Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Take a Hint, Dani Brown

This was an enjoyable romance with lots of sweetness and domestic moments. Admittedly, fake dating isn’t my favourite trope but it was done so well here, I think because the MCs were friends beforehand and all their loved ones were clued in.

Dani and Zaf had palpable romantic chemistry - I was never left in doubt of that for a second. Their romance (and the book in general) was paced so well so that every stage of their connection made sense. I think what helped with this was again the fact that they were friends before the book even started.

But what I love about this series is that both MCs have more going on than the romance and they undergo so much development. Zaf is figuring out how to stop being afraid of his grief so that he can remember his father and brother without feeling scared. He’s also working at making his charity Tackle It the best it can be, and on managing his Generalised Anxiety Disorder. Dani was such a dynamic MC. Her development is centred on her self-worth, but at the same time the narrative shows how much she loves herself and how confident she is. I loved that Hibbert showed how both situations can co-exist. The story also explores Dani finding a healthier relationship with her work, and I loved that this was Dani’s decision, not something she felt pressured into.

The female relationships are so strong within this book. Dani’s one with her sisters is so natural and loving, and I appreciated that she doesn’t sacrifice time with them for time with Zaf. Both Gigi and Inez Holly take on kind of mentor roles with Dani, so I loved that she had support from older women. Sorcha was such a great best friend to Dani because she pushed her and called her out, but never in an unloving or inconsiderate way, and they got to practice religion together. I also love how Dani handled the situation with her ex-friend. The women in Zaf’s life were stellar too. I loved how Zaf treated Kiran as if she were his blood sister, and how they supported one another. Zaf’s mother was funny and I loved that Fatima was so close to her uncle, and like Sorcha with Dani, pushed him to be his best.

Finally, I appreciated that the third-act breakup comprised of both of them messing up. It worked much better because I think just one character grovelling can change the dynamics of the relationship.

I’ll end this review with my favourite quote from the book: “The trouble was, building a conclusion based on irrelevant or unreliable sources never worked. And when it came to Dani’s worthiness, the only source she should really value was herself.”

Rep: Black bisexual MC who is also a witch, Muslim British-Pakistani MC with GAD, lesbian (word not used, gay used instead) minor character of the global majority (ethnicity not stated), Muslim British-Pakistani SCs

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wilybooklover's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

I have no words to express how much I loved this book. I think it might be my favourite contemporary romance ever. It is literally perfect.

Dani was so relatable with her nerdiness and focus on work and fear of emotion. I loved how witty and sarcastic she was. Zaf was also relatable with his romance novel reading and anxiety. He was such a soft, adorable hero in the best way. The little ways they cared for each other were just so swoony. They were also both incredibly sexy so like... if they’re ever interested in a third, I’m available.

This is also one of the few romcoms I’ve read that was actually, genuinely funny and romantic in equal measure. Talia Hibbert has such a way with words and I had a giant smile on my face the entire time I was reading this book. I know I’ll be reading it again before the end of the year.

I also love that this accurately represents the racial and cultural diversity of the England I grew up in. So many books set here are incredibly white and it’s so wrong (especially in a big city).

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anastasia_raf's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

3.75

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toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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

5.0

I loved this book *so* much. I love Dani Brown as a character, I love our leading man, Zafir (literally the sweetest and cutest man ever put on a page), and everything that happened within this romance felt earned and rewarding. The chemistry was so on point and the banter had me laughing on almost every page. Everyone told me that I was going to like this more than I liked Chloe Brown, and since Chloe Brown is one of my favorites of this year, I didn't really believe it, but I definitely love this one even more. This book also had excellent mental health representation that really meant a lot to me.

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readingthroughinfinity's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing 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

I absolutely LOVED this as everyone said I would. Fake dating is my JAM and this was one of the best instances I've read; the gradual, slow realisation that they weren't faking their feelings and were actually falling in love with each other was EXQUISITE. Dani and Zaf were so sweet and so considerate of each other's emotions and needs. We love a romantic relationship built on mutual trust and respect.

