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Maya's Laws of Love
A bride-to-be convinced she’s cursed in romance finds her luck changing—at exactly the wrong time.
Maya Mirza is so convinced she’s unlucky in love that she’s come up with a list of laws to explain it. Most importantly…
But that’s about to change. Maya’s headed to Pakistan for an arranged marriage with a handsome, successful doctor who ticks all the right boxes. First comes marriage, then comes love—she’s sure of it. Except…
From the start, Maya's journey is riddled with disaster, and the cynical lawyer seated next to her on the plane isn’t helping. When a storm leaves them stranded in Switzerland, she and Sarfaraz become unlikely travel companions through bus breakdowns and missed connections.
And before long, Maya’s wondering whether she’s just experienced the ultimate in misfortune—finally meeting the right man a few days before she marries someone else. And Maya might just be the worst person to keep a secret.
But maybe, if she’s willing to bend some laws, this detour could take her somewhere totally—and wonderfully—unexpected.
Maya Mirza is so convinced she’s unlucky in love that she’s come up with a list of laws to explain it. Most importantly…
But that’s about to change. Maya’s headed to Pakistan for an arranged marriage with a handsome, successful doctor who ticks all the right boxes. First comes marriage, then comes love—she’s sure of it. Except…
From the start, Maya's journey is riddled with disaster, and the cynical lawyer seated next to her on the plane isn’t helping. When a storm leaves them stranded in Switzerland, she and Sarfaraz become unlikely travel companions through bus breakdowns and missed connections.
And before long, Maya’s wondering whether she’s just experienced the ultimate in misfortune—finally meeting the right man a few days before she marries someone else. And Maya might just be the worst person to keep a secret.
But maybe, if she’s willing to bend some laws, this detour could take her somewhere totally—and wonderfully—unexpected.
320 pages, Paperback
Published March 26, 2024
About the author
Alina Khawaja
3 books68 followersAlina Khawaja is a Canadian-Pakistani author. A graduate from the University of Toronto with a BA in English, History and Creative Writing and from Toronto Metropolitan University with an MA in the Literatures of Modernity, it’s been clear from day one that the only thing Alina could be is a storyteller. Alina lives in Ontario, Canada, where she spends the summer at theme parks and the winter cozying up inside with a ridiculously expensive coffee. When she’s not writing, she’s either reading or trying to keep up with her endless list of k-dramas.
Her debut novel, MAYA’S LAWS OF LOVE, is out March 26th 2024 from Mira Books and March 28th 2024 Simon and Schuster UK.
She is represented by Dr. Uwe Stender at TriadaUS Literary Agency.
Her debut novel, MAYA’S LAWS OF LOVE, is out March 26th 2024 from Mira Books and March 28th 2024 Simon and Schuster UK.
She is represented by Dr. Uwe Stender at TriadaUS Literary Agency.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 347 reviews
February 23, 2024
DNF at 48%
first dnf of the year wooo
i can’t do this anymore. i tried i swear. this book just angers me sooo much. and to all my fellow muslim girlies, it will probably trigger you too 🤧
who had the audacity to make this a “muslim romance” because um if you’re gonna make the two mcs muslim, here’s a small suggestion MAKE. IT. HALAL. this was anything but halal. it was haram on so many levels and at first I was like it’s okay i’ll power through bc it’s an arc and i would hate to not give it a full chance to redeem itself…!!
but i’ve read enough. let me get into all the reasons this is such false representation:
1- they held hands. that was probably the least crazy of them all but in Islam, you can’t touch a person of the opposite gender unless they’re your sibling or father or uncle. or if you’re married. they were none of those things 💀
🤨 “Not only that, but because intimacy with the opposite sex is technically forbidden until marriage—even holding a guy’s hand is enough fodder for gossip in our community.”
so basically girl knew damn well it was wrong and just said fuck it anything for love🥰 ok babe you two have fun in jahanam. also like wdym “technically” there’s nothing technical about it, it’s straight up facts 😀 ugh she annoys me so much 😭 even when she held his hand he jerked away but girl just would not budge 😤
2 - he invited her to his hotel room. alone. you can’t be alone with a man until you’re married to him. and she just went with it 😭 she had NoWhErE eLsE tO sTaY. it gets worse.
3 - she wore immodest clothes in front of him bc of a stain she has on her outfit.
👎🏼“I briefly study my outfit. I clear my throat and pretend like I didn’t notice he’s trying not to stare at the slight dip in my cleavage. The clothes in the stores here aren’t halal-girl friendly but it’s either that or walk around in my dirty clothes”
be so fr rn. this whole country and you couldn’t find 1 place that sells long sleeves or trousers? nope not buying it. even if that were the case I’d just take my dirty clothes, wipe it a little and get the hell out of that hotel room.
4 - SHE SLEPT IN HIS BED. omgg it just keeps getting crazier. like gurl you staying in his room is already shit, atleast sleep on the damn floor.
5 - she was engaged to someone else this whole time 😐 so now there’s cheating involved too. and even if they didn’t kiss idk about you I still consider it all cheating. like she was literally on her way to her wedding when she met him.
6 - she kept missing all her prayers. sometimes you’re busy I get it or you’re out and can’t find the time but how easy is it to bring a prayer mat and hijab to work and just pray on your breaks. she works at a school too surely she could find a spare room.
some of you reading this review may think these are all totally normal things. holding hands, one bed trope. and they are!! ive read about it a million times before but it’s just the fact that it’s against the religion that’s annoyed me because why is this the representation we get?!!? why. and her being muslim served no relevance to the plot at all. obviously i didn’t finish the book so i can’t fully comment but from what ive seen if they took it out everything can remain the same. so either represent us properly or just don’t do it at all please 😭
but yeah to conclude this was not for me. at all ☹️💓 sorry it isn’t one of my prettiest reviews i wrote it up in like 10 minutes bc I just can’t be bothered it’s not worth my efforts. don’t let me put you off these are all my personal opinions and if you enjoy it, i’m really happy for you 🥹🫶🏼
honestly I think if you can overlook that it’s totally not halal, this would make a decent book. but I wasn’t and so I did not enjoy it.
i actually had such high hopes for this one honestly what a shame. oh well ❤️🩹
thank you netgalley for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review!
first dnf of the year wooo
i can’t do this anymore. i tried i swear. this book just angers me sooo much. and to all my fellow muslim girlies, it will probably trigger you too 🤧
who had the audacity to make this a “muslim romance” because um if you’re gonna make the two mcs muslim, here’s a small suggestion MAKE. IT. HALAL. this was anything but halal. it was haram on so many levels and at first I was like it’s okay i’ll power through bc it’s an arc and i would hate to not give it a full chance to redeem itself…!!
but i’ve read enough. let me get into all the reasons this is such false representation:
1- they held hands. that was probably the least crazy of them all but in Islam, you can’t touch a person of the opposite gender unless they’re your sibling or father or uncle. or if you’re married. they were none of those things 💀
🤨 “Not only that, but because intimacy with the opposite sex is technically forbidden until marriage—even holding a guy’s hand is enough fodder for gossip in our community.”
so basically girl knew damn well it was wrong and just said fuck it anything for love🥰 ok babe you two have fun in jahanam. also like wdym “technically” there’s nothing technical about it, it’s straight up facts 😀 ugh she annoys me so much 😭 even when she held his hand he jerked away but girl just would not budge 😤
2 - he invited her to his hotel room. alone. you can’t be alone with a man until you’re married to him. and she just went with it 😭 she had NoWhErE eLsE tO sTaY. it gets worse.
3 - she wore immodest clothes in front of him bc of a stain she has on her outfit.
👎🏼“I briefly study my outfit. I clear my throat and pretend like I didn’t notice he’s trying not to stare at the slight dip in my cleavage. The clothes in the stores here aren’t halal-girl friendly but it’s either that or walk around in my dirty clothes”
be so fr rn. this whole country and you couldn’t find 1 place that sells long sleeves or trousers? nope not buying it. even if that were the case I’d just take my dirty clothes, wipe it a little and get the hell out of that hotel room.
4 - SHE SLEPT IN HIS BED. omgg it just keeps getting crazier. like gurl you staying in his room is already shit, atleast sleep on the damn floor.
5 - she was engaged to someone else this whole time 😐 so now there’s cheating involved too. and even if they didn’t kiss idk about you I still consider it all cheating. like she was literally on her way to her wedding when she met him.
