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kingrosereads's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
A modern Muslim take on classic romance novels. It’s clean and drama filled.
A multiple POV drama that follows the day-to-day lives of Ayesha and Khalid, two people who had a bad first impression and continue to disagree nearly every time they meet (though it’s clear, Khalid likes Ayesha from the start). We see the drama of their professional and personal lives as well as the religious aspect of their lives. Khalid is more conservative in his religion than Ayesha and he judges people on how well they practice Islam in his opinion. He’s got a controlling mother that he just blindly obeys, and Ayesha’s got a family that treats her like yesterday’s garbage (except Nana).
TLDR: I liked this book for the drama and the emotional response it pulled from me. But I didn’t care for the “romance” aspect. Leave your own prejudices and preconceived notions you may have behind before you read this book. I laughed a few times, I cried once, there were a couple of gasps, but mostly I was just irritated and anger but 100% invested. Plot ain’t here, folks, only character-driven narratives.
This book was advertised as being a Pride & Prejudice retelling, but it’s more like it was inspired by Pride & Prejudice and Much Ado About Nothing among other Shakespearean elements. It’s also advertised as a romance, but it’s more of a soap opera-esque drama.
And now the long and boring review and discussion:
I will say, this is one of the few books I’ve read outside of a series or fantasy collection, where the side characters have some interesting substance to them. Clara, Nana, and Nani are all very interesting characters that play important roles in Ayesha and Khalid’s relationship. And I appreciated that.
Here for the drama and nothing else because romance? Who is she? She wasn’t in here. It’s literally mostly drama and it really was just one thing after the other. The Islamophobia from Sheila, the toxic masculinity and chauvinism from Amir and Tarek, faking identities, revenge porn, embezzlement, everything with Farzana, forcing a child into marriage, Hafsa being Hafsa. The book was a mess, but the kind of mess I like to read.
The blasé attitude about these really young women and teenage girls being brides in this book was so upsetting. How anyone would expect Hafsa (as irritating and problematic as she was) to “know better” is beyond me. Just because she’s 20 doesn’t mean she knows anything. She lives a sheltered, spoiled life where everyone around her let’s her get away with everything so how is she supposed to “know better”. Though I’m happy Zareena was at peace with her life, I hated that she was forced into a marriage at 17. It made it seem as though her parents were right in sending her away to “straighten her out”. Why was it seen as such a bad thing if she wanted to adopt more Western aspects into her identity? No one was forcing her to assimilate. And what kind of sexual consent can these women give if they’re just consenting the marriage to appease their families? That they don’t care for or know the men?
If I ever hear or see “that’s a good job for a woman” ever again, library book or not, I’m tossing the book in the trash. I understand that this may be a part of the culture for some communities (hell, my own grandfather berated me and my mother for choosing career paths that “weren’t suitable for women”). Ayesha should be able to follow her dreams and decide what to do next for her career. I don’t think many poets or writers are able to just do the writing unless they have support elsewhere. I think she could become an English professor like her grandfather. Then she’ll have the time to write and teach the subject she’s passionate about.
I hate that all of this (the family’s behavior) is seen as being rooted in love, and again, I’m not a part of this culture so I wouldn’t 100% understand, but it is still harmful. The anxiety from the pressure alone is overwhelming. And that’s all I felt through this book was anger and anxiety. I know it’s different for other families, but I’m really tired of reading the whole “be the bigger person” when it comes to family members that mistreat you. I’m not saying you have to cut them off 100% and hold a grudge forever, but you need to set boundaries. Family is family, you’re supposed to lift each other up when you need it. There is no “you owe them”, they helped you this time and you will help them when they’re in need. And I think Khalid kind of sets boundaries with his mother but Ayesha doesn’t with Hafsa and her aunt and uncle. It’s clear a lot of children of immigrants are struggling under the pressure of living a life that’s worth the sacrifices their parents make, but if the media and books don’t show healthy, gradual ways to implement healthy communication, how will that pressure ever let up?
