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caprivoyant's review
The angst! The confusion! The all-too-easy tendency to get a little lost in family's opinions! Ah!
This story was told with so much tenderness. I adored getting to know Samira and her family as Samira got to know herself. Watching her prioritize the life she wanted made this the sweetest book I've read in a long time.
Will definitely be trying to get my hands on other books by this author.
This story was told with so much tenderness. I adored getting to know Samira and her family as Samira got to know herself. Watching her prioritize the life she wanted made this the sweetest book I've read in a long time.
Will definitely be trying to get my hands on other books by this author.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, and Misogyny
If seeing HP references is a trigger for you, just a heads up that there is a sort of reference in here? An ex is called "He Who Shall Not Be Named" at one point. I believe it was only mentioned once.bookishmillennial's review against another edition
funny
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial
This is a romcom about Samira, who is perpetually unimpressed with the dating pool lol. I loved that because it was so real! Samira works as an assistant at a bridal magazine, but feels lackluster and a sense of malaise about her job and weddings in general. She meets Menem at a team-building day, and finds out he is the brother of her cousin Zahra’s husband-to-be, which means they are about to be around each other much more with the nuptials coming up!
Anyway, there’s a bit of a love triangle so be forewarned if that’s not your thing! However, I felt the romance was more of a subplot, while the familial dynamics and friendships of Samira are what really shone to me. Samira’s friendships with Lara & Hakeem; and cousin-ship with Zahra were delightfully goofy and felt authentic to what I’ve experienced with family, frenemies, and friends!
Samira is 27, which is considered “old” if you’re unmarried, and though her father is mostly supportive of whatever she wants, it’s no secret that it would be excellent news and a collective sigh of relief would be shared if Samira finally accepted a proposal! I appreciated reading about Palestinian-Australian joy, messy beginnings to love, miscommunications in friendship, and figuring out next steps career-wise!
The narrator Randa Sayed did a wonderful job, I enjoyed listening to her bring this story to life!
This is a romcom about Samira, who is perpetually unimpressed with the dating pool lol. I loved that because it was so real! Samira works as an assistant at a bridal magazine, but feels lackluster and a sense of malaise about her job and weddings in general. She meets Menem at a team-building day, and finds out he is the brother of her cousin Zahra’s husband-to-be, which means they are about to be around each other much more with the nuptials coming up!
Anyway, there’s a bit of a love triangle so be forewarned if that’s not your thing! However, I felt the romance was more of a subplot, while the familial dynamics and friendships of Samira are what really shone to me. Samira’s friendships with Lara & Hakeem; and cousin-ship with Zahra were delightfully goofy and felt authentic to what I’ve experienced with family, frenemies, and friends!
Samira is 27, which is considered “old” if you’re unmarried, and though her father is mostly supportive of whatever she wants, it’s no secret that it would be excellent news and a collective sigh of relief would be shared if Samira finally accepted a proposal! I appreciated reading about Palestinian-Australian joy, messy beginnings to love, miscommunications in friendship, and figuring out next steps career-wise!
The narrator Randa Sayed did a wonderful job, I enjoyed listening to her bring this story to life!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Racism, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, and Sexism
warlocksarecool21's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
courting samira was a cute book about family, relationships and love. Overall, I liked it but I thought it was a little lacking in character development and it was boring (and frustrating) at times. I liked Samira but I despised how the people close to her constantly talked down to her and acted like she couldn’t make decisions for herself, she’s 27 not a teenager 😭😭. It seemed like the author was trying to make some commentary about how certain aspects of Arab culture affected Samira’s personality and confidence but I think it could have been explored more.
I thought her relationship with Menem was sweet but under-developed. I feel like we were just told to believe that she was falling for him and that their relationship was growing (either through short conversations or off-page anecdotes) but I feel like I didn’t really know his character that well. Like I had a handful of personality traits and understood that he was the foil to Hakeem but that’s it, the emotional chemistry between him and Samira could have been fleshed out more. I think part of the problem was this was pitched as a rom-com but I felt the romance part was not in-depth. I appreciate that Samira has different cultural and religious beliefs from me that makes dating and relationships different than the norm, and I don’t care if there’s a physical aspect to the relationship. But I just wanted to feel what Samira was feeling about Menem, but it was all kind of superficial. With all the references to Jane Austen I had hoped for this big sweeping romance and what we got was kind of lacking. I think the author could have done a lot more building up the tension and emotional chemistry in their emails and casual meetings to make it more satisfying in the end, bc when they officially started courting I was more invested in the relationship since there was a little more emotional depth.
I also thought a lot of the drama between her and Lara getting involved about Hakeem was so stupid. Sure Hakeem liked Samira but I don’t understand why it was such a point of contention that Samira didn’t want to marry him 😭😭 like common interests and a long term friendship doesn’t indicate marriage material. Lara was so insistent about Hakeem being better for her it seemed so out of character based on how she was in the beginning of the book and I don’t think Lara’s explanation of just trying to look out for her was good enough like she almost ended Samira’s relationship and that’s all she has to say. Lara was honestly so mean and selfish and no better than Zahra (I ended up liking her more than Lara lmao).
It all just felt so contrived and the author needed something to force a third act break up (which I hate). I honestly felt more invested in Zahra’s character and plot surrounding her wedding because it felt real, like the emotions regarding that situation seemed more resonant than any of Samira’s relationship drama.
Even though I was frustrated by the love triangle and the plot being stupid at times I don’t think it was a bad book by any means. I liked seeing Samira’s familial relationships (even when they were messy) and more about Arab & Muslim culture, especially regarding marriage and relationships.
Content Warnings
Minor: Misogyny
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