A review by sweetsxrrxw
Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin

emotional hopeful 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

3.75

this book had so much potential but i'm afraid it could not fully be delievered. don't get me wrong, it is entertaining and you can have a good time reading it. however, i feel like the author tried to include way too many storylines and i don't think that works with a 350 page novel.

firstly, i don't think it should be labelled as romance because, while there's some soft and cute moments, the title itself says it: this book revolves around hana, and we get to see how she deals with several situations.
i think that these said situations were easy to relate to. and even if you can't fully relate, you can easily emphatize with them: islamophobia, being a perfectionist, doing your best to help your family, being kinda afraid to chase your dreams, the struggles of feeling like you don't belong anywhere...
i loved to read about her character delevopment and how she decided uncertainty is better than being mistreated and doing things you don't really love


i feel like maybe the book's main plot is family. despite everything, i think this was one of the best nuanced topics. i actually think i loved everyone in hana's family. but of course my favorite characters are kawkab (because we love sexy mysterious women) and rashid (supportive side characters who are there for comedic relief own my heart)
i also like the fact that the book portrays different kind of families and/or relationships. there's the imam wearing hawaiian shirts just to make his wife laugh, yusuf and lily's complicated relationship, the way juneid's temper affected his family...

aydin was kind of relatable at some points, you know, the whole needing reassurance thing and not wanting to let his dad down, although he knows he's not a great person.
but i am just kind of confused about him and hana. like, okay, maybe by the end of the book they're not kind of an official couple and they're just in the process of finally getting to know each other better, after so many conversations online and after their banter irl. but, i feel like the way they started liking each other was a bit insta-lovey :/ also, i thought he knew about anabgr's identity and was just playing dumb? but he did not know? that's confusing, specially since he should have recognized hana's voice after a while, but anyways
but as i said, i think the romance was more of a subplot in this book. 

oh, also it took me a while to get over the first 20% of the book. i guess i felt like nothing at all was happening? if this problem and the multiple storylines one would have been fixed, maybe i could round this to 4 stars. but yeah, i don't think i can't give it that rating knowing i was about to dnf it at the beginning.
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