Khalid is not your average hero (I really hate the terms hero/heroine in romance novels, but whatever). He’s a bearded, white robe-wearing conservative Muslim man. But like Mr. Darcy he’s a difficult character to like in the beginning due to his prejudice and judgmental opinions about what it means to be a “good Muslim” or a “decent, respectable wife”. I didn’t understand why he sometimes spoke like he was straight from a regency novel or Shakespeare play, and other times he talked like he was actually from the 21st century. It didn’t make sense and was really cringey. Khalid had a death grip on Islam in response to what happened with his sister, which is pretty believable. Lots of people turn to religion in a really aggressive way after a trauma. Though I’m glad that Khalid started to heal from that trauma and finally relented on his stronghold on Islam a bit. However, I didn’t understand why he couldn’t keep a little of the beard and some traditional clothing. You don’t need to be a prejudice conservative to wear those things, plenty of open minded Muslims still choose to wear traditional clothing.
I hate that Khalid turned a lot of things back on Ayesha. That she was the one judging him, when he’s constantly talking about how she can change to be a better Muslim. He makes HER feel guilty for how she views him with his beard and clothing when he’s literally trying to push Ayesha into this box. It was getting a little gaslighty.
I wanted my Darcy Hand Flex moment so bad. That burning regency desire to touch, but it’s hardly there. In a way I think paying homage to the regency novel could work in a modern setting within a Muslim community. If we’re talking about a community that’s a little more old fashioned in how it views dating (no touching and with chaperones) then yes. When I think about books like Love from A to Z, I think it does a beautiful job of honoring these traditional rules while also making it realistic they’re falling for each other and the heroine having a strong personality and setting goals for herself while pursuing a career that her family may not agree with. We could’ve had those burning moments in this book. The desire to touch but can’t because it would be improper. It does do the banter aspect of Pride & Prejudice decently. But yeah, I think regency courtship practices can easily be translated to a modern Muslim romance in a believable manner, so there shouldn’t be an issue doing a retelling of a regency classic.
It’s hard to say whether it was good or not. But it was entertaining and made me feel things. Negative things. But things, nonetheless.
A multiple POV drama that follows the day-to-day lives of Ayesha and Khalid, two people who had a bad first impression and continue to disagree nearly every time they meet (though it’s clear, Khalid likes Ayesha from the start). We see the drama of their professional and personal lives as well as the religious aspect of their lives. Khalid is more conservative in his religion than Ayesha and he judges people on how well they practice Islam in his opinion. He’s got a controlling mother that he just blindly obeys, and Ayesha’s got a family that treats her like yesterday’s garbage (except Nana).
TLDR: I liked this book for the drama and the emotional response it pulled from me. But I didn’t care for the “romance” aspect. Leave your own prejudices and preconceived notions you may have behind before you read this book. I laughed a few times, I cried once, there were a couple of gasps, but mostly I was just irritated and anger but 100% invested. Plot ain’t here, folks, only character-driven narratives.
This book was advertised as being a Pride & Prejudice retelling, but it’s more like it was inspired by Pride & Prejudice and Much Ado About Nothing among other Shakespearean elements. It’s also advertised as a romance, but it’s more of a soap opera-esque drama.
And now the long and boring review and discussion:
I will say, this is one of the few books I’ve read outside of a series or fantasy collection, where the side characters have some interesting substance to them. Clara, Nana, and Nani are all very interesting characters that play important roles in Ayesha and Khalid’s relationship. And I appreciated that.
Here for the drama and nothing else because romance? Who is she? She wasn’t in here. It’s literally mostly drama and it really was just one thing after the other. The Islamophobia from Sheila, the toxic masculinity and chauvinism from Amir and Tarek, faking identities, revenge porn, embezzlement, everything with Farzana, forcing a child into marriage, Hafsa being Hafsa. The book was a mess, but the kind of mess I like to read.