6 - she kept missing all her prayers. sometimes you’re busy I get it or you’re out and can’t find the time but how easy is it to bring a prayer mat and hijab to work and just pray on your breaks. she works at a school too surely she could find a spare room.
some of you reading this review may think these are all totally normal things. holding hands, one bed trope. and they are!! ive read about it a million times before but it’s just the fact that it’s against the religion that’s annoyed me because why is this the representation we get?!!? why. and her being muslim served no relevance to the plot at all. obviously i didn’t finish the book so i can’t fully comment but from what ive seen if they took it out everything can remain the same. so either represent us properly or just don’t do it at all please 😭
but yeah to conclude this was not for me. at all ☹️💓 sorry it isn’t one of my prettiest reviews i wrote it up in like 10 minutes bc I just can’t be bothered it’s not worth my efforts. don’t let me put you off these are all my personal opinions and if you enjoy it, i’m really happy for you 🥹🫶🏼
honestly I think if you can overlook that it’s totally not halal, this would make a decent book. but I wasn’t and so I did not enjoy it.
i actually had such high hopes for this one honestly what a shame. oh well ❤️🩹
thank you netgalley for providing me an arc in exchange for an honest review!
February 24, 2024
“Maybe this will be one of the few times Allah feels bad for all the bad luck He gives me and says ‘Here, have a good day, as a treat!’”
I feel sick to my stomach. How can you call this a halal romance when I don’t see anything halal??
I’ve seen so many reviews on NetGalley thanking the author because they learned so much more about Islam and Muslims because of this book.
ISLAM WHERE??? MUSLIMS WHERE???
The number of times my religion and my god were disrespected in this book is unbelievable!!! The whole time I was reading, I truly thought Netflix would love turning this into a movie. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. The only thing that was missing was the FMC removing her head scarf. Thankfully, the author didn’t make her a hijabi, or I would have lost it.
(Sama and I desperately need therapy
after reading this one)
I feel sick to my stomach. How can you call this a halal romance when I don’t see anything halal??
I’ve seen so many reviews on NetGalley thanking the author because they learned so much more about Islam and Muslims because of this book.
ISLAM WHERE??? MUSLIMS WHERE???
The number of times my religion and my god were disrespected in this book is unbelievable!!! The whole time I was reading, I truly thought Netflix would love turning this into a movie. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did. The only thing that was missing was the FMC removing her head scarf. Thankfully, the author didn’t make her a hijabi, or I would have lost it.
(Sama and I desperately need therapy
after reading this one)
June 4, 2024
i guess i owe this book my left lung because it got me so engrossed in reading that i finished it within a week (this hasn't happened in x amount of years)
so let's get into it
my first and only disclaimer i'm going to offer: yes i understand this is one muslim girl's experience and we are all on different paths in our journeys, but one thing you must understand, Muslims are people and people are flawed, but Islam is a religion and you can't pick and choose and change that as u please
so if you're going to have your character do flawed thing and make up her own rules, all i'm saying is ADDRESS IT, don't just brush it under the rug
that is all
moving on. (and you're in for spoilers, so watch out)
Maya is truly the villain of this story. my god this girl is so dense. she thinks the whole world is out to get her and to judge her, but honestly NO ONE REALLY CARES
she makes it seem like her mom and her community have judgmental stares on everything she does, but in reality (and you see it on paper) they genuinely don't give 2 craps about her life. and her mom isn't the witch she is made out to be. she's actually very understanding and loving
like Maya is the only one restricting her own life and then she whines about it????
next up, for our main course we have.....Cheating as the Plot
that's right, you didn't misread that (though i wish i did)
I cannot forgive the act of cheating on a normal day, and i think we can all agree that cheaters = bad bad bad, but it's ESPECIALLY bad for Muslims bc we have very restricted interactions with the opposite gender to start with, so SO KISSING A BOY WHILE YOU'RE ENGAGED
NOT EXACTLY GONNA MAKE YOU THE HERO OF THIS STORY
and guys it gets better
the guy she KISSED, the guy she CHEATED ON HER FIANCE WITH.....
IT'S HIS ESTRANGED BROTHER
so excuse me when i think that maya, the main character, is a bad person. she's trying to play this off as like omg im with my fiancé bc of convenience bc being a brown muslim girl is so hard and no one lets you do anything unless your married and omg this guy i just met on the airplane makes me FEEL THINGS and thats why i need to live my teenage years and kiss him
and imagine it ended there guys, imagine i would be able to sleep well at night
but no
after this girl, flies her whole family out to Pakistan for this wedding, she tells her mom HOURS BEFORE THE CEREMONY that she doesn't love her fiance, her fiance (a hero in all this mess btw) overhears and is like 'ok no problem at all, i will take the blame so no one talks bad about you and btw since ur into my brother... let me GIVE YOU A RIDE ON MY MOTOCYCLE TO CATCH UP TO HIM BEFORE HE LEAVES'
what in the dayooth behaviour is this
anyways, my main qualm with this whole story is that it just seems like any time Maya is opposing my religion or culture, then it's celebrated
like maya breaks off her engagement and starts DATING her ex-fiance's older brother and somehow everything is good with her life
WHEN THE WHOLE PROBLEM HAS BEEN HER ALWAYS AND FOREVER SHE WILL BE THE PROBLEM
and the forced proximity trope was used like 1482981 times. im not even kidding, how were they forced to share a bed 3 separate times??? life is truly insane
and this is not a dig at the author, i love seeing muslim written stories and i want to support them, but it's also my right to speak out about them and the representation
one good aspect about the book, it was entertaining and it lowkey cured my reading depression lol
2 stars
so let's get into it
my first and only disclaimer i'm going to offer: yes i understand this is one muslim girl's experience and we are all on different paths in our journeys, but one thing you must understand, Muslims are people and people are flawed, but Islam is a religion and you can't pick and choose and change that as u please
so if you're going to have your character do flawed thing and make up her own rules, all i'm saying is ADDRESS IT, don't just brush it under the rug
that is all
moving on. (and you're in for spoilers, so watch out)
Maya is truly the villain of this story. my god this girl is so dense. she thinks the whole world is out to get her and to judge her, but honestly NO ONE REALLY CARES
she makes it seem like her mom and her community have judgmental stares on everything she does, but in reality (and you see it on paper) they genuinely don't give 2 craps about her life. and her mom isn't the witch she is made out to be. she's actually very understanding and loving
like Maya is the only one restricting her own life and then she whines about it????
next up, for our main course we have.....Cheating as the Plot
that's right, you didn't misread that (though i wish i did)
I cannot forgive the act of cheating on a normal day, and i think we can all agree that cheaters = bad bad bad, but it's ESPECIALLY bad for Muslims bc we have very restricted interactions with the opposite gender to start with, so SO KISSING A BOY WHILE YOU'RE ENGAGED
NOT EXACTLY GONNA MAKE YOU THE HERO OF THIS STORY
and guys it gets better
the guy she KISSED, the guy she CHEATED ON HER FIANCE WITH.....
IT'S HIS ESTRANGED BROTHER
so excuse me when i think that maya, the main character, is a bad person. she's trying to play this off as like omg im with my fiancé bc of convenience bc being a brown muslim girl is so hard and no one lets you do anything unless your married and omg this guy i just met on the airplane makes me FEEL THINGS and thats why i need to live my teenage years and kiss him
and imagine it ended there guys, imagine i would be able to sleep well at night
but no
after this girl, flies her whole family out to Pakistan for this wedding, she tells her mom HOURS BEFORE THE CEREMONY that she doesn't love her fiance, her fiance (a hero in all this mess btw) overhears and is like 'ok no problem at all, i will take the blame so no one talks bad about you and btw since ur into my brother... let me GIVE YOU A RIDE ON MY MOTOCYCLE TO CATCH UP TO HIM BEFORE HE LEAVES'
what in the dayooth behaviour is this
anyways, my main qualm with this whole story is that it just seems like any time Maya is opposing my religion or culture, then it's celebrated
like maya breaks off her engagement and starts DATING her ex-fiance's older brother and somehow everything is good with her life
WHEN THE WHOLE PROBLEM HAS BEEN HER ALWAYS AND FOREVER SHE WILL BE THE PROBLEM
and the forced proximity trope was used like 1482981 times. im not even kidding, how were they forced to share a bed 3 separate times??? life is truly insane
and this is not a dig at the author, i love seeing muslim written stories and i want to support them, but it's also my right to speak out about them and the representation
one good aspect about the book, it was entertaining and it lowkey cured my reading depression lol
2 stars
June 21, 2024
1.25 stars - Where do I even start?
I am feeling genuinely flabbergasted and betrayed from the fact that Ann Liang, S.K Ali, and Zoulfa Katouh PRAISED this book 🤯🤯🤯 LIKE POOKIE PLEASE. OK, ANN LIANG MAYBE. BUT ZOULFA AND S.K??? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME 💔 Major spoilers, basically the entire story<3
The very first red flag of this book, only on page 12:
“I’m twenty-eight, and I’ve never been in a real relationship. Okay, that’s also because dating is technically haram in Islam{...}.”
