In this modern retelling of Antigone, a family of British Muslims discover their brother Parvaiz has run away to join a jihadi group, as his father did before him. His sisters, Isma and Aneeka, do everything in their power to bring him back.

I was unfamiliar with the story of Antigone, other than knowing it was a tragedy. And oh my god, is this book a tragedy. Every time you think your heart has been thoroughly stomped on, another awful development arises. I felt like I was reading this book out of the corner of my eye, the way you watch a horror movie when you know something terrible is coming.

The writing is just beautiful, especially the passages about grief. I’ve never read a book that so physically induces that feeling in the reader, and how it seems to close in on you from all sides.

While I did like the variety of perspectives, I wish we’d gotten more from some of the sections, particularly Isma and Parvaiz. I feel like I only got part of their story.

The exploration of masculinity in this book was fascinating to me, especially the way it was never quite addressed head on, and yet it drove so much of the plot.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget that final scene. I’m trying not to cry just thinking about it now.