Reviews with content warning for Racism - Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating

Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar

343 reviews

baz_'s review against another edition

3.75

funny lighthearted fast-paced

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

this was super cute !! the fake dating trope never misses

Content Warnings

sadie_g's review against another edition

4.0

emotional hopeful 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

This book was very very cute, and I just absolutely love sapphic fake dating.

This book follows Hani and Ishu as they decide to have a fake relationship to help them both achieve their goals, Hani’s being to get her friends to accept her sexuality and Ishu’s being trying to become more popular to become Head Girl. Over the book I felt their relationship was cute, I do wish we got more time with them together though. I also like how both characters really grew, and they started to figure out what they wanted and what made them happy. This book displays toxic friendships and I really like how they portrayed that, especially at the end of the book. It was also very nice to see Nik’s and Ishu’s relationship grow (they’re sisters), and to see how they ended up supporting each other so much.

Also I enjoyed learning more about Muslim and Bengali culture.

Content Warnings

rarrtya's review against another edition

3.75

medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Content Warnings

lucnmn's review against another edition

3.0

emotional lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Honestly I did not find this as enjoyable as I imagined it to be. For me the book simply lacked depth. The ending felt rather rushed and I think that some issues could have been dealt with more throroughly. However, I did read this fairly quickly and I enjoyed some aspects of it nevertheless.

Content Warnings

stormwitch_'s review against another edition

4.25

fast-paced

Content Warnings

imjustbeinghumble's review against another edition

4.5

emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

quinn22's review against another edition

4.5

challenging emotional hopeful informative lighthearted slow-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

Content Warnings

cinnamonandpancakes's review against another edition

4.5

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Hani and Ishu are both delightful characters that I really loved to root for. They are both clearly teenagers, but not in a way that felt annoying or overwrought. In addition, I liked how they both interacted with and clearly cared about their families. Hani in particular has a wonderful relationship with her mother.

I found a lot of the conflicts in this book really well integrated with the rest of the worldbuilding. For example, Hani being Muslim didn't feel like a plot twist, she was Muslim the whole way through and it was a beloved addition to her life even when it caused conflict with her friends and the solution to the conflict wasn't to become less Muslim. I loved that the book didn't have the characters assimilate, but instead learn to embrace the things that made them happy. I'm not Muslim, but I've had people want me to be less than I am to fit in with them and I'm always fond of stories that make choosing to be yourself the path to happiness.

This book didn't blow my socks off, I probably won't think too deeply about any of it, but reading it was like a warm hug from a friend and for that I wholeheartedly recommend.

Content Warnings