I adored Dani and Zaf's interactions with each other and the writing in this book was so snappy, witty and fun. Talia Hibbert truly is a master of her craft. It was great to see bi rep front and center and I know I'm going to be thinking about this book for a long time. (The only thing I'm not sure about is the Muslim rep, so I'd recommend checking out own voices reviews about that.)

Content warnings for confinement, panic attacks, discussions of anxiety, depression, racism, biphobia, loss of a family member, fatphobia.

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emfass's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted relaxing 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

4.75

Re-read for Bad Ass Babes Book Club.

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beccaand's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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

4.5

Wonderful. Talia Hibbert's writing is so compulsively readable.
I loved Dani a lot and related to a lot of her thoughts about being a post-grad student and the dedication to her work, and Zaf was just a genuine sweetheart, and the passion and dedication he had towards Tackle It was so heartwarming as well.

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maisierosereads's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

5.0

⭐ Full review of this book (and of the other books in the Brown Sisters series) also available on my blog! ⭐

Just like in the other books in this series, I need to take a moment to talk about how much I love Talia Hibbert’s writing before getting into this specific book. It’s no wonder that she’s a bestselling author – her writing style is polished, emotive (I’m talking laughing out loud right through to crying as I read these books), and beautifully descriptive. And although the plot and setting of these books are realistic in a relatively down-to-earth way, I still felt as though I was escaping into a better version of life when I read it. Much like with the other two books in this series, I found it really difficult to put Take a Hint, Dani Brown down; I read almost all of it on Sunday, then finished it off over my weetabix before work on Monday.

If you follow a similar set of readers to me, you’ll have seen this book recommended because it’s full of Black joy and a diverse cast of characters. The main couple are Danika (a Black bisexual woman working on her PhD) and Zafir (a Pakistani man with an anxiety disorder who reads romance novels and started a charity to get boys talking about mental health through sport). Dani is a witch with an altar to the goddess Oshun, and Zaf comes from a Muslim family (though he is not actively religious). As with all of the other marginalised identities celebrated in Hibbert’s books, the representation of both of these characters’ intersecting identities is respectful, realistic, and relatable.

I loved how well-rounded these characters are from the beginning, but their development throughout the book is truly wonderful. Dani is far from being a perfect love interest at the start of the book, given that she is so opposed to forming romantic attachments that she has lost friendships – not (as she makes clear) because she is aromantic, but because she doesn’t want to make room for anything more than casual sex in her life. She prays to Oshun for “a regular source of orgasms […] someone who won’t expect more from me than I can give” expecting a friend-with benefits, but as the book progresses (and Oshun showers her in hints), it becomes clear that what she actually needed was to learn what a healthy relationship looks like. Dani begins to properly evaluate these feelings and the reasons for them, allowing her to start making amends towards the people she has hurt in the past and to stop self-sabotaging in the present.

Meanwhile, Zafir also undergoes an emotional journey of self-improvement: he thinks that he is “over” the grief from the deaths of his dad and brother (as well as the awful way he found out about the accident and the way he was treated afterwards), but comes to realise that the lasting effects of his grief are having a definite impact on his ability to successfully run his charity and move on with his life, since he felt unable to share his motivations and was understandably scared of being recognised by the people who knew him in his previous career as a professional rugby player.

In terms of the romance? This book features several much-loved romance tropes – think fake dating meets friends with benefits – and Hibbert pulls them off excellently. You also have a side of “opposites attract” in that at the start of the book Dani is very unapolagetic about wanting lots of sex but no romance, whereas Zaf is a big romantic and considers sex to be a pretty big deal. The pacing of how this begins to change as the characters (and their relationship) develop felt spot-on.

Mixed in with all of this are plenty of hilarious moments, heartwarming scenes with family members and friends, a symposium, and (of course) a good dose of smut. Most importantly, this book shows what it means to work on developing healthy relationships, and that despite the risk of pain it is entirely possible for everyone, no matter their trauma, to have a happy and fulfilling life.

Overall, I’m sure you won’t be surprised that I highly recommend Take a Hint, Dani Brown, or that I will definitely be rereading it. It was well worth the 99p it cost me to get the eBook from Hive!

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