I BEG YOUR PARDON? DID I READ THAT RIGHT??? TECHNICALLY?? TECHNICALLY??? IT’S HARAM, PERIOD. NO QUESTIONS ASKED. NONE. CONVERSATION OVER. ZIP YOUR LIPS.
Two: Once I realized she was engaged, I had the instant cringe of, “oh, this is going to lead to cheating” 😍 we love cheating on our partners- whether or not we love them because we still have a commitment<3
So, I LOVE airport romance- reference A: Love from A to Z 🤭 - and I was actually pretty smiley when they were seated right next to each other on the plane AND OMG, SHE BLEW HER AYATUL KURSI DU’A ON HIM TEEHEE, but did that smile last very long? No. In fact, it only lasted 15 pages. Why?
They.
Held.
Hands.
They.
Touched.
TOUCHED.
Okay, I get it, he was having a full panic attack because the plane was experiencing crazy ahh turbulence and that assurance does help, BUT AS A FICTIONAL MUSLIM WOMAN, SHE COULD HAVE ASSURED HIM WITHOUT TOUCHING HIM.
But you may be thinking, “what if it was a reflex?” I UNDERSTAND IF IT WAS AN REFLEX REACTION, I MIGHT HAVE DONE IT TOO, BUT THIS IS A BOOK. THIS WAS DONE ON PURPOSE 😧 MY SMILE DROPPED INSTANTLY AND I STARTED INTERNALLY SCREAMING
Anyways, the .25 in this book is only and ONLY for the Crash Landing on You references 🥹 my heart was so happy when Yoon Se-ri and Ri Jeong-Hyeok was mentioned, ohmygosh, you have no idea<3
Ok back to the story: They’re now in Switzerland because the weather is too crappy for the plane to fly and Maya decides she wants to go see the locations where CLOY was filmed (W for that) and she bought new clothes since she’s the 1% that got her luggage lost in the airport but somewhere along the way (my mind is getting fogged) she got nausea and right when she made it to the pharmacy, trying to find medicine, Sarfaraz shows up, and she throws up on him.
The second hand embarrassment was CRAZY. AND THEN HER VOMIT STARTED LEAKING THROUGH HER HANDS AND HE OFFERED HER THE BAG WITH HER NEW CLOTHES 🙏 GOODNIGHT, I WOULD HAVE CANCELED THE WEDDING AND RAN BACK TO CANADA RIGHT AWAY.
After, Sarfaraz finds the need as a Muslim man to tell her to stay in HIS HOTEL ROOM because “Oh, there’s two beds, so what’s the problem? 🥰” THE PROBLEM IS YOU’RE STAYING IN A HOTEL ROOM WITH A WOMAN WHO IS NOT YOURS ALONE, WHERE SHE WILL SLEEP, SHOWER, AND GET DRESSED 😇
AND IS SHE STUPID??? OKAY, HE’S HELPING YOU OUT, HE’S MUSLIM, BUT HE’S A COMPLETE STRANGER YOU MANAGED TO ARGUE AND THROW UP ON???? FOR ALL YOU KNOW, HE’S A WOMAN ABUSER 🫡
So of course, she takes his offer, and they get to the hotel room. There, she goes to take a shower, and he offers his inhumanely large T-shirt because her new clothes are puked on- but he refuses to give her his pants because they’re apparently EXTRA inhumanely large so he tells her to ONLY wear the shirt because it goes down to her knees!! 😘 As if the awrah of a woman only applies to her chest and down yk where 💗
Before going to sleep, she starts thinking about kissing the GROWN-UP way and she ogles Sarfaraz as if he’s a tempting snack and as if she doesn’t have a fiance waiting in Pakistan for her.
Next morning: GASP SARFARAZ’S SHIRT RISES UP SLIGHTLY WHEN HE STRETCHED, OMG LOOK AT THAT MARVELOUS PATCH OF SKIN Y'ALL!!!! Yawn.
She invites him to go visit the places of COLY with her because he wants to sit and do work when he’s in Switzerland (ew??) and he reluctantly agrees.
Okay, the fact that he watched COLY for her on the way was super cute, I will admit.
BUT THEN.
“My stomach flops on top of his legs, my hands flying out. Unfortunately, in my desperate attempt at seeking stability so I don’t fall completely to the ground, I accidentally graze the bulge in front of his pants.”
Absolutely no words. No. words. I gasped, shut the book right then and there, took deep DEEP breaths, and said, “A’udu billahi mina shaytani rajeem” 🙏 I WAS SO JAW DROPPED OMG. LIKE MY EYEBALLS COULD HAVE POPPED OUT OF THE SOCKETS.
THEN THEY TOUCHED AGAIN ON THE COLY BRIDGE.
GRRRRAHHH JUST LEAVE HIM ON THE BRIDGE YOU FOOL STOP HOLDING HIS HAND.
YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE IT, IT GOT EVEN WORSE FROM THERE. HE GRABBED HER BY THE WAIST. OHMYGSHSISOSHH THE WAY I FELT LIKE STOMPING ON HIS TOES. HE RUINED THE SWEET NOSTALGIA OF COLY.
Also the LGBTQ+ rep had me tweaking but we’re not going to get into that.
Um… then their flight to Islamabad is back on and they find out they’re going through the same route to Karachi. They decide to take an Uber after their bus got a flat tire or something. But oho, this is a desi story right?
So their Uber were actually robbers with guns and they forced them to give up their belongings 😣Boohoo
Now they’re stranded in the middle of nowhere and they get to a village finally after walking for ages. They meet a woman named Salama and Kenan (I FOUND OUT FROM THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS THAT THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE SALAMA AND KENAN FROM AS LONG AS THE LEMON TREES GROW BUT IN A DIFFERENT UNIVERSE. I HAVEN’T EVEN READ IT YET BUT I KNOW I LOVE THEM AND THAT THIS IS AN INSULT TO THEM)
NOW. THIS IS WHERE THE STORY REALLY WENT DOWNHILL POOKIE. NOT ONLY ARE THEY CASUALLY TOUCHING NOW BUT NOW THEY’RE PRETENDING TO BE MARRIED.
I usually LOVE LOVEEE this trope, but they ruined it ALL. Yk all that talk about the two bed hotel room? Well, now it’s a tight room with only one bed, big enough for ONE person.
I’m not even there yet… she takes a shower again AND POPS OUT SEMI NAKED IN FRONT OF SARFARAZ. ONLY A TOWEL COVERING HER “IMPORTANT PARTS”. AND HE OPENLY STARED AT HER.
OPENLY. STARED. AT. A. SEMI. NAKED. MUSLIM. WOMAN. WHO. IS. NOT. HIS. WIFE.
Bark bark bing bang, I wanted to dnf at this point but I persevered for the sake of writing this review.
AND AGAIN, THE FACT THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AWRAH IN THIS BOOK. OKAY?? ONLY YOUR ARMS, COLLARBONE, SHOULDERS, AND LEGS ARE SHOWING??? MIGHT AS WELL SAY YOU’RE BEING MODEST EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE A BIKINI ON, BC “oh the important parts are covered”
Fast forward, she sees Sarfaraz in a salwar kameez and ogles him again and he finds the audacity to flirt with her “Like what you see?”” I hope you like seeing jahannam 🙂
Now we’re at the part where he builds up the courage to sleep in that tiny bed with her and they talk about some random deep trauma stuff before turning their backs on each other.
And then! Yes, this is most likely the part that made me want to rip the pages of this book apart! They wake up to each other being tangled up, his arm around her waist, etc and instead of untangling themselves like proper muslims, Maya decides to kiss him very passionately as a goodbye 🥰 and it gets pretty physical from there!
Fun fact: Maya does this while KNOWING it’s haram because she said, and I quote, from page 153: “Intamicy with the opposie s3x is technically forbidden until marriage- even holding a guy’s hand{...}”
I want to take this woman and bury her alive. WHAT IS ALL THIS YAPPING ABOUT “TECHINCALLY”??? THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TECHINCALLY. IT IS AND THAT IS ITTTTTTT. IT’S NOT THAT HARD TO COMPREHEND, YOU UTTER IMBECILE.
Side note: She's already kissed a Muslim guy before when she was my age
I actually got turmeric on this book when I was making golden milk, but I wasn’t even sorry and if I wasn’t sorry, it means I actually hate the book with every fiber of my being to the point where I’d burn it. (I hope the library doesn’t notice…)
So, now that I’m getting lazy to continue writing, they part ways blah blah blah and she finally makes it to her wedding (her fiance hugs her like they’re already married) WHERE SHE FINDS OUT….
