Reviews

Realistically 3.5⭐ but I'm rounding up because I never read contemporary romance. I loved the ending to this book! Last half was worth the slow beginning. Honestly, the stakes were non-existent for far too long. Romance was realistic and most of this book felt like relationship gossip in the best way. If you like contemporary romance this will certainly be a winner for you.

riansiobhan's review

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emotional funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

themargherita_s's review

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3.0

There's many scenes that feel more like filler content, which made the story a bit boring for me.

The way everyone (both friends and family) keep calling Samira "innocent", "too trusting", and "naive" feels very infantilizing after a while. Maybe she’s a bit of a pushover, but they all treat her like a child and I'm pretty sure they are part of the reason why she has internalized it.

This book was marketed as having a love triangle, and I'm aware that the rules would be a bit different from the usual execution of this trope since the element of religion has been added to the mix, but for most of the story Samira is told by other people that one of the two supposed suitors (Hakeem) has feelings for her, but that is all said by others and never shown through actions. Hakeem doesn't even do anything real to show that he likes her, and only at precisely the 87% mark he shows up to tell her he wants to marry her (but only because he sees he could actually lose her to someone else now). This doesn't look like a love triangle at all to me.

Side plot detail that bothered me: Samira has colleague that she call a friend, and who she spends time with outside of work as well. This friend starts dating the guy who’s constantly throwing racist microaggressions at her at work (and let's be honest, she says pretty ignorant things too). In that case, can you even call her a friend?

alrsto's review

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funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A witty rom-com by a modern-day Jane Austen. Also a hint of a Bridget Jones vibe, in the best way. I wanted to be friends with the main character/narrator. Most interestingly, I knew she likely would get a happy ending (in keeping with the genre), but it wasn’t until 3/4 if the way through that I could see what it was going to look like for her. That element of unpredictability was a welcome and unexpected twist.

faatimah_reads's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

alice_hesse's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

ksaratom's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

3.25

this was a quick, fun read despite not knowing who the narrator was going to end up with past the halfway point of the book.

in the beginning, I didn’t think the writing style was particularly for me. samira is very quirky, with narration that gave the reader every thought she was thinking—rapid fire questions, existential crises, etc. but as I read on, I got used to it and found the self-awareness to be entertaining and funny.

but I really needed more friendship background with hakeem because I wasn’t convinced. also, whenever she talked about menem, I thought she was just trying to convince herself that she liked him,

but never mind I guess

. still, I had a good time, but don’t read this for the romance lol.

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