The blasé attitude about these really young women and teenage girls being brides in this book was so upsetting. How anyone would expect Hafsa (as irritating and problematic as she was) to “know better” is beyond me. Just because she’s 20 doesn’t mean she knows anything. She lives a sheltered, spoiled life where everyone around her let’s her get away with everything so how is she supposed to “know better”. Though I’m happy Zareena was at peace with her life, I hated that she was forced into a marriage at 17. It made it seem as though her parents were right in sending her away to “straighten her out”. Why was it seen as such a bad thing if she wanted to adopt more Western aspects into her identity? No one was forcing her to assimilate. And what kind of sexual consent can these women give if they’re just consenting the marriage to appease their families? That they don’t care for or know the men?
If I ever hear or see “that’s a good job for a woman” ever again, library book or not, I’m tossing the book in the trash. I understand that this may be a part of the culture for some communities (hell, my own grandfather berated me and my mother for choosing career paths that “weren’t suitable for women”). Ayesha should be able to follow her dreams and decide what to do next for her career. I don’t think many poets or writers are able to just do the writing unless they have support elsewhere. I think she could become an English professor like her grandfather. Then she’ll have the time to write and teach the subject she’s passionate about.
I hate that all of this (the family’s behavior) is seen as being rooted in love, and again, I’m not a part of this culture so I wouldn’t 100% understand, but it is still harmful. The anxiety from the pressure alone is overwhelming. And that’s all I felt through this book was anger and anxiety. I know it’s different for other families, but I’m really tired of reading the whole “be the bigger person” when it comes to family members that mistreat you. I’m not saying you have to cut them off 100% and hold a grudge forever, but you need to set boundaries. Family is family, you’re supposed to lift each other up when you need it. There is no “you owe them”, they helped you this time and you will help them when they’re in need. And I think Khalid kind of sets boundaries with his mother but Ayesha doesn’t with Hafsa and her aunt and uncle. It’s clear a lot of children of immigrants are struggling under the pressure of living a life that’s worth the sacrifices their parents make, but if the media and books don’t show healthy, gradual ways to implement healthy communication, how will that pressure ever let up?
Khalid is not your average hero (I really hate the terms hero/heroine in romance novels, but whatever). He’s a bearded, white robe-wearing conservative Muslim man. But like Mr. Darcy he’s a difficult character to like in the beginning due to his prejudice and judgmental opinions about what it means to be a “good Muslim” or a “decent, respectable wife”. I didn’t understand why he sometimes spoke like he was straight from a regency novel or Shakespeare play, and other times he talked like he was actually from the 21st century. It didn’t make sense and was really cringey. Khalid had a death grip on Islam in response to what happened with his sister, which is pretty believable. Lots of people turn to religion in a really aggressive way after a trauma. Though I’m glad that Khalid started to heal from that trauma and finally relented on his stronghold on Islam a bit. However, I didn’t understand why he couldn’t keep a little of the beard and some traditional clothing. You don’t need to be a prejudice conservative to wear those things, plenty of open minded Muslims still choose to wear traditional clothing.
I hate that Khalid turned a lot of things back on Ayesha. That she was the one judging him, when he’s constantly talking about how she can change to be a better Muslim. He makes HER feel guilty for how she views him with his beard and clothing when he’s literally trying to push Ayesha into this box. It was getting a little gaslighty.
I wanted my Darcy Hand Flex moment so bad. That burning regency desire to touch, but it’s hardly there. In a way I think paying homage to the regency novel could work in a modern setting within a Muslim community. If we’re talking about a community that’s a little more old fashioned in how it views dating (no touching and with chaperones) then yes. When I think about books like Love from A to Z, I think it does a beautiful job of honoring these traditional rules while also making it realistic they’re falling for each other and the heroine having a strong personality and setting goals for herself while pursuing a career that her family may not agree with. We could’ve had those burning moments in this book. The desire to touch but can’t because it would be improper. It does do the banter aspect of Pride & Prejudice decently. But yeah, I think regency courtship practices can easily be translated to a modern Muslim romance in a believable manner, so there shouldn’t be an issue doing a retelling of a regency classic.
It’s hard to say whether it was good or not. But it was entertaining and made me feel things. Negative things. But things, nonetheless.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Islamophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
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