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A review by melodys_library
Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar
4.0
First and foremost: I loved that this book was so unapologetically Bengali.
At first, I was pretty upset when the white girl at school wasn’t punished for framing Ishu for cheating and there was no justice for Ishu. She and the white girl were treated differently by the principal when each was thought to be lying. But then the more I thought about it, the closer this is to the unfortunate reality for brown girls - subject to white tears of manipulation and viewed as the antagonists when we try to stand up for ourselves. But the overall message is still clear: Stand up for yourself and call out injustices. I also was upset that Nik’s parents did not go to her Mehndi night and the book ended implying that they would not attend her wedding. But then again, that is the cultural reality. I was just hoping for a happy ending, and that wasn’t the point of this book at all.
At first, I was pretty upset when the white girl at school wasn’t punished for framing Ishu for cheating and there was no justice for Ishu. She and the white girl were treated differently by the principal when each was thought to be lying. But then the more I thought about it, the closer this is to the unfortunate reality for brown girls - subject to white tears of manipulation and viewed as the antagonists when we try to stand up for ourselves. But the overall message is still clear: Stand up for yourself and call out injustices. I also was upset that Nik’s parents did not go to her Mehndi night and the book ended implying that they would not attend her wedding. But then again, that is the cultural reality. I was just hoping for a happy ending, and that wasn’t the point of this book at all.