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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
Funny, heartwarming, and very witty, Ayesha at Last is an excellent book by itself -- the fact that it's a brilliantly smart modern Muslim retelling of Pride & Prejudice just makes it even better!!!! If you're a fan of P&P, you HAVE to put this on your reading list, and even if you're not, pick this one up for the whip-smart writing, beautiful story, and wonderful cast of characters.
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent
It was just the fun easy read that I needed. I went into this thinking it would be cheesy (and I was okay with that), but it wasn’t cheesy at all. I’m glad I randomly purchased this book. I need more South Indian authors, or stories about South Indians in my life.
I twist on the re-telling of Pride and Prejudice. I liked how the author, Uzma Jalaluddin, gave the reader a view into a traditional and modern Muslim culture. The plot was good, yet a little slow. The characters were a mimic of the characters in Pride and Prejudice, specifically Ayesha with Elizabeth Bennett.
3.5
I enjoyed it, but at the same time, all the characters are stupid/and or annoying.
I enjoyed it, but at the same time, all the characters are stupid/and or annoying.
What a delightful reimagining of Pride and Prejudice. Thoroughly enjoyable.
2.5 stars
This was just so disappointing. The premise - Pride and Prejudice with Canadian Muslims - is brilliant, and I was really excited to see how the novel would translate plots and ideas from P&P into this different cultural context. But this...was just so mediocre.
First, the good:
-FOOD DESCRIPTIONS. Reading this made me hungry enough that I made curry last night.
-The occasional moments of congruence with lines from P&P were very cute, especially in the way they translated to expectations with Muslim women
-Ayesha’s grandparents are pretty delightful, if over-the-top in articulating the theme
The bad:
-Flat, cartoonish characters whose motivations and behavior change on a dime. Three ridiculously over the top villains with zero subtlety. People whose actions don’t resemble any human being ever. And a fairly bland set of main characters who I just didn’t feel the chemistry between.
-The writing is unfortunately obvious and clunky. There wasn’t a single sentence in this book that I felt like underlining either for its profundity or its humor.
-One of my biggest pet peeves in fiction is when a character is a poet or a writer or a musician and then we get to see their work and it is NOT GREAT. Ayesha’s poetry is bad. It’s really, really bad. And when everyone was whooping and cheering for her to become a professional poet I wanted to beg her not to quit her day job, because it is not good. Also there’s a scene where she randomly recites a completely out of context soliloquy from Macbeth for absolutely no reason and then it’s never spoken of again?
I could go on. I know a lot of people have enjoyed this book, and I really, really wanted to as well. But it just didn’t work for me at all.
This was just so disappointing. The premise - Pride and Prejudice with Canadian Muslims - is brilliant, and I was really excited to see how the novel would translate plots and ideas from P&P into this different cultural context. But this...was just so mediocre.
First, the good:
-FOOD DESCRIPTIONS. Reading this made me hungry enough that I made curry last night.
-The occasional moments of congruence with lines from P&P were very cute, especially in the way they translated to expectations with Muslim women
-Ayesha’s grandparents are pretty delightful, if over-the-top in articulating the theme
The bad:
-Flat, cartoonish characters whose motivations and behavior change on a dime. Three ridiculously over the top villains with zero subtlety. People whose actions don’t resemble any human being ever. And a fairly bland set of main characters who I just didn’t feel the chemistry between.
-The writing is unfortunately obvious and clunky. There wasn’t a single sentence in this book that I felt like underlining either for its profundity or its humor.
-One of my biggest pet peeves in fiction is when a character is a poet or a writer or a musician and then we get to see their work and it is NOT GREAT. Ayesha’s poetry is bad. It’s really, really bad. And when everyone was whooping and cheering for her to become a professional poet I wanted to beg her not to quit her day job, because it is not good. Also there’s a scene where she randomly recites a completely out of context soliloquy from Macbeth for absolutely no reason and then it’s never spoken of again?
I could go on. I know a lot of people have enjoyed this book, and I really, really wanted to as well. But it just didn’t work for me at all.