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alfalky's review
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Islamophobia, Physical abuse, Bullying, Racism, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, and Drug abuse
lennie_reads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
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
4.5
Thanks to Netgalley & Random House UK, Cornerstone, Arrow for my ARC.
This book hurt my heart.
It hurt for both Soraya and her mum, Neda, as well as Soraya's siblings and Magnus.
Whilst romance is a part of this book, there is a Lot more to it than that.
The book is a dual pov and also a dual timeline. We have Soraya in 2014 fresh out of university and Neda, her mother, at around the same age in 1970's Iran.
This book was a lot heavier than I expected and features struggles around identity, societal expectations, cultural differences, religious expectations, being a person of colour growing up in britian, living as an immigrant in Britain, sexism, harassment, domestic abuse, drug addiction and more.
Even though it was heartbreaking I really appreciated the dual timelines and seeing how Soraya's parents came to be the way they were.
I'm a white woman who doesn't come from a strict religious background so I can't speak to the authenticity of the representation but it was a harrowing tale nonetheless. All I know is I just wanted to hug Soraya and Neda.
This book hurt my heart.
It hurt for both Soraya and her mum, Neda, as well as Soraya's siblings and Magnus.
Whilst romance is a part of this book, there is a Lot more to it than that.
The book is a dual pov and also a dual timeline. We have Soraya in 2014 fresh out of university and Neda, her mother, at around the same age in 1970's Iran.
This book was a lot heavier than I expected and features struggles around identity, societal expectations, cultural differences, religious expectations, being a person of colour growing up in britian, living as an immigrant in Britain, sexism, harassment, domestic abuse, drug addiction and more.
Even though it was heartbreaking I really appreciated the dual timelines and seeing how Soraya's parents came to be the way they were.
I'm a white woman who doesn't come from a strict religious background so I can't speak to the authenticity of the representation but it was a harrowing tale nonetheless. All I know is I just wanted to hug Soraya and Neda.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Violence, and Racism
Moderate: Islamophobia, Misogyny, Sexual content, Fatphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Infidelity, and Self harm
theshivaniyadav's review
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, Infidelity, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Pregnancy
Minor: Racial slurs and Racism
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
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
cordeliadarkles's review
emotional
inspiring
reflective
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
5.0
Words cannot describe my adoration towards this book.
As a WOC, reading Soraya's struggle between pleasing her far-from-perfect family, realizing her goals, and becoming the person she wants to be was like looking at my reflection. Regardless of cultural background, most will be compelled - and relate - to Soraya's story.
As cliche as it sounds, this book is about love (motherly, sisterly, romantic.) It's about learning to let walls crumble down, and make loved ones understand, accept the unlikable parts of one's self.
The Mismatch is beautifully written and irresistibly sweet.
As a WOC, reading Soraya's struggle between pleasing her far-from-perfect family, realizing her goals, and becoming the person she wants to be was like looking at my reflection. Regardless of cultural background, most will be compelled - and relate - to Soraya's story.
As cliche as it sounds, this book is about love (motherly, sisterly, romantic.) It's about learning to let walls crumble down, and make loved ones understand, accept the unlikable parts of one's self.
The Mismatch is beautifully written and irresistibly sweet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Abandonment, Infidelity, Self harm, and Xenophobia
Minor: Racial slurs and Xenophobia
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
siob___'s review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Misogyny, and Violence
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Alcoholism and Racial slurs
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