this experience - as this will give them a glimpse of someone that may seem to have reached such a high pinnacle and enjoying all that comes with it, still suffers from the pain that comes with ignorance and hatred from others, be it her teammates or others, even though she had proudly represented our country on the world's biggest sporting stage - that it's not all smiles. And there is clearly a much longer journey still ahead on that account sadly. But I have full faith that given the difficulties she's faced thus far, she has all the tools to continue to prove doubters wrong, as she continues to achieve her dreams.
But aside from that - this book brought me great joy, and even brought me to tears a few times while reading - both because of the hard times she faced, as well as the success that followed. I loved hearing about how her parents met in the opening pages of the book, their early struggles as they raised Ibtihaj and her siblings. In some ways, I could relate to what her parents expected out of her - the high standards when it came to grades and the like.
In short, hearing her story through her own words only increased my respect for her, increased my desire for her to continue to succeed in all that she does in life and gave me hope in my own life, though my struggle may be of a different flavor. Yet, of course, the same lessons, hard truths and challenges are not unique to the human experience - and knowing that I am facing some of the same stigmas (though I will never be able to relate to being a Muslim, Black woman in the present moment, especially given the increased anti-Muslim sentiment in this nation) as a Muslim in America, it gives me so much hope and optimism that we have someone like Ibtihaj carrying the torch so-to-speak. and though she details that as her platform as a voice for American Muslims increased she felt some trepidation about this fact, I think she has handled it with such grace and poise.
This book is great for fellow Muslims of course, but also for those who are on the outside of this experience - as this will give them a glimpse of someone that may seem to have reached such a high pinnacle and enjoying all that comes with it, still suffers from the pain that comes with ignorance and hatred from others, be it her teammates or others, even though she had proudly represented our country on the world's biggest sporting stage - that it's not all smiles. And there is clearly a much longer journey still ahead on that account sadly. But I have full faith that given the difficulties she's faced thus far, she has all the tools to continue to prove doubters wrong, as she continues to achieve her dreams.
jennagrace_m's review against another edition
5.0
This was a great read! I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by Ibtihaj. I enjoyed learning about her fencing journey, as I knew absolutely nothing about the sport prior to reading. I also appreciated her honest commentary and reflection on her experience as the only/first Black woman, Muslim woman, and woman in hijab for most of her life both in and outside of the fencing community.