Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Much Ado About Nada

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Much Ado About Nada by Uzma Jalaluddin

6 reviews

amandadelbrocco's review against another edition

emotional funny inspiring lighthearted 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? Yes

4.0

Overall, a really charming read though I think ultimately I still like her first book better. I enjoyed that the main character was in her late 20's and trying to figure out her life since that's not super common in romances. I really liked the side characters and their stories.

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onegalonelife27's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.5

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analenegrace's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

I love retellings/reimaginings, and this was a beautiful Persuasian-inspired novel!

I loved the second-chance romance and right person, wrong time tropes in this that told a beautiful story in a way that was also insight into a community I don't know that much about.

I look forward to reading more of Jalaluddin's work!

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mysterymom40's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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azrah786's review against another edition

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4.5

[This review can also be found on my BLOG]

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

CW: bullying, misogyny, ableism, divorce, depression, minor sexual content, pregnancy
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Uzma Jalaluddin’s book are such a fun time and I think this one is my favourite book by her to date.

Much Ado About Nada has us returning to the Golden Crescent neighbourhood, this time following Nada, a single woman in her late 20s who is dragged to a Muslim conference by one of her friends for a “girl’s weekend” before said friend’s wedding. However, attending the conference has her stumbling upon aspects from her past that she has been sternly avoiding. One being the root cause to the failure of her entrepreneurial project “Ask Apa” and the other being Baz, the brother-in-law to be of her friend whom Nada has a secret history with..

I haven’t read Austen’s Persuasion, which this is said to be a loose retelling of or Much Ado About Nothing so I can’t really say much on that side of things but I enjoyed this book so much, I genuinely couldn’t put it down.

"Sometimes I worry you've allowed your sadness to become the biggest part of you. Whatever happened in the past is why you're afraid to take any chances now."

A big thing that I love about Jalaluddin’s storytelling is just how welcoming and homely it feels. You can expect a slice of life narrative with honest Muslim and desi rep, wholesome familial relationships and friendships, humour and of course a dash of drama. Whenever I pick up one of her books I just immediately feel a part of the community within the story and thus don’t want it to end.

Nada isn’t the most likeable of characters and we see her develop a lot over the course of the story. The key themes of this book are around self-love and self-growth and allowing yourself the time to accept your past shortcomings and go through both. Which brings me to another thing that I really appreciate about Jalaluddin’s books and that is how despite how messy her protagonists are, that part of their character doesn’t involve compromising their religion.

That being said there is a moment in this book that seems like a massive red flag when you initially get to it but the timeline of the story has a part to play here so fellow Muslim readers when you get to it you’ll know it and just trust me and continue reading.

"..it bothered her that people who themselves were stereotyped and looked down upon for their appearance so easily did the same to others."

Now coming back to the romance side of things, cringy song lyrics aside the romance was really sweet. I’ve come to realise that second chance romance, in particular contexts that this book definitely fits into, may be a favourite trope of mine. The dual timeline was perfect for unravelling and piecing together Nada and Baz’s history and what actually happened. I won’t give much more away but the yearning and mystery behind everything was so absorbing.

Nada’s development wasn’t solely related to romance in the book though and I really enjoyed the other parts of the plot and moments with supporting characters too. I particularly loved to see how supportive her family was of her endeavours which isn’t always the case when it comes to daughters in desi families.

Though the ending wrapped up a bit fast this was overall a wonderfully wholesome and genuine story and as ever I can’t wait to pick up whatever Jalaluddin writes next!
Final Rating – 4.5/5 Stars

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btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted 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

5.0

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