Goodreads asked Yasmina Diallo:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Yasmina Diallo Mostly from my own experience in the fashion industry. I wanted to share messages of body positivity with women who feel disempowered and caricatured by our modern world’s obsession with the female body. Beauty, body image, workplace harassment, female rivalry and dating are subjects that enter a woman’s life as soon as she hits puberty and I think that our obsession with the idea of being good at all those things is harmful to young girls. A woman needs to be “good” at beauty, “good” at self-love, “good” at dealing with bullies, “good” at ignoring gossip, “good” at being both one thing and its opposite and the list goes on. Through Yousra’s journey, I wanted to show that what really matters is finding joy and comfort within yourself because womanhood looks different for every woman.

I also wanted to invite people inside the head of an introvert. The internet has glamorized introversion a lot and I feel like today, introverts are falsely perceived as extraordinary humans who never feel embarrassed or mortified in public settings. Through Yousra, I wanted to show that introverts can experience anxiety as intensely and awkwardly as anybody else. Yousra is someone whose taciturnity in public completely clashes with the chatterbox that she becomes when she opens her journal and most of the time, introversion really is just that. Approving smiles and friendly head movements that hide a very animated inner life.

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