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gaiadances's review
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Islamophobia, and Racism
heavygloom's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I found this book to be very relatable, mostly in the aspect of Soraya’s social and work life. No one really tells you how scary life is after college and how lonely it can be. great read.
Content Warnings
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Religious bigotry, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
bookmaddie's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
3.0
It's funny to think about reviewing this book, because even though it's marketed as a romance, it felt more like a coming of age story. I didn't really root for the central romance that strongly, and was more interested in Soraya's family backstory and the conflicts brought up there. While the romance served as the basis for the story in the beginning, the narrative quickly moves to focus on Soraya's personal growth and finding herself (which I enjoyed). Because the romance isn't the central driver to the story, it felt kind of like a cop-out when Soraya and Magnus, the romantic interest, reunite in the end. I honestly agree with her friends that she should have rejected him as he was a jerk.. but alas. :'-)
Soraya is a sweet main character, and I could empathize a lot with her struggles facing adulthood after college. I think Jafari did a great job bringing in Soraya's mother's story, and that really helped inform the narrative in a multitude of ways as the story wound on. Through Soraya, Jafari explores romance from within and outside of the traditional perspective of Muslim women. It was refreshing to read a perspective like this, which I've not encountered much in romance books before.
I feel like it's hard to call this book completely romance, but it has the same heart-warming feels that any romance would give you, so it toes the line perfectly.
Soraya is a sweet main character, and I could empathize a lot with her struggles facing adulthood after college. I think Jafari did a great job bringing in Soraya's mother's story, and that really helped inform the narrative in a multitude of ways as the story wound on. Through Soraya, Jafari explores romance from within and outside of the traditional perspective of Muslim women. It was refreshing to read a perspective like this, which I've not encountered much in romance books before.
I feel like it's hard to call this book completely romance, but it has the same heart-warming feels that any romance would give you, so it toes the line perfectly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Drug abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism
sfbookgirl's review
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The Mismatch is a modern-day love story involving cultural customs, dysfunctional family issues, and forbidden love. Recent university graduate Soraya Nazari thinks it is about time that she experiences life to the fullest. After being raised in a somewhat constrictive household of Iranian immigrants, Soraya decides to experience a budding romance with one of her old classmates, Mangus.
But what becomes a casual fling turns into something more. The Mismatch also interweaves Soraya’s mother’s young adult life before immigrating to England. I found these chapters to be the most eye-opening and captivating. The Mismatch is an unconventional love story that I would say is more of a character study than a romance, but I still enjoyed the book for its insight into a culture unlike my own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Sexual content
allisonwonderlandreads's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-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
3.0
"Now, her future lay ahead of her, with no plan, no time line of what was to come, and she realized she was falling facefirst, ungracefully, into adulthood."
I'm not sure I would categorize this book as a romance because it limits the scope and focus of all this book is. It's a poignant look at the transition from college to "adulthood," such that that means anything. It's nerve-wracking, overwhelming, and portrayed with astute detail here. British-Iranian Soraya is our protagonist. We join her as she struggles with finding a job and a passion (separate but related questions), feels crushed by family secrets and expectations, and experiments with her first romantic relationship. The story also draws attention to racist and xenophobic experiences and sexist encounters that bombard Soraya's journey.
In terms of the romance, I appreciated the acknowledgment of pre-dating stress and the feeling you need to hit certain landmarks. Soraya and I are motivated by different things, but I appreciated the similar anxieties around not fitting the commonly expected dating mold. While I think there's a burgeoning conversation among millennials about how unhealthy it is to compare milestones with others, I often feel dating expectations are still somewhat assumed. On the other hand, I'm with Soraya's friends that I still wasn't completely Team Magnus by the end of the book. There are still some unresolved red flags with him that I would ideally want addressed. I felt the author skimmed through the relationship for overall effect rather than building up ooey-gooey romantic feelings in the readers. That's part of the reason that I think this works more as a general fiction piece.
Another layer of the story is the background chapters following Soraya's mother Neda, starting in 1970s Tehran. It builds up intrigue by contrasting a bright, young academic and romantic finding her future husband to a future where she can't stand him. There's also the specter of Soraya's older sister Laleh in the 1990s. Cut off from the family under secretive circumstances, her absence is mysterious and lingering, suspicious and upsetting.
We do get a lot of Soraya's thoughts and struggles with internalized guilt and shame, and I think those portions were striking. It covers weighty topics from anxiety to the ramifications of domestic abuse and addiction in the family. There were many quotes I highlighted for their insightfulness so I could consider them again in future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, and Grief
Minor: Death of parent, Gaslighting, Homophobia, and War
zsh's review
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Sexual content
marie_w's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Drug abuse
lnzava's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Child abuse, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Abandonment, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Racism, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Mental illness, Islamophobia, Emotional abuse, and Cursing
riannasimons's review
emotional
funny
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? It's complicated
5.0
(This is going to be long, so bear with!)
Sara Jafari's The Mismatch is a triumph and I loved every single page.
The story largely follows Soraya Nazari, a newly graduated Iranian-British Muslim girl unsure of what the hell she's going to do with the rest of her life. At graduation she becomes reacquainted with Magnus Evans, star of the uni rugby team and the apple of everyone's eye and things really do take off from there...
This book is so much more than a romance. When I went into it, I thought it was going to be cut and dry: the two love interests from different cultures don't really like or know each other and then they fall in love. This book is SO much more than that! Jafari paints this sprawling web shaky family dynamics starting in Brighton before going to Iran, Liverpool and London - she captures family conflict and the interpersonal traumas that our loved ones can inflict on us in such a poignant and at times painful way. The characters in this book are so whole and they leap of the page every time they speak and she interweaves history, time and place so effortlessly - it's unreal.
