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A review by abookandchai
It All Comes Back to You by Farah Naz Rishi
4.0
read full review on my blog!
It All Comes Back To You is a fun, easy to read YA contemporary that follows two exes, Deen and Kiran, as they’re reunited for the unexpected wedding of their older siblings. Kiran is determined to stop the marriage while Deen does everything to ensure it goes smoothly, and along the way they both deal with their pasts and emotions in their own flawed ways. One I think will resonate with teens.
While Kiran struggles to keep her family together and fulfill her mother’s wish, Deen strives to protect his brother and their secrets so no harm comes to them. Add a wedding to the mix and their relationship is a train wreck waiting to happen. Both of them make flawed decisions you might not even agree to, solely acting on their feelings and opinions on what should happen. They aren’t surface level at all. They are messy desi teens who only care about protecting the ones they love even if that means overstepping boundaries and then learn to deal with their own emotions and the consequences that follow.
As I read the book, I often wondered why Kiran is going to such lengths to cancel the wedding? Why is Deen so intent on making sure the wedding happens? But then we get glimpses of their feelings, the hurt and the desperation and the range of complex emotions that made me understand. The character growth really stood out for me, as both of them learn to not be selfish and thoughtless of what others deserve.
It All Comes Back To You aimed to capture the experience of diaspora Muslim kids, as mentioned in this tweet by the author and that showed subtly throughout the book. As a desi, all the desi references were an absolute delight to read about, be it the food, mannerisms or the wedding shenanigans. The touch of Bollywood music and drama was cherry on top.
I am a total trash for the online-friends-irl-rivals trope. And its done so well in It All Comes Back To You! Their online friendship as fellow anonymous gamers is seriously so entertaining and then you switch to their stance as bitter exes—the contrast is wonderful. I even loved the flashbacks into their past, which didn’t overwhelm the flow of the story but also built up the main conflict. Their texting was one of my favourite aspects of the book, ranging from light hearted conversations to deep confessions.
There's also the theme of parental expectations and grief. Kiran still carries the pain of losing her mother to ALS, not giving herself proper time to grieve and accept it. Deen on the other hand is weighed down by the guilt of his actions and the expectations of his parents to be their ideal son. All these bottled up emotions cause them to misunderstand themselves and the people around them, ultimately leading to a lash out. I love how they confront what they really feel and take steps to fix the mess, in the last couple bittersweet chapters.
At its heart, It All Comes Back To You is all about Kiran and Deen’s love for their siblings. Even though the circumstances were off and that Kiran and Deen often went out of their ways to act on this love, I truly appreciated the strong bond between Amira-Kiran, dealing with their mother’s death and Faisal-Deen dealing with an incident in the past.
Another minor thing I adored was Kiran’s love for dance. As a dancer myself her descriptions of dancing and the sentiments she expresses while performing a sequence resonated with me so well! I really wished the story focused a bit more on that.
Contrary to what it seems, this book isn’t heavy on the romance, its more of a coming of age story. Throughout its just two teens figuring themselves out while dealing with the expectations, family and grief. So if you’re going into this book expecting a romcom, please don’t. It All Comes Back To You also uses miscommunication as a device. So if you aren’t a fan of that or teens making annoying decisions then this book might not be for you.
But overall, if you like contemporaries that authentically portray the messiness of a teenager’s feelings , relatable desi elements, wonderful character growth and sibling bonds then make sure to pick this up!
original: i WILL push the messy teens making decisions solely based on their feelings agenda idc
It All Comes Back To You is a fun, easy to read YA contemporary that follows two exes, Deen and Kiran, as they’re reunited for the unexpected wedding of their older siblings. Kiran is determined to stop the marriage while Deen does everything to ensure it goes smoothly, and along the way they both deal with their pasts and emotions in their own flawed ways. One I think will resonate with teens.
While Kiran struggles to keep her family together and fulfill her mother’s wish, Deen strives to protect his brother and their secrets so no harm comes to them. Add a wedding to the mix and their relationship is a train wreck waiting to happen. Both of them make flawed decisions you might not even agree to, solely acting on their feelings and opinions on what should happen. They aren’t surface level at all. They are messy desi teens who only care about protecting the ones they love even if that means overstepping boundaries and then learn to deal with their own emotions and the consequences that follow.
As I read the book, I often wondered why Kiran is going to such lengths to cancel the wedding? Why is Deen so intent on making sure the wedding happens? But then we get glimpses of their feelings, the hurt and the desperation and the range of complex emotions that made me understand. The character growth really stood out for me, as both of them learn to not be selfish and thoughtless of what others deserve.
It All Comes Back To You aimed to capture the experience of diaspora Muslim kids, as mentioned in this tweet by the author and that showed subtly throughout the book. As a desi, all the desi references were an absolute delight to read about, be it the food, mannerisms or the wedding shenanigans. The touch of Bollywood music and drama was cherry on top.
I am a total trash for the online-friends-irl-rivals trope. And its done so well in It All Comes Back To You! Their online friendship as fellow anonymous gamers is seriously so entertaining and then you switch to their stance as bitter exes—the contrast is wonderful. I even loved the flashbacks into their past, which didn’t overwhelm the flow of the story but also built up the main conflict. Their texting was one of my favourite aspects of the book, ranging from light hearted conversations to deep confessions.
There's also the theme of parental expectations and grief. Kiran still carries the pain of losing her mother to ALS, not giving herself proper time to grieve and accept it. Deen on the other hand is weighed down by the guilt of his actions and the expectations of his parents to be their ideal son. All these bottled up emotions cause them to misunderstand themselves and the people around them, ultimately leading to a lash out. I love how they confront what they really feel and take steps to fix the mess, in the last couple bittersweet chapters.
At its heart, It All Comes Back To You is all about Kiran and Deen’s love for their siblings. Even though the circumstances were off and that Kiran and Deen often went out of their ways to act on this love, I truly appreciated the strong bond between Amira-Kiran, dealing with their mother’s death and Faisal-Deen dealing with an incident in the past.
Another minor thing I adored was Kiran’s love for dance. As a dancer myself her descriptions of dancing and the sentiments she expresses while performing a sequence resonated with me so well! I really wished the story focused a bit more on that.
Contrary to what it seems, this book isn’t heavy on the romance, its more of a coming of age story. Throughout its just two teens figuring themselves out while dealing with the expectations, family and grief. So if you’re going into this book expecting a romcom, please don’t. It All Comes Back To You also uses miscommunication as a device. So if you aren’t a fan of that or teens making annoying decisions then this book might not be for you.
But overall, if you like contemporaries that authentically portray the messiness of a teenager’s feelings , relatable desi elements, wonderful character growth and sibling bonds then make sure to pick this up!
original: i WILL push the messy teens making decisions solely based on their feelings agenda idc