DRUM ROLL….
……
……
SARFARAZ IS ACTUALLY HER FIANCE’S HALF OLDER BROTHER
HUZZAH! SHE MADE OUT WITH HER BROTHER IN-LAW IN BED!
I already expected this, so yawn. Flash forward, they have intense moments at the mehendi which leads to Hibba Baji realizing she’s in love with Sarfaraz and not Imtiaz.
But Maya says she will continue on with the wedding until Sarfaraz leaves because he can’t stand by and watch her get married to his brother since he’s so hopelessly in love with her. Womp womp for him 🤡
She- or Hibba- tells their mom that Maya is in love with Sarfaraz, and of course, Imtiaz is at the door, listening to this bs. But he’s not upset, he’s actually happy and he already knew. Yippie!
Skip, skip, skip- Maya misses Duhur to run to catch Sarfaraz before he leaves. I noticed she did this multiple times, where she missed her prayers and brushed it off like nothing and just prayed later??? Anyways, I’ll get back to that soon.
She confesses her undying love for him and he, in return, says he loves her too GASPPP AWEEE SO CUTE OMG I COULD CRY but then they make out in the airport with a million people around them- THEN SHE SAYS THEY MISSED DUHUR BUT INSTEAD OF MAKING UP THE PRAYER, THEY GO ON A DATE???
Last thing: Sarfaraz NEVER mentioned Allah in this book. Not even once. TURN. OFFFFF. If it doesn’t bring up Islam, we don’t want it. AND EW SIX YEAR AGE GAP.
I’m done, thank you so much for taking the time to read this, my love, it's five pages on Google docs and- it’s better than the actual book.<3
I am feeling genuinely flabbergasted and betrayed from the fact that Ann Liang, S.K Ali, and Zoulfa Katouh PRAISED this book 🤯🤯🤯 LIKE POOKIE PLEASE. OK, ANN LIANG MAYBE. BUT ZOULFA AND S.K??? WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME 💔 Major spoilers, basically the entire story<3
The very first red flag of this book, only on page 12:
“I’m twenty-eight, and I’ve never been in a real relationship. Okay, that’s also because dating is technically haram in Islam{...}.”
I BEG YOUR PARDON? DID I READ THAT RIGHT??? TECHNICALLY?? TECHNICALLY??? IT’S HARAM, PERIOD. NO QUESTIONS ASKED. NONE. CONVERSATION OVER. ZIP YOUR LIPS.
Two: Once I realized she was engaged, I had the instant cringe of, “oh, this is going to lead to cheating” 😍 we love cheating on our partners- whether or not we love them because we still have a commitment<3
So, I LOVE airport romance- reference A: Love from A to Z 🤭 - and I was actually pretty smiley when they were seated right next to each other on the plane AND OMG, SHE BLEW HER AYATUL KURSI DU’A ON HIM TEEHEE, but did that smile last very long? No. In fact, it only lasted 15 pages. Why?
They.
Held.
Hands.
They.
Touched.
TOUCHED.
Okay, I get it, he was having a full panic attack because the plane was experiencing crazy ahh turbulence and that assurance does help, BUT AS A FICTIONAL MUSLIM WOMAN, SHE COULD HAVE ASSURED HIM WITHOUT TOUCHING HIM.
But you may be thinking, “what if it was a reflex?” I UNDERSTAND IF IT WAS AN REFLEX REACTION, I MIGHT HAVE DONE IT TOO, BUT THIS IS A BOOK. THIS WAS DONE ON PURPOSE 😧 MY SMILE DROPPED INSTANTLY AND I STARTED INTERNALLY SCREAMING
Anyways, the .25 in this book is only and ONLY for the Crash Landing on You references 🥹 my heart was so happy when Yoon Se-ri and Ri Jeong-Hyeok was mentioned, ohmygosh, you have no idea<3
Ok back to the story: They’re now in Switzerland because the weather is too crappy for the plane to fly and Maya decides she wants to go see the locations where CLOY was filmed (W for that) and she bought new clothes since she’s the 1% that got her luggage lost in the airport but somewhere along the way (my mind is getting fogged) she got nausea and right when she made it to the pharmacy, trying to find medicine, Sarfaraz shows up, and she throws up on him.
The second hand embarrassment was CRAZY. AND THEN HER VOMIT STARTED LEAKING THROUGH HER HANDS AND HE OFFERED HER THE BAG WITH HER NEW CLOTHES 🙏 GOODNIGHT, I WOULD HAVE CANCELED THE WEDDING AND RAN BACK TO CANADA RIGHT AWAY.
After, Sarfaraz finds the need as a Muslim man to tell her to stay in HIS HOTEL ROOM because “Oh, there’s two beds, so what’s the problem? 🥰” THE PROBLEM IS YOU’RE STAYING IN A HOTEL ROOM WITH A WOMAN WHO IS NOT YOURS ALONE, WHERE SHE WILL SLEEP, SHOWER, AND GET DRESSED 😇
AND IS SHE STUPID??? OKAY, HE’S HELPING YOU OUT, HE’S MUSLIM, BUT HE’S A COMPLETE STRANGER YOU MANAGED TO ARGUE AND THROW UP ON???? FOR ALL YOU KNOW, HE’S A WOMAN ABUSER 🫡
So of course, she takes his offer, and they get to the hotel room. There, she goes to take a shower, and he offers his inhumanely large T-shirt because her new clothes are puked on- but he refuses to give her his pants because they’re apparently EXTRA inhumanely large so he tells her to ONLY wear the shirt because it goes down to her knees!! 😘 As if the awrah of a woman only applies to her chest and down yk where 💗
Before going to sleep, she starts thinking about kissing the GROWN-UP way and she ogles Sarfaraz as if he’s a tempting snack and as if she doesn’t have a fiance waiting in Pakistan for her.
Next morning: GASP SARFARAZ’S SHIRT RISES UP SLIGHTLY WHEN HE STRETCHED, OMG LOOK AT THAT MARVELOUS PATCH OF SKIN Y'ALL!!!! Yawn.
She invites him to go visit the places of COLY with her because he wants to sit and do work when he’s in Switzerland (ew??) and he reluctantly agrees.
Okay, the fact that he watched COLY for her on the way was super cute, I will admit.
BUT THEN.
“My stomach flops on top of his legs, my hands flying out. Unfortunately, in my desperate attempt at seeking stability so I don’t fall completely to the ground, I accidentally graze the bulge in front of his pants.”
Absolutely no words. No. words. I gasped, shut the book right then and there, took deep DEEP breaths, and said, “A’udu billahi mina shaytani rajeem” 🙏 I WAS SO JAW DROPPED OMG. LIKE MY EYEBALLS COULD HAVE POPPED OUT OF THE SOCKETS.
THEN THEY TOUCHED AGAIN ON THE COLY BRIDGE.
GRRRRAHHH JUST LEAVE HIM ON THE BRIDGE YOU FOOL STOP HOLDING HIS HAND.
YOU’LL NEVER BELIEVE IT, IT GOT EVEN WORSE FROM THERE. HE GRABBED HER BY THE WAIST. OHMYGSHSISOSHH THE WAY I FELT LIKE STOMPING ON HIS TOES. HE RUINED THE SWEET NOSTALGIA OF COLY.
Also the LGBTQ+ rep had me tweaking but we’re not going to get into that.
Um… then their flight to Islamabad is back on and they find out they’re going through the same route to Karachi. They decide to take an Uber after their bus got a flat tire or something. But oho, this is a desi story right?
So their Uber were actually robbers with guns and they forced them to give up their belongings 😣
Now they’re stranded in the middle of nowhere and they get to a village finally after walking for ages. They meet a woman named Salama and Kenan (I FOUND OUT FROM THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS THAT THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE SALAMA AND KENAN FROM AS LONG AS THE LEMON TREES GROW BUT IN A DIFFERENT UNIVERSE. I HAVEN’T EVEN READ IT YET BUT I KNOW I LOVE THEM AND THAT THIS IS AN INSULT TO THEM)
NOW. THIS IS WHERE THE STORY REALLY WENT DOWNHILL POOKIE. NOT ONLY ARE THEY CASUALLY TOUCHING NOW BUT NOW THEY’RE PRETENDING TO BE MARRIED.
I usually LOVE LOVEEE this trope, but they ruined it ALL. Yk all that talk about the two bed hotel room? Well, now it’s a tight room with only one bed, big enough for ONE person.
I’m not even there yet… she takes a shower again AND POPS OUT SEMI NAKED IN FRONT OF SARFARAZ. ONLY A TOWEL COVERING HER “IMPORTANT PARTS”. AND HE OPENLY STARED AT HER.