I was so enthralled by this book - I inhaled it over the course of two days. Jafari's Soraya is a fantastic character and I was so sucked into her world. Throughout the novel we see her battle internally about who she is, what she wants and what it means to be a good person, namely a good Muslim, just as her mother Neda has done in her own young adulthood. I thought the pacing of the book and the structuring between the present day and the past was so smart and slick, I found myself becoming so wrapped up in Neda's life just as I did Soraya's which was such a welcome surprise since the book isn't necessarily marketed as a generational story. Their dynamic was also really great to see and it was so fascinating watching them learn about themselves in a kind of parallel together.
There also needs to be a shout out for the minor characters in this book, like Oliver and Priya, Parvin and Amir, even Hossein - they all leapt right off the page and it felt like Jafari had really taken the time to craft each of them. They felt just as central to the plot as the novel's main characters, which to me is the sign of a great writer. I should also say that the writing in this books is something else, there were lines in this book that stayed with me for hours afterwards, and so many small quips and sarcastic moments! The subtle and often dry humour of the book fit in perfectly with my taste and it was great to find the humour in some the lighter situations Soraya found herself in.
The two things I really loved about this book were Soraya and Magnus' relationship (their honesty with one another, their vulnerability, their playfulness) and the inner turmoil of the Nazari household. I thought that the kind of slow decent into the chaos was excellent and I really felt for Soraya feeling like she had to hide who she was and what she doing. I appreciated Magnus also kind of living this double life as a lad whilst Soraya was living in her duality, I thought that mirroring was really smart and so when they things kicked off then settled it felt really satisfying. The same goes for the conflict within the Nazari family, I was really impressed by the way that things unfolded and found myself screaming aloud when things started to take a turn for the worst before eventually settling into a calmer, joyous state.
This book is amazing and it's much more than a so-called millennial novel. I found the parts about contemporary young adulthood really stark and real, but the way Jafari depicts Neda's young adult life was frankly superb and such a welcome part of this already fantastic story.
Overall, this is a dizzying feat of a (debut!!!) novel and I'm so excited to see what Jafari comes out with next. This was honestly one of the best things I've read in a while and I HIGHLY recommend it!
Sara Jafari's The Mismatch is a triumph and I loved every single page.
The story largely follows Soraya Nazari, a newly graduated Iranian-British Muslim girl unsure of what the hell she's going to do with the rest of her life. At graduation she becomes reacquainted with Magnus Evans, star of the uni rugby team and the apple of everyone's eye and things really do take off from there...
This book is so much more than a romance. When I went into it, I thought it was going to be cut and dry: the two love interests from different cultures don't really like or know each other and then they fall in love. This book is SO much more than that! Jafari paints this sprawling web shaky family dynamics starting in Brighton before going to Iran, Liverpool and London - she captures family conflict and the interpersonal traumas that our loved ones can inflict on us in such a poignant and at times painful way. The characters in this book are so whole and they leap of the page every time they speak and she interweaves history, time and place so effortlessly - it's unreal.
I was so enthralled by this book - I inhaled it over the course of two days. Jafari's Soraya is a fantastic character and I was so sucked into her world. Throughout the novel we see her battle internally about who she is, what she wants and what it means to be a good person, namely a good Muslim, just as her mother Neda has done in her own young adulthood. I thought the pacing of the book and the structuring between the present day and the past was so smart and slick, I found myself becoming so wrapped up in Neda's life just as I did Soraya's which was such a welcome surprise since the book isn't necessarily marketed as a generational story. Their dynamic was also really great to see and it was so fascinating watching them learn about themselves in a kind of parallel together.
There also needs to be a shout out for the minor characters in this book, like Oliver and Priya, Parvin and Amir, even Hossein - they all leapt right off the page and it felt like Jafari had really taken the time to craft each of them. They felt just as central to the plot as the novel's main characters, which to me is the sign of a great writer. I should also say that the writing in this books is something else, there were lines in this book that stayed with me for hours afterwards, and so many small quips and sarcastic moments! The subtle and often dry humour of the book fit in perfectly with my taste and it was great to find the humour in some the lighter situations Soraya found herself in.
The two things I really loved about this book were Soraya and Magnus' relationship (their honesty with one another, their vulnerability, their playfulness) and the inner turmoil of the Nazari household. I thought that the kind of slow decent into the chaos was excellent and I really felt for Soraya feeling like she had to hide who she was and what she doing. I appreciated Magnus also kind of living this double life as a lad whilst Soraya was living in her duality, I thought that mirroring was really smart and so when they things kicked off then settled it felt really satisfying. The same goes for the conflict within the Nazari family, I was really impressed by the way that things unfolded and found myself screaming aloud when things started to take a turn for the worst before eventually settling into a calmer, joyous state.
This book is amazing and it's much more than a so-called millennial novel. I found the parts about contemporary young adulthood really stark and real, but the way Jafari depicts Neda's young adult life was frankly superb and such a welcome part of this already fantastic story.
Overall, this is a dizzying feat of a (debut!!!) novel and I'm so excited to see what Jafari comes out with next. This was honestly one of the best things I've read in a while and I HIGHLY recommend it!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Alcohol
Minor: Racism and Racial slurs
saeb_20's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Religious bigotry, Racism, Racial slurs, Sexism, and Addiction
Moderate: Sexual assault and Alcoholism