This book was absolutely amazing and is a must read. Such a thorough look at the complex experiences of a Muslim American family, through 9/11 and beyond. As the brothers follow different paths and strains occur within the family, I was so intrigued to see how everything would play out. The characters and experiences are unforgettable and stuck with me long after I finished the last chapter. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Review will be posted on Instagram and Amazon on pub day and links added to NetGalley.

Devastating, raw, and deeply human. This novel offers an essential, unforgettable look at 9/11 and its aftermath through the eyes of a Muslim American family.

Probably one of my favorite book about 9/11.

Thank you NetGalley and A.M Soliman for the ARC copy.

Oof. My words won’t be able to do justice to the emotions this brought up for me or the impact it had, but I do have a lot to say. I really wasn’t expecting this book to speak to my soul the way that it did. To say it made me think would be an understatement, as I constantly found myself putting it down just to stare at the wall, as they say, and contemplate what I just read.

I had seen this book compared to The Submission by Amy Waldman which I read twice back when it came out in 2011 (and which I made my then book club read too), and which is part of what drew me to Brothers in Service, and I think the comparison is very valid; but where that book leads the reader to infer a bit more independently, Brothers in Service calls everything out to the surface and puts it clearly on the table. I would compare this, in that sense, to Omar El Akkad’s One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This.

This book was about the discrepancy between the truth and the performance of it. It was about calling things out for what they are and questioning who gets to own the narrative. It was about a loving family who falls into dysfunction as a result of their own responses to the attacks on 9/11, both the direct impact on their family and the many indirect ones. What starts as a coping skill turns into a way of building identity in a way most of us have probably done in one way or another. Interestingly, I found myself relating on an emotional level to the feelings of one brother (Adam), while recognizing that I may actually be more of the other (Ali), which was hard to accept! I really enjoyed reading the parts about Adam during his deployments, his experiences and conversations.

This book was a heavy read, but propulsive. Much of it was dialogue focused, and it allowed the reader to explore their thoughts along with the characters as they spoke theirs aloud to each other. The writing was crisp and clear and accessible. I would recommend it to readers who are thinkers or who are willing to challenge the way they see and interpret the world around them.

While it explored this family’s life over the past 25 years, this book takes place seemingly in early 2026. It managed to reach in and interact with and stir up the anger and grief I’ve been feeling for some time, especially the last year or so. I was literally having a conversation this morning with someone about how books rarely can make me cry anymore, possibly because I’m so jaded, yet here I was this same afternoon as I was finishing up this book, wrecked, sobbing cathartically.

I will definitely come back to this book again in the future and revisit this family.. it will be interesting to explore how my beliefs progress or evolve over time as this family was forced to do.