OPENLY. STARED. AT. A. SEMI. NAKED. MUSLIM. WOMAN. WHO. IS. NOT. HIS. WIFE.
Bark bark bing bang, I wanted to dnf at this point but I persevered for the sake of writing this review.
AND AGAIN, THE FACT THAT THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AWRAH IN THIS BOOK. OKAY?? ONLY YOUR ARMS, COLLARBONE, SHOULDERS, AND LEGS ARE SHOWING??? MIGHT AS WELL SAY YOU’RE BEING MODEST EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE A BIKINI ON, BC “oh the important parts are covered”
Fast forward, she sees Sarfaraz in a salwar kameez and ogles him again and he finds the audacity to flirt with her “Like what you see?”” I hope you like seeing jahannam 🙂
Now we’re at the part where he builds up the courage to sleep in that tiny bed with her and they talk about some random deep trauma stuff before turning their backs on each other.
And then! Yes, this is most likely the part that made me want to rip the pages of this book apart! They wake up to each other being tangled up, his arm around her waist, etc and instead of untangling themselves like proper muslims, Maya decides to kiss him very passionately as a goodbye 🥰 and it gets pretty physical from there!
Fun fact: Maya does this while KNOWING it’s haram because she said, and I quote, from page 153: “Intamicy with the opposie s3x is technically forbidden until marriage- even holding a guy’s hand{...}”
I want to take this woman and bury her alive. WHAT IS ALL THIS YAPPING ABOUT “TECHINCALLY”??? THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TECHINCALLY. IT IS AND THAT IS ITTTTTTT. IT’S NOT THAT HARD TO COMPREHEND, YOU UTTER IMBECILE.
Side note: She's already kissed a Muslim guy before when she was my age
I actually got turmeric on this book when I was making golden milk, but I wasn’t even sorry and if I wasn’t sorry, it means I actually hate the book with every fiber of my being to the point where I’d burn it. (I hope the library doesn’t notice…)
So, now that I’m getting lazy to continue writing, they part ways blah blah blah and she finally makes it to her wedding (her fiance hugs her like they’re already married) WHERE SHE FINDS OUT….
DRUM ROLL….
……
……
SARFARAZ IS ACTUALLY HER FIANCE’S HALF OLDER BROTHER
HUZZAH! SHE MADE OUT WITH HER BROTHER IN-LAW IN BED!
I already expected this, so yawn. Flash forward, they have intense moments at the mehendi which leads to Hibba Baji realizing she’s in love with Sarfaraz and not Imtiaz.
But Maya says she will continue on with the wedding until Sarfaraz leaves because he can’t stand by and watch her get married to his brother since he’s so hopelessly in love with her. Womp womp for him 🤡
She- or Hibba- tells their mom that Maya is in love with Sarfaraz, and of course, Imtiaz is at the door, listening to this bs. But he’s not upset, he’s actually happy and he already knew. Yippie!
Skip, skip, skip- Maya misses Duhur to run to catch Sarfaraz before he leaves. I noticed she did this multiple times, where she missed her prayers and brushed it off like nothing and just prayed later??? Anyways, I’ll get back to that soon.
She confesses her undying love for him and he, in return, says he loves her too GASPPP AWEEE SO CUTE OMG I COULD CRY but then they make out in the airport with a million people around them- THEN SHE SAYS THEY MISSED DUHUR BUT INSTEAD OF MAKING UP THE PRAYER, THEY GO ON A DATE???
Last thing: Sarfaraz NEVER mentioned Allah in this book. Not even once. TURN. OFFFFF. If it doesn’t bring up Islam, we don’t want it. AND EW SIX YEAR AGE GAP.
I’m done, thank you so much for taking the time to read this, my love, it's five pages on Google docs and- it’s better than the actual book.<3
Read
April 5, 2024A debut romance with Canadian Muslim MCs: she's going back to Pakistan to get arranged-married, but a sequence of travel disasters bring her closer to the annoying guy she ends up travelling with.
A mixed reading experience for me, primarily because of the heroine, who bangs on about being cursed because of her bad luck (a habit which to be fair the hero also found exasperating), but whose misfortune seemed to me mostly to come down to having some of the worst judgement I have ever seen in a fictional character. (From the first few chapters: She eats oysters in a tourist restaurant *in a famously landlocked country ffs* and is astonished to become violently unwell. She then randomly agrees to share the hotel room of the man she was seated next to on a plane, like JFC, *we* know he's the hero but *you* don't. And so on.)
That aside there's lots to like in here. The heroine is secure in her faith and her practice of it, which is heartfelt but not hugely traditional/observant; the hero is genuinely grumpy (at times genuinely shitty in a depressing but realistic manner) but has hidden depths; and the 'love triangle' element seemed well handled--the discardable fiance is actually super nice and deserves his own story. I honestly feel like it might have worked better with a bit less in the way of romcom tropes, and the author trusting her actual story more, and letting the characters develop accordingly. (TBH I often feel that about tropes and their tendency to overtake a perfectly good story.) Still, an assured debut, and a really interesting new voice.
A mixed reading experience for me, primarily because of the heroine, who bangs on about being cursed because of her bad luck (a habit which to be fair the hero also found exasperating), but whose misfortune seemed to me mostly to come down to having some of the worst judgement I have ever seen in a fictional character. (From the first few chapters: She eats oysters in a tourist restaurant *in a famously landlocked country ffs* and is astonished to become violently unwell. She then randomly agrees to share the hotel room of the man she was seated next to on a plane, like JFC, *we* know he's the hero but *you* don't. And so on.)
That aside there's lots to like in here. The heroine is secure in her faith and her practice of it, which is heartfelt but not hugely traditional/observant; the hero is genuinely grumpy (at times genuinely shitty in a depressing but realistic manner) but has hidden depths; and the 'love triangle' element seemed well handled--the discardable fiance is actually super nice and deserves his own story. I honestly feel like it might have worked better with a bit less in the way of romcom tropes, and the author trusting her actual story more, and letting the characters develop accordingly. (TBH I often feel that about tropes and their tendency to overtake a perfectly good story.) Still, an assured debut, and a really interesting new voice.
May 23, 2024
partially buddy read this with @sara! (so we could hate on the rep together, yk?) 💗
what the hell was this?
one word: astagfirullah
also maybe la hawla wa la quwata illa billah
because this muslim rep is an insult to my religion omg.
but i feel like if the book was with non muslim characters, i would have rlly enjoyed it
but i was too busy gaging and cringing
Lists of haram that was done (this isn’t even all of them):
No way she’s sleeping in the room of a guy she just met
She falls and lays on his lap
She voluntarily travels with him
She goes places alone with him
She holds hands with him
She hugs him
She speaks romantically with him
She FREAKING KISSES HIM
ALL while she’s Muslim and engaged to someone else
im shook.
what the hell was this?
one word: astagfirullah
also maybe la hawla wa la quwata illa billah
because this muslim rep is an insult to my religion omg.
but i feel like if the book was with non muslim characters, i would have rlly enjoyed it
but i was too busy gaging and cringing
Lists of haram that was done (this isn’t even all of them):
No way she’s sleeping in the room of a guy she just met
She falls and lays on his lap
She voluntarily travels with him
She goes places alone with him
She holds hands with him
She hugs him
She speaks romantically with him
She FREAKING KISSES HIM
ALL while she’s Muslim and engaged to someone else
im shook.
March 31, 2024
Zero stars.
I really had high expectations for this book. I did. Not only because it was written by a Pakistani author but because it was gon be cutesy desi Muslim rom com.
And dude I was so wrong.
There were signs in the beginning but I ignored em like the fmc going 'omg they're so cute' seeing a lesbian couple and her mentioning she had her first kiss at 13. If you're a Muslim you'll totally get my point. Then the fact that she had a guy bestfriend and she lodged in a co-hostel.
It kept getting worse. She's holding hands with a stranger on airplane. Um ... O-Okay. And the next thing you know is she's sharing the hotel room with said stranger and then they're sightseeing. Okay ... Okay. There's a lot of physical intimacy between the said stranger (MC) and her. Hands on her waist, resting her head on his shoulder, travelling together, holding hands, hugs and everything. Even then I was like it can't get worse. But it did.
Sharing a bed with the MC. Mhm hm. One bed trope and forced proximity only if it ain't Muslim romance. Don't call it Halal and add kissing scenes. Yes you heard me right. Kissing scenes. Two of em. And wait there's more.
FMC is to be married in three days when she's making out with MC who's her fiancé's brother. Yeha. The kissing scene was my limit and I was going to DNF the book but my friend suggested that I read it whole and drop an honest review.
