Explore our new BookBrowse Community Forum!

Book Summary and Reviews of If I Tell You the Truth by Jasmin Kaur

If I Tell You the Truth by Jasmin Kaur

If I Tell You the Truth

When You Ask Me Where I'm Going #2

by Jasmin Kaur

  • Critics' Consensus:
  • Published:
  • Jan 2021, 464 pages
  • Rate this book

  • Buy This Book

About this book

Book Summary

Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo and Rupi Kaur, this heartrending story told in prose, poetry, and illustration weaves together the stories of a mother and daughter's lives.

In this stunning sophomore novel, acclaimed writer Jasmin Kaur explores trauma, fear, courage, community, and the healing power of love in its many forms.

Kiran flees her home in Punjab for a fresh start in Canada after a sexual assault leaves her pregnant. But overstaying her visa and living undocumented brings its own perils for both her and her daughter, Sahaara.

Sahaara would do anything to protect her mother. When she learns the truth about Kiran's past, she feels compelled to seek justice—even if it means challenging a powerful and dangerous man.

if i tell you the truth

that i've dug

from the hardened depths

of this shrapnel-filled dirt

with these aching, bloody hands

would you believe me?

would you still love me?

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

Media Reviews

"The strength, resilience, and compassion Kaur seamlessly weaves between prose, poetry, and illustration allows readers to connect with and recognize themselves in Kiran and Sahaara...A story that beautifully touches a multitude of tough topics, this one is for readers of S.K. Ali's Saints and Misfits, Kekla Magoon's Light It Up, and Maika and Maritza Moulite's Dear Haiti, Love Alaine." - School Library Journal (starred review)

"At times the prose feels overwritten, however, overall this is a fast-paced story that will keep readers engaged. A thoughtful, loving examination of immigration, sexual assault, and chosen family." - Kirkus Reviews

"Kaur draws on her experience of being a Sikh woman in Canada to express feelings of anger, grief, and tentative hopefulness that will resonate deeply with young women who feel unheard and unseen because of their ethnicity, their immigration status, and/or their experience of domestic abuse." - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"A bold and heartrending story unflinchingly told in poetry and prose." - Ms. Magazine

"Bold and evocative, Jasmin Kaur's sophomore novel proves she is an unflinching writer. Tackling several tough topics, If I Tell You the Truth is a book that invites much-needed conversation." - Jasmine Warga, New York Times bestselling and Newbery Honor-winning author of Other Words for Home

"Timely and rare, this bold, pull-no-punches book deftly tackles immigration, rape culture and what it means to be undocumented in today's society. You'll smile, you'll cry, you'll want to burn down the patriarchy." - Sona Charaipotra, author of Symptoms of a Heartbreak and co-author of Tiny Pretty Things

This information about If I Tell You the Truth was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Author Information

Jasmin Kaur

Jasmin Kaur is a writer, illustrator, and spoken word artist living in Vancouver, BC. Her writing, which explores feminism, social empowerment, love, and survival, acts as a means of healing and reclaiming identity. As an arts facilitator and fourth-grade teacher, Jasmin has been leading creative writing workshops for young people across North America, the UK, and Australia over the past five years.

More Author Information

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

More Recommendations

Readers Also Browsed . . .

more YA poetry & novels in verse...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Our Evenings
    Our Evenings
    by Alan Hollinghurst
    Alan Hollinghurst's novel Our Evenings is the fictional autobiography of Dave Win, a British ...
  • Book Jacket: Graveyard Shift
    Graveyard Shift
    by M. L. Rio
    Following the success of her debut novel, If We Were Villains, M. L. Rio's latest book is the quasi-...
  • Book Jacket: The Sisters K
    The Sisters K
    by Maureen Sun
    The Kim sisters—Minah, Sarah, and Esther—have just learned their father is dying of ...
  • Book Jacket: Linguaphile
    Linguaphile
    by Julie Sedivy
    From an infant's first attempts to connect with the world around them to the final words shared with...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

Polite conversation is rarely either.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

F the M

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.