Reviews

The Mismatch by Sara Jafari

ermw0's review

adventurous emotional funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

This was a sweet, if at times challenging, contemporary romance. I did enjoy the perspective and time switches between Neda and Soraya. This does read more as a family drama than a romance, so know that going in. I loved Soraya as a character, I really felt and identified with her post-grad struggle and her insecurities. Her romance with Magnus felt sweet and real, but their climatic conflict felt so random and unresolved that by the end the romance felt like an afterthought to the other family drama that is resolved.

What I didn't like was how this book handled the abuse Soraya, Neda, and her family suffered. Soraya's father moves to England and eventually becomes a methadone addict. He becomes physically abusive towards Neda and neglectful in their home. As Soraya becomes older, Neda uses her as a personal therapist to vent about her poor situation but does nothing to protect Soraya from physical abuse and explains it way with "that's our culture, be a good Muslim." In the end, the father moves back to Iran and Neda is somewhat redeemed, but I felt so bad for Soraya because her pain and situation was never fully healed or forgiven! The book ends with a focus on Neda's reunion with her daughter and their family healing, but Soraya's abuse isn't given the proper atonement. This whole section felt wrong, but maybe that was the point. I am happy Neda was free of her abuse, but I feel it skipped over her cultural reasoning behind why it was OK and why it was OK to continue for so long to her and her children. I felt for Soraya. Even before and after I felt like she wasn't really seen or appreciated by her family. 


There was also a scene where Soraya asks Magnus "what do you think of feminism" as a test of whether he's a good guy or not and this whole scene was so cringy and took me out of this. The scene addresses her silly question but overall I felt that scene was a bit ridiculous.

limahbean's review

2.0

2.5

shehtaz's review

2.0

I thought this book was going to be an interracial romance. Ended up focusing heavily on family trauma and domestic abuse. Did not finish.

_alexsandersn's review

4.0

neda’s story made me round this up to 4/5. i loved the narrative/time switches and how you can see the similarities between neda and soraya - focusing on it as a story of a family’s journey from iran to the uk through different generations really showcases the depth of the narrative and the ways familial relationships and responsibilities can have lasting consequences.

rainybob's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

rosiefrog's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

3.75

the_empty_bookself's review

5.0

This book was surprisingly good. I’m not sure what I was expecting.

Soraya is graduating from uni, her life is strongly influenced by her Islamic faith, causing questions and guilt when she begins to fall for an English man.

The book also follows the earlier life of Soraya’s mother and the strong beliefs that have influenced her life and the choices she has made to continue to live with her husband who is a drug addict, verbally and physically abusive. This links to the present day and how home life has affected Soraya and her siblings lives in how they see and manage the world.

A really enlightening book, increasing my understanding of the challenges the multicultural society has in accepting others views and choices in how to live their life.

The parent’s choices and reactions did make me feel uncomfortable at times due to my own beliefs, it is difficult to say what is right and wrong and how far acceptance should go in the view of a person’s faith

kleonard's review

3.0

This book is an excellent illustration of the damage done to women by misogynist, patriarchal religions in which women are owned like chattel. Jafari tells the stories of two Iranian-British women, those of Neda, married to an addict, and Soraya, her daughter, dating a typical white guy. Neda embraces conservative Islam in Iran to protect herself from the sexual harassment and assaults she experienced there; she marries a man she doesn't really know, and travels to the Uk to train as a doctor. There her husband falls into first opium and then methadone addiction and abuses Neda and their children. Soraya doesn't know who she is or what she wants out of life other than nice clothes. She's less conservative than her mother, and is torn between the ideals of modern feminism and her religious beliefs. She decides to data her classmate so that she can get over the anxiety of having her first kiss, but she's attracted to him and he to her, and their relationship becomes more serious, until Soraya learns that he was using her as well--at least at the start of their relationship. Ultimately, Neda stands up for herself and her children. Her younger children learn that she disowned their oldest sister for becoming pregnant at 17 and sent her away so that her father wouldn't literally kill her. Her husband returns to Iran. The family meets the older sister and her family. Soraya and her white guy make up and get together again. But for this seemingly happy ending, Soraya and her family suffer from serious trauma caused by the misogyny of religion, and Soraya grapples intensely with her desire to be a feminist and a Muslim. What I really wanted to see in the ending was everyone in therapy. This is not a rom-com, readers; it is an indictment of believing in a religion that tells you are mostly worthless.

candidlyneila's review

5.0

calling all Etaf Rum fans, fans who appreciate a diverse cast of characters, and coming-of-age and romance-lovers: this Sara Jafari novel is your next 5 ⭐️ read. presenting as your typical romance, the layers this book has will have you gasping on one page and clutching your chest on the next. this story follows Soraya, an Iranian-British twenty-something year old woman who explores her sexual and romantic identities with a white British man, Magnus. forbidden love trope riddled with intergenerational Muslim guilt, this book is duo POV between Soraya and her mother Neda, jumping between modern England and 1970s Iran, told through a third person narrator. absolutely brilliant read, i have a lot of love for this book.

libwinnie's review

4.0

3.5. It had a lot of heavy content for a romance, but it was all very well done. What bumped it up to a 4 was the non-traditional ending. Loved that!