I don't get the author. If it had been a Pakistani love story it still would've been better but calling it Muslim love story and then adding such scenes when she clearly writes 'physical intimacy is forbidden until marriage'
The irony is she's even hugging her fiancé and getting physical with her when author clearly potrays them as practicing Muslims. It kept getting worse. Kissing another man when you're engaged is basically cheating. And it's ethically, religiously, morally wrong and what's with the fmc calling it a fling and afterwards talking about her loyalty to her fiancé.
I am so mad.
This book is portraying Muslims in such a wrong light and I, myself feel insulted as a Muslim because this is so horribly wrong. Kissing the boy you 'love' at the bus station in karachi (the hell) walking around in towel Infront of non mehram ( yup that happened ) and then dating the MC because yk islam 'ALLOWS' getting to know your partner. Oh my goodness are you kidding me?!
I'm eighteen and even I know it's wrong and the author who's Prolly double my age mentioned irony and criticized desi Muslims and ended up writing filth herslef.
This. Is. Not. Cute. At. All.
Please I beg the author to remove the 'muslim' parts from the book and stop insulting the Muslim community. Wdym the main characters are praying and then sharing the same bed when they don't have a relation. Wdym they're reciting prayers and then hooking up. This is westernised school of thought and I will not tolerate this.
Muslims are not like this. I repeat.
Look, tahareh mafi is a Muslim author as well but she didn't write Juliette as a Muslim character and then slid her into Aaron's bed. I hope you're getting my point.
I request the author to stop disrespecting islam.
I really had high expectations for this book. I did. Not only because it was written by a Pakistani author but because it was gon be cutesy desi Muslim rom com.
And dude I was so wrong.
There were signs in the beginning but I ignored em like the fmc going 'omg they're so cute' seeing a lesbian couple and her mentioning she had her first kiss at 13. If you're a Muslim you'll totally get my point. Then the fact that she had a guy bestfriend and she lodged in a co-hostel.
It kept getting worse. She's holding hands with a stranger on airplane. Um ... O-Okay. And the next thing you know is she's sharing the hotel room with said stranger and then they're sightseeing. Okay ... Okay. There's a lot of physical intimacy between the said stranger (MC) and her. Hands on her waist, resting her head on his shoulder, travelling together, holding hands, hugs and everything. Even then I was like it can't get worse. But it did.
Sharing a bed with the MC. Mhm hm. One bed trope and forced proximity only if it ain't Muslim romance. Don't call it Halal and add kissing scenes. Yes you heard me right. Kissing scenes. Two of em. And wait there's more.
FMC is to be married in three days when she's making out with MC who's her fiancé's brother. Yeha. The kissing scene was my limit and I was going to DNF the book but my friend suggested that I read it whole and drop an honest review.
I don't get the author. If it had been a Pakistani love story it still would've been better but calling it Muslim love story and then adding such scenes when she clearly writes 'physical intimacy is forbidden until marriage'
The irony is she's even hugging her fiancé and getting physical with her when author clearly potrays them as practicing Muslims. It kept getting worse. Kissing another man when you're engaged is basically cheating. And it's ethically, religiously, morally wrong and what's with the fmc calling it a fling and afterwards talking about her loyalty to her fiancé.
I am so mad.
This book is portraying Muslims in such a wrong light and I, myself feel insulted as a Muslim because this is so horribly wrong. Kissing the boy you 'love' at the bus station in karachi (the hell) walking around in towel Infront of non mehram ( yup that happened ) and then dating the MC because yk islam 'ALLOWS' getting to know your partner. Oh my goodness are you kidding me?!
I'm eighteen and even I know it's wrong and the author who's Prolly double my age mentioned irony and criticized desi Muslims and ended up writing filth herslef.
This. Is. Not. Cute. At. All.
Please I beg the author to remove the 'muslim' parts from the book and stop insulting the Muslim community. Wdym the main characters are praying and then sharing the same bed when they don't have a relation. Wdym they're reciting prayers and then hooking up. This is westernised school of thought and I will not tolerate this.
Muslims are not like this. I repeat.
Look, tahareh mafi is a Muslim author as well but she didn't write Juliette as a Muslim character and then slid her into Aaron's bed. I hope you're getting my point.
I request the author to stop disrespecting islam.
March 5, 2024
Thank you so much to Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Maya's Laws of Love is an incredible debut from Alina Khawaja! This Pakistani romance reminded me so much of my favorite Bollywood films, and I love the themes behind the story. I related to Maya so much, both as a skeptic about love and romance while being a hopeless romantic, as well as the trauma of being the eldest daughter in desi families. I definitely think romance readers--and romance readers alike--will love this debut novel! I would rate this book 4.25 stars rounded up.
Follow me on TikTok | Instagram | Twitter for more book reviews & recommendations!
Maya's Laws of Love is an incredible debut from Alina Khawaja! This Pakistani romance reminded me so much of my favorite Bollywood films, and I love the themes behind the story. I related to Maya so much, both as a skeptic about love and romance while being a hopeless romantic, as well as the trauma of being the eldest daughter in desi families. I definitely think romance readers--and romance readers alike--will love this debut novel! I would rate this book 4.25 stars rounded up.
Follow me on TikTok | Instagram | Twitter for more book reviews & recommendations!
May 21, 2024
br (kind of?) with my twin @yusra <3 (ily but i do not love this book)
*sigh*
okay.. i think i'm ready. listen, this book genuinely gave me pain. you know that cavity late-night type pain? yeah, that.
as a muslim woman, this was one of the worst books i've ever read, advertised as muslim representation. muslim rep where?? let's just take a look back at what our mc does that is not only haram, but just gross and cringe in general. this woman holds a strange man's hand, she goes into a hotel with him and sleeps in the same room as him (which is so crazy), she wears revealing clothing in front of him just because she doesn't have any others.
on top of that, when i honestly thought things couldn't get worse, she says this: ''maybe this will be one of the few times Allah feels bad for all the bad luck He gives me and says, 'here, have a good day, as a treat!'''
what. when i tell you i gasped. not only is that disrespectful, it's disgusting to even say that. in islam, everything happens for a reason, good or bad, and we may not know the exact reason, but we need to have faith in Allah SWT and His plan for us. this girl did not believe in that. in islam, there is also no such thing as ''good and bad luck'', which is, again, a main idea in this book, where the mc thinks she's ''cursed.'' yes, there is something called the evil eye, but you can never act like it's ''bad luck.'' i'm in NO WAY a scholar or sheikha, but this is just casual info.
to top the cake of disgusting and gross things which happened in this book, she kisses him. wow. just what we needed, isn't it? not only that, but she is cheating. so, let's get this straight, you travel with a strange man, live in a hotel room with him, ''accidentally'' fall into his lap, and then kiss him, all while being engaged to someone? how cute. also, another thing that didn't add up to me: if the guy was ''rich'' and she didn't have enough money to pay for a hotel room, instead of inviting her to his, why didn't he get one for her? if they're actually muslim, and the man has some dignity, but i guess he doesn't.
this was so tiring, and the muslim rep was just not it. i need some sleep now.
*sigh*
okay.. i think i'm ready. listen, this book genuinely gave me pain. you know that cavity late-night type pain? yeah, that.
as a muslim woman, this was one of the worst books i've ever read, advertised as muslim representation. muslim rep where?? let's just take a look back at what our mc does that is not only haram, but just gross and cringe in general. this woman holds a strange man's hand, she goes into a hotel with him and sleeps in the same room as him (which is so crazy), she wears revealing clothing in front of him just because she doesn't have any others.
on top of that, when i honestly thought things couldn't get worse, she says this: ''maybe this will be one of the few times Allah feels bad for all the bad luck He gives me and says, 'here, have a good day, as a treat!'''
what. when i tell you i gasped. not only is that disrespectful, it's disgusting to even say that. in islam, everything happens for a reason, good or bad, and we may not know the exact reason, but we need to have faith in Allah SWT and His plan for us. this girl did not believe in that. in islam, there is also no such thing as ''good and bad luck'', which is, again, a main idea in this book, where the mc thinks she's ''cursed.'' yes, there is something called the evil eye, but you can never act like it's ''bad luck.'' i'm in NO WAY a scholar or sheikha, but this is just casual info.
to top the cake of disgusting and gross things which happened in this book, she kisses him. wow. just what we needed, isn't it? not only that, but she is cheating. so, let's get this straight, you travel with a strange man, live in a hotel room with him, ''accidentally'' fall into his lap, and then kiss him, all while being engaged to someone? how cute. also, another thing that didn't add up to me: if the guy was ''rich'' and she didn't have enough money to pay for a hotel room, instead of inviting her to his, why didn't he get one for her? if they're actually muslim, and the man has some dignity, but i guess he doesn't.
this was so tiring, and the muslim rep was just not it. i need some sleep now.
