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Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'
Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar
3 reviews
taelights's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I was honestly really looking forward to this book and was disappointed in what it ended up being. Throughout the book I often found myself getting annoyed at basically every character other than Hani's mom. I came around a bit more to the book at the way end when it kind of gave a better look into the motivations of the characters but even then I still found myself frustrated unfortunately.
Hani constantly let her biphobic racist xenophobic friends walk all over her. She never stood up for herself once which annoyed the fuck out of me especially seeing as it was pointed out multiple times to her how horrible they are but she just kept sticking up for them and never standing up for herself.
Ishu's whole personality was literally just "I'm so good at school and do nothing with my life other than study" to the point she had no other personality traits. She was extremely one dimensional and boring to me.
Aisling was just an annoying bitchy one dimensional mean girl that is not only a bully but racist, xenophobic, biphobic, and homophobic. But she was basically the only source of conflict in this book other than the overused miscommunication trope so I found that disappointing too.
There were a few cute moments in the book but again I was disappointed because it wasn't enough for me to feel satisfied or buy the fact that Hani and Ishu had feelings for each other. I wanted to see more cute moments and flirty banter but I barely got any.
I did appreciate the representation and getting a look into Bengali culture but I feel like that's one of the only things the book has going for it.
Overall it was a short read that kept me entertained enough to finish it but untimely disappointed me.
Hani constantly let her biphobic racist xenophobic friends walk all over her. She never stood up for herself once which annoyed the fuck out of me especially seeing as it was pointed out multiple times to her how horrible they are but she just kept sticking up for them and never standing up for herself.
Ishu's whole personality was literally just "I'm so good at school and do nothing with my life other than study" to the point she had no other personality traits. She was extremely one dimensional and boring to me.
Aisling was just an annoying bitchy one dimensional mean girl that is not only a bully but racist, xenophobic, biphobic, and homophobic. But she was basically the only source of conflict in this book other than the overused miscommunication trope so I found that disappointing too.
There were a few cute moments in the book but again I was disappointed because it wasn't enough for me to feel satisfied or buy the fact that Hani and Ishu had feelings for each other. I wanted to see more cute moments and flirty banter but I barely got any.
I did appreciate the representation and getting a look into Bengali culture but I feel like that's one of the only things the book has going for it.
Overall it was a short read that kept me entertained enough to finish it but untimely disappointed me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Biphobia, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, and Islamophobia
sunsetcity's review against another edition
emotional
funny
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
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Cultural appropriation, Homophobia, Bullying, Gaslighting, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
ingrid21's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
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
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Biphobia, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, and Toxic friendship
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