Written in the Stars: A Novel

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For me, this story was important because it taught me about another culture I knew very little about and it opened up my eyes to a situation and various events that I will never, ever experience in my life. But the worst does happen, and Naila suddenly finds herself whisked off to Pakistan, far away from the boy she loves and a life she wants. Lastly, I also found the writing to be simple, and the plot to overall be wrapped up a little too quickly and easily. But this unpleasant (and pleasant, I know- it’s very confusing) sense of familiarity is shattered when the novel hits its 50% mark.

But Naila’s vacation turns into a nightmare when she learns that plans have changed—her parents have found her a husband and they want her to marry him, now! These two meet on a disastrous blind date and from there they decide to start fake dating just to get their families off their backs in time for the holidays. The problem is that since she has found someone who she's fallen in love with, she no longer wants that for herself. it's a sweet sapphic romance full of big emotions, and it's a beautiful reminder that when the stars align, love can feel like magic. I really loved Saeed's guest post at YA Highway, where she goes into detail about the different forms of arranged marriages and I encourage you to check it out and learn new things!Naila is a sympathetic young character with dreams beyond the cages of her strict upbringing; she has a boyfriend, Saif, and she has just been accepted into medical school. This was very fun, and very enjoyable, and a quick read, but ultimately I just don’t think it is something that will stick with me. At the start, it reads like a vanilla contemporary: the words flowed easily, and my eyes traveled quickly over the pages. Stories that teach us things about the world and different ways of life other people have are vital because it makes us more educated and more empathic to their lifestyles and life experiences as well as more tolerant to things we are less familiar with.

And even more: does this book do a good job in representing how helpless girls can be in the face of overwhelming sexism and patriarchy? Before I begin my review, it is interesting to note that although Aisha herself was fortunate enough to find love in her arranged marriage, she chose to reveal the other side to it: penning a tale about the horror and trauma of forced marriage, some of which are brought about through coercion, pressure, threats and sometimes outright violence. Although I would’ve crossed all the deserts and the Atlantic to get away from them, I do believe they loved her the best they knew how. It's books like this that make me incredibly grateful for the We Need Diverse Books campaign to help put more books like this on the market. Nalia’s family tells her a trip to Pakistan to spend time with all their extended family is just want they all need.It’s Nalia’s senior year and she’s months away, scratch that days away, from heading to college with her secret boyfriend, Saif and her best friend, Carla. Review to come once I've collected my thoughts - all I can say is that this has officially been deemed one of my personal favorites in a long time.

If they were real, her mother would still be able to remember her name and not in a care home with early onset dementia. Her special skills include finding the best Pad Thai in every city she visits, remembering faces but not names, falling asleep in movie theaters, and keeping cool while reading smutty books in public. I feel like I don't have the right to state my opinion on it so I won't in this review, but I did think about the whole thing a great deal. Elle was so cute and chaotic, with her heart on her sleeve, and Darcy was just a loveable mush ball surrounded by spiky thorns for her own protection! It’s not that anything was inherently bad with anything written but some passages were a little too corny for my taste.Not once did I actually want to put this book down, but I had to, you know, do normal people things like shower and eat. Written in the Stars has a simple, captivating writing style which grips you and makes the book impossible to put down. Why she was so in knots over this impossible woman who had her head in the clouds and wore her heart on her sleeve. I feel like the set up of the whole story was so strong but then my interest in the characters (and what happened to them) just kept wavering.

So if you are an Austen fan I think you will like the overall feel, but if you are not an Austen fan, the few light similarities should not bother you at all. Written in the Stars follows two women, Elle, aka sunshine incarnate who believe in soulmates and stardust and makes her living as an online astrologist and Darcy, a no nonsense actuary who probably takes life just a smidge too seriously. I think I was quite sheltered from the awful reality it can be for some and so this book was such a powerful read for me.

Now don't get me wrong, this book was quite cute, and I loved Darcy in particular (she's totally my new book girlfriend). Brendon, her new business partner, sets her up on a date with his sister, Darcy, who just relocated to Seattle and is a pragmatic actuary — In other words, starkly opposite of Elle. Is the author to blame if our country is not publishing enough fiction to represent all the different ways of living in Pakistan there are?