September 26, 2023
This was a cute and clean romcom. Maya was funny at times and I enjoyed learning more about the Muslim faith and Pakistani culture! I think the writing felt a bit choppy and took me a little while to get into.
March 27, 2024
A beautiful, feel good #ownvoices romance debut featuring a Canadian Pakistani teacher who finds herself agreeing to marry a man she barely knows in order to please her mother. I loved this grumpy/sunshine, opposites attract, travel romance that sees Maya questioning everything she thought she knew about life and love when she ends up falling for a complete stranger when she least expected. Great on audio and perfect for fans of authors like Farah Heron and Uzma Jalaluddin. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review! I'm excited to read more from this new Canadian author!!
Steam level: kissing only
Steam level: kissing only
March 29, 2024
you put your trust in a “muslim” pakistani romance? stupid ho, how you figure. (wise words i will keep close to my heart because i can’t do this anymore.)
maya overall is relatable 70% of time. she is her, i am me, so for that, i was willing to pretend some things didn’t happen, but not for long.
this is cute and you’re willing to overlook that the romance is not halal at all, because life, and it’s a fictional story. UNTIL THE MUSLIM GIRL AND GUY SHE MET 5 DAYS AGO SHARE A BED WHILE SHE’S LITERALLY DAYS AWAY FROM HER WEDDING TO ANOTHER MAN. but ofc the girlie (maya) and the stranger guy (sarfaraz) prayed fajr late in this room they share together. and ofc she will mention she overslept so she had to pray dhuhr and asr together??? just don’t mention it. so so awkward.
some stupid quotes: “Not only that, but because intimacy with the opposite sex is technically forbidden until marriage—even holding a guy’s hand is enough fodder for gossip in our community.” not TECHNICALLY. it’s forbidden period. why are you trying to force something so much.
“Maybe this will be one of the few times Allah feels bad for all the bad luck He gives me and says ‘Here, have a good day, as a treat!’” WHATTTTTT.
i will leave it at that. some quick thoughts, but hopefully enough to give you an idea of what you’re going into. ◡̈
maya overall is relatable 70% of time. she is her, i am me, so for that, i was willing to pretend some things didn’t happen, but not for long.
this is cute and you’re willing to overlook that the romance is not halal at all, because life, and it’s a fictional story. UNTIL THE MUSLIM GIRL AND GUY SHE MET 5 DAYS AGO SHARE A BED WHILE SHE’S LITERALLY DAYS AWAY FROM HER WEDDING TO ANOTHER MAN. but ofc the girlie (maya) and the stranger guy (sarfaraz) prayed fajr late in this room they share together. and ofc she will mention she overslept so she had to pray dhuhr and asr together??? just don’t mention it. so so awkward.
some stupid quotes: “Not only that, but because intimacy with the opposite sex is technically forbidden until marriage—even holding a guy’s hand is enough fodder for gossip in our community.” not TECHNICALLY. it’s forbidden period. why are you trying to force something so much.
“Maybe this will be one of the few times Allah feels bad for all the bad luck He gives me and says ‘Here, have a good day, as a treat!’” WHATTTTTT.
i will leave it at that. some quick thoughts, but hopefully enough to give you an idea of what you’re going into. ◡̈
October 7, 2023
no because you don’t even know how funny alina is and the way that translates into her book and the ANGSSSSSTTTT and the VIBESSSS and the BANTERRRRRRR she has prepared for us a seven course meal 😋😍🗣️
muslim li enough said
muslim li enough said
May 6, 2024
I can excuse a lot of things but cheating for the plot is not one of them
May 25, 2024
.....
So you're telling me that Maya kissed a guy, held hands with him, and did many haram things with him as a Muslim AND as the one engaged to his brother?
An extra star is just for the writing style, because this book would have been good if it wasn't for the representation of Muslims.
So you're telling me that Maya kissed a guy, held hands with him, and did many haram things with him as a Muslim AND as the one engaged to his brother?
An extra star is just for the writing style, because this book would have been good if it wasn't for the representation of Muslims.
September 24, 2024
➸ 3 stars
this book is messy, cliché, angsty, adorable, funny and chaotic. like, really chaotic. words cannot even begin to describe how giddy this read made me feel. i absolutely fell in love with the two main characters: maya mirza and sarfaraz porter. both were swoon-worthy.
throughout her entire life, maya has believed she’s cursed when it comes to love so much so that she’s come up with a list of laws to try and explain it, i.e. murphy’s law. the biggest one being, trying to accept that love will come after marriage.
maya is flying to pakistan (where she’s on the way to her own arranged wedding), and after she switches seats to reunite a separated family, her seat neighbor is none other than sarfaraz – or, The Jerk – she bumped into earlier pre-boarding the plane. so many mishaps and shenanigans occurs that keeps pulling maya and sarfaraz together (that she attributes to the curse) leading to them quickly leaning on each other as they’re both traveling alone.
this may sound bad, but even though she’s engaged to another, kind and respectable man – who she does not love! – the banter and the secret stolen glances maya and sarfaraz experience with each other, sold me very early on. i became their #1 cheerleader, waiting patiently for them to stand up for themselves (individually and together). they both grow so much throughout the book and both of their yellow and/or red flags become green in the end. they were made for each other, simple as that.
throughout the book, i had theories about the big plot twist and i was pleasantly surprised to discover i was sort of right about it, which i didn’t mind because it was written well. but even though i enjoyed the plot twist and maya and sarfaraz’s chemistry, i was still perplexed – stumped? – at how easily and quickly the conflict was resolved. but at the same time, it sort of made sense for maya and sarfaraz. they literally fell in love in less than two weeks! all that being said, even though i didn’t mind it, i still could’t give it a full 5 stars because the resolution and happily-ever-after felt rushed to me.
as someone who isn’t a part of the muslim culture and/or religion, or even desi or its diaspora, i found this book beautifully detailed and educational. there were numerous times where i would pause my read and look up specific terms and learn more about them and i even found myself looking up traditional desi wedding dresses and attire and admiring them because of how beautiful the grooms and brides looked in the photos.
overall, this is a very promising debut novel for alina and i cannot wait to see what she does next. i like reading books about people who were raised vastly different from me. this book was fun and had great banter, sweet characters, and angsty plot. i will definitely recommended it if that interests you.
special thanks to NetGalley and MIRA / Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
---
note: i have faith that by the time of publication, all format and grammatical errors are corrected so i can overlook it in my review. this one is based solely on the plot and characters.
this book is messy, cliché, angsty, adorable, funny and chaotic. like, really chaotic. words cannot even begin to describe how giddy this read made me feel. i absolutely fell in love with the two main characters: maya mirza and sarfaraz porter. both were swoon-worthy.
throughout her entire life, maya has believed she’s cursed when it comes to love so much so that she’s come up with a list of laws to try and explain it, i.e. murphy’s law. the biggest one being, trying to accept that love will come after marriage.
maya is flying to pakistan (where she’s on the way to her own arranged wedding), and after she switches seats to reunite a separated family, her seat neighbor is none other than sarfaraz – or, The Jerk – she bumped into earlier pre-boarding the plane. so many mishaps and shenanigans occurs that keeps pulling maya and sarfaraz together (that she attributes to the curse) leading to them quickly leaning on each other as they’re both traveling alone.
this may sound bad, but even though she’s engaged to another, kind and respectable man – who she does not love! – the banter and the secret stolen glances maya and sarfaraz experience with each other, sold me very early on. i became their #1 cheerleader, waiting patiently for them to stand up for themselves (individually and together). they both grow so much throughout the book and both of their yellow and/or red flags become green in the end. they were made for each other, simple as that.
throughout the book, i had theories about the big plot twist and i was pleasantly surprised to discover i was sort of right about it, which i didn’t mind because it was written well. but even though i enjoyed the plot twist and maya and sarfaraz’s chemistry, i was still perplexed – stumped? – at how easily and quickly the conflict was resolved. but at the same time, it sort of made sense for maya and sarfaraz. they literally fell in love in less than two weeks! all that being said, even though i didn’t mind it, i still could’t give it a full 5 stars because the resolution and happily-ever-after felt rushed to me.
as someone who isn’t a part of the muslim culture and/or religion, or even desi or its diaspora, i found this book beautifully detailed and educational. there were numerous times where i would pause my read and look up specific terms and learn more about them and i even found myself looking up traditional desi wedding dresses and attire and admiring them because of how beautiful the grooms and brides looked in the photos.
overall, this is a very promising debut novel for alina and i cannot wait to see what she does next. i like reading books about people who were raised vastly different from me. this book was fun and had great banter, sweet characters, and angsty plot. i will definitely recommended it if that interests you.
special thanks to NetGalley and MIRA / Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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note: i have faith that by the time of publication, all format and grammatical errors are corrected so i can overlook it in my review. this one is based solely on the plot and characters.
