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ensara's review against another edition
3.0
I loved how the story began! I really enjoyed the first few chapters, and I often agreed with the author. However, reading about the first few years of the marriage was painful!!! Some things could’ve definitely been left unsaid, but I liked the book overall, and I think it makes for a good story.
beetific's review against another edition
5.0
I enjoyed this very much- probably because I related to the author's way of thinking so much. Idealized expectations of love and romance based on Western romcoms...100% me! But it truly was a joy to read, especially because it's a narrative that you don't come across very often in the memoir/romance(ish) genre- that of the Arab-American Muslim. It was interesting to see how the author came to the realization that her unhappiness and dissatisfaction with her life and her marriage wasn't entirely because of everyone around her- it was because of her unrealistic expectations of love and her total acceptance of the warnings of her family and family friends' as rules of law (which, BOY, do I relate to...).
I've always wanted to visit Guadalajara and the descriptions of it in the book made it seem so warm and lovely- I'm even more set on visiting now!
My only (sort of) quip with the book is that I would have liked the ending to have been fleshed out a little bit more- it would have been great to see how the author continued to grow as she matured into her mid 20s. I felt that it wrapped up a little abruptly.
I've always wanted to visit Guadalajara and the descriptions of it in the book made it seem so warm and lovely- I'm even more set on visiting now!
My only (sort of) quip with the book is that I would have liked the ending to have been fleshed out a little bit more- it would have been great to see how the author continued to grow as she matured into her mid 20s. I felt that it wrapped up a little abruptly.
bookworm_lv's review against another edition
5.0
Beautifully written different kind of love story. ❤
applezing's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted to know more about the later years of their marriage and how they actually managed to work things out! Like, we get it, you’re a teen girl, you’re petty, but like tell us how you got over it and how cute your relationship is now please and thank you.
julietabb's review against another edition
5.0
I loved reading this memoir and was drawn into the story and the people. It is honest, laying out internal struggles and questions, the process of growing and facing your own weaknesses (which is so hard to do). Through the story, I gained a greater understanding of Arab culture and of Muslim religion. Some of the parallels I saw with my own upbringing made me think about my culture and faith in a different way.
baronessekat's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars (I rounded up)
Hulda is an first generation American born girl from an Iraqi family who are fairly orthodox in their Islamic faith. While fairly liberal in many aspects of life, she is raise to believe that when it comes to love, romance and the interaction of the genders, there are very strict rules.
She was promised to Hadi since the age of 6. That's just the way it was. But that didn't stop her from having dreams of him sweeping her off her feet, courting her, doing the storybook proposal, the glamorous American Movies wedding. That is not what she got and she struggled with reconciling her dreams and her reality.
All in all, while there was a lot of things I could write off about this book as cultural differences, I hate to say it, in the end I found Hulda a spoiled, selfish, self-centered brat. She constantly bickered, picked on and insulted Hadi. She blamed him for all the things wrong in her life because... SHE NEVER SAID WHAT SHE WANTED. Apparently hew as just supposed to read her mind. Not to mention she almost never stopped to look at things from his point of view. It was always her, her her. I want, I need, I should have...
Throughout a good 60% of the book I just wanted to reach into the audiobook and slap the daylights out of her and say "do you hear yourself and how selfishly spoiled you sound?"
Can't say I'd recommend this book.
Hulda is an first generation American born girl from an Iraqi family who are fairly orthodox in their Islamic faith. While fairly liberal in many aspects of life, she is raise to believe that when it comes to love, romance and the interaction of the genders, there are very strict rules.
She was promised to Hadi since the age of 6. That's just the way it was. But that didn't stop her from having dreams of him sweeping her off her feet, courting her, doing the storybook proposal, the glamorous American Movies wedding. That is not what she got and she struggled with reconciling her dreams and her reality.
All in all, while there was a lot of things I could write off about this book as cultural differences, I hate to say it, in the end I found Hulda a spoiled, selfish, self-centered brat. She constantly bickered, picked on and insulted Hadi. She blamed him for all the things wrong in her life because... SHE NEVER SAID WHAT SHE WANTED. Apparently hew as just supposed to read her mind. Not to mention she almost never stopped to look at things from his point of view. It was always her, her her. I want, I need, I should have...
Throughout a good 60% of the book I just wanted to reach into the audiobook and slap the daylights out of her and say "do you hear yourself and how selfishly spoiled you sound?"
Can't say I'd recommend this book.
moonlightmoths's review against another edition
3.0
While I did not grow up Muslim, I was raised in a very religious household so I can sympathize with some of Huda's struggles. Due to my pretty conservative upbringing, I've been trying my hardest to start reading more books with diverse perspectives and First Comes Marriage was a great start. This story was refreshing and it really helped give a better understanding of the struggles Muslim-Americans face.
The book covers Al-Marashi's struggle with balancing her Muslim expectations of romance and marriage with her American ones. Her perspective is very honest as she explains her disappointments in her husband, herself and their married life. It was a lot. I'm not one to really enjoy reading someone complain for long periods of time, especially if its about a patient spouse. However, reading about how events in life unfold and change someone's perspective is an interesting process and Al-Marashi writes it well. But dang... her husband was seriously patient with her. She seriously laid into the guy and it made me slightly uncomfortable to read because I felt so bad.
I would have loved to hear more about their life after she finally started having her change in perspective but the book ended pretty quickly after that. I'm giving it 3 stars for being insightful and maybe a little too brutally honest.
The book covers Al-Marashi's struggle with balancing her Muslim expectations of romance and marriage with her American ones. Her perspective is very honest as she explains her disappointments in her husband, herself and their married life. It was a lot. I'm not one to really enjoy reading someone complain for long periods of time, especially if its about a patient spouse. However, reading about how events in life unfold and change someone's perspective is an interesting process and Al-Marashi writes it well. But dang... her husband was seriously patient with her. She seriously laid into the guy and it made me slightly uncomfortable to read because I felt so bad.
I would have loved to hear more about their life after she finally started having her change in perspective but the book ended pretty quickly after that. I'm giving it 3 stars for being insightful and maybe a little too brutally honest.
verityw's review against another edition
4.0
I'm not sure where/how I heard about this, but I found the subject fascinating. However, I felt like a lot of Huda's problems stemmed from immaturity and a view of marriages and proposals taken almost entirely from movies. But maybe that's the point. The culture clash element of her upbringing at home and living in america added up to a recipe for conflict. Interesting - but sometimes I wanted to scream at her to grow up!
esquiredtoread's review against another edition
5.0
Iraq Book around the world.
Wow. Loved this. She was so, so, honest.
Wow. Loved this. She was so, so, honest.