Uzma Jalaluddin – 3.5/5 Stars
Read this if you:
· have found yourself falling in love with someone who ticks all your “no” boxes
· have been judged or passed judgment on someone for religious and/or cultural differences
· have a show-off family member who you love anyway
Synopsis:
Ayesha is a teacher by day, poet in her dreams, working to pay off the debts she owes to her wealthy uncle. She lives with her Muslim family and though she is lonely and it is a custom in her culture, she does not want an arranged marriage. While pretending to be her cousin Hafsa (who brags about having 100 marriage proposals), she meets Khalid who she is intrigued by, despite the fact that he is very conservative and sometimes judgmental of her. Will the two fall in love despite their differences and all of the secrets between them?
My thoughts on the book:
Small confession: I have never read Pride and Prejudice… I’ve seen a lot of comparisons between the books but I unfortunately can’t offer any insights into how they are similar or different. This book was a little cheesy at some points but overall, so well written. Uzma did a great job of really painting all of the scenes of the book and made her characters very dynamic and believable. I found myself hating all of the people who were awful to both Ayesha and Khalid as well as feeling torn on my feelings towards the two main characters, depending on whose account I was reading. Ayesha’s Nani was truly the hero of this book, and I found the relationship with both her grandparents to be sweet and relatable. While this book centres around a love story, I did enjoy the author’s incorporation of the prejudice shown both to people who are considered more conservative in their religion as well as to those who are not seen as religious enough by others in their community.