April 1, 2024
4 stars!
"Maya's Laws of Love" by Alina Khawaja boasts a cute, fresh twist on a series of tried and true tropes. Main characters Maya and Sarfaraz find themselves stuck in a forced proximity situation when all of their travel plans repeatedly fall apart. Maya is attempting to get to Pakistan to get married to her arranged marriage partner, and Sarfaraz is the jerk sitting next to her and is also traveling to Pakistan to see family. She attributes all of the issues in her life to a curse, which has been plaguing her for years. When they get stranded after their flight detours to Switzerland, they decide to make the most of their time in the country and see the sights. They also get stuck in Islamabad on their way to Karachi and are forced to spend even more time together. Over the course of their journey to Pakistan, Maya and Sarfaraz become closer and feel a connection that neither one of them thought was possible. When they finally make it to Pakistan, all of that changes in an instant. I found this book to be a mostly fun read, though the story does get slowed down here and there. The best part of this book is the banter between Maya and Sarfaraz. Their enemies-to-lovers, grumpy x sunshine, opposites attract nature lends to some silly situations and some arguments between the two of them, making the banter even more rewarding. The more time they spend with one another, the more they learn that having someone back them up and help them out under any circumstance is possible for both of them. I enjoyed learning about some of the customs and practices in which Pakistani Muslims partake. I feel like I learned a lot about the culture I didn't previously know. I don't believe I have read any romances with Pakistani Muslim characters! I Some reviewers have mentioned that this book does not live up to halal standards, and though I cannot speak to this directly, I don't think the author ever explicitly states that this book and this story are 100% halal. It is a PG-rated romance with only one or two curse words. One thing that was a little annoying was the overabundance of references to the K-Drama "Crash Landing On You." It felt like this book was sponsored by that TV show. Apart from that, I found this book to be a real delight!
Thank you to NetGalley, Alina Khawaja, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and MIRA for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.
"Maya's Laws of Love" by Alina Khawaja boasts a cute, fresh twist on a series of tried and true tropes. Main characters Maya and Sarfaraz find themselves stuck in a forced proximity situation when all of their travel plans repeatedly fall apart. Maya is attempting to get to Pakistan to get married to her arranged marriage partner, and Sarfaraz is the jerk sitting next to her and is also traveling to Pakistan to see family. She attributes all of the issues in her life to a curse, which has been plaguing her for years. When they get stranded after their flight detours to Switzerland, they decide to make the most of their time in the country and see the sights. They also get stuck in Islamabad on their way to Karachi and are forced to spend even more time together. Over the course of their journey to Pakistan, Maya and Sarfaraz become closer and feel a connection that neither one of them thought was possible. When they finally make it to Pakistan, all of that changes in an instant. I found this book to be a mostly fun read, though the story does get slowed down here and there. The best part of this book is the banter between Maya and Sarfaraz. Their enemies-to-lovers, grumpy x sunshine, opposites attract nature lends to some silly situations and some arguments between the two of them, making the banter even more rewarding. The more time they spend with one another, the more they learn that having someone back them up and help them out under any circumstance is possible for both of them. I enjoyed learning about some of the customs and practices in which Pakistani Muslims partake. I feel like I learned a lot about the culture I didn't previously know. I don't believe I have read any romances with Pakistani Muslim characters! I Some reviewers have mentioned that this book does not live up to halal standards, and though I cannot speak to this directly, I don't think the author ever explicitly states that this book and this story are 100% halal. It is a PG-rated romance with only one or two curse words. One thing that was a little annoying was the overabundance of references to the K-Drama "Crash Landing On You." It felt like this book was sponsored by that TV show. Apart from that, I found this book to be a real delight!
Thank you to NetGalley, Alina Khawaja, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and MIRA for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.
September 23, 2022
was lucky enough to read an early version of this and ohmygoodness it was SO GOOD. perfect for fans of jab we met, the main characters were nuanced and fleshed out, their relationship was amazing, this book is hilarious, the tension in the romance was fantastic, and it was SUCH A FUN RIDE THROUGH AND THROUGH. cannot wait to have this on my shelves and read it again and again.
April 18, 2024
I loved this one so much! I wasn't sure if I'd love it when I started--sounded like I might get annoyed with all the mishaps--but it sucked me in pretty quickly and I do love a good road trip/forced proximity trope.
I listened to the audio version (great narrator), so please forgive any misspellings!
Maya thinks she's cursed with terrible luck, especially in love, so she agrees to an arranged marriage with a perfectly kind man, Imtiaz, who will give her stability and security and who she hopes she can fall in love with once they're married. On her way to Pakistan for the wedding, she's stuck seated next to Safaraz (sp?), apparently the grumpiest man alive yet handsome and alluring. When the trip goes haywire, they decide it makes sense for them to stick together and find themselves in all kinds of funny, awkward, dangerous, and romantic(ish) situations.
Loved the two of them together, the chemistry (no spice, but you can feel the tension), how they get to know each other, how much they are willing to sacrifice for their families and the people they love. The curse was a little ridiculous and annoying, but I get where it's coming from. Their conversations also have some depth, both with each other and with their families, women's places in Pakistani culture, arranged marriages, traditional versus modern, etc.
Overall, by the end I was so happy I read it and really enjoyed it. 4.5+ stars.
I listened to the audio version (great narrator), so please forgive any misspellings!
Maya thinks she's cursed with terrible luck, especially in love, so she agrees to an arranged marriage with a perfectly kind man, Imtiaz, who will give her stability and security and who she hopes she can fall in love with once they're married. On her way to Pakistan for the wedding, she's stuck seated next to Safaraz (sp?), apparently the grumpiest man alive yet handsome and alluring. When the trip goes haywire, they decide it makes sense for them to stick together and find themselves in all kinds of funny, awkward, dangerous, and romantic(ish) situations.
Loved the two of them together, the chemistry (no spice, but you can feel the tension), how they get to know each other, how much they are willing to sacrifice for their families and the people they love. The curse was a little ridiculous and annoying, but I get where it's coming from. Their conversations also have some depth, both with each other and with their families, women's places in Pakistani culture, arranged marriages, traditional versus modern, etc.
Overall, by the end I was so happy I read it and really enjoyed it. 4.5+ stars.
March 2, 2024
This was very cute! There were aspects that didn't work for me, like opening the story with a bizarre therapy session—it felt a little awkward and contrived—but overall I really enjoyed this unique spin on an arranged marriage.
Travelling to Pakistan for her wedding, convinced getting married will solve her curse of bad luck, an emergency landing leaves Maya stranded in Switzerland alongside her grumpy seatmate, Sarfaraz.
I've said this plenty of times, but love triangles are my guilty pleasure! Despite Maya literally days away from getting married, I think there was a really genuine connection between her and Sarfaraz. Working together to arrive at their destination, their travels are interrupted by many pitstops filled with fun situations that continue to build the forbidden tension.
And let me tell you, I was not expecting the turn of events in the second half. Secrets! Drama! It was totally up my alley. On top of that, I loved reading about the various Pakistani wedding traditions!
(heat level: kissing only)
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own
Travelling to Pakistan for her wedding, convinced getting married will solve her curse of bad luck, an emergency landing leaves Maya stranded in Switzerland alongside her grumpy seatmate, Sarfaraz.
I've said this plenty of times, but love triangles are my guilty pleasure! Despite Maya literally days away from getting married, I think there was a really genuine connection between her and Sarfaraz. Working together to arrive at their destination, their travels are interrupted by many pitstops filled with fun situations that continue to build the forbidden tension.
And let me tell you, I was not expecting the turn of events in the second half. Secrets! Drama! It was totally up my alley. On top of that, I loved reading about the various Pakistani wedding traditions!
(heat level: kissing only)
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own
February 8, 2024
“No one is incapable of love, but we all have the ability to sabotage our own happiness, even if we don’t realize it.”
This story was so chaotic and funny and emotionally charged from start to finish and I was here for all of it. I liked that it was fast-paced (because of the plot) but it didn’t once feel like we’re missing out on any of the characters growth or in seeing depth to their characters and their relationship with one another.
“I have to admit, he looks kind of cute. But maybe it’s because he’s not talking.”
SPEAKING OF their relationship with one another, can I just say how wholesome it was??? 🥹😭💖 Their banter, their begrudging tolerance to something more, the things they made each other realise about themselves by seeing and accepting each other in their truest forms—it had me in an absolute emotional chokehold. Add in that Maya and Sarfaraz themselves were such likeable and easy-to-connect-with characters and the whole book was just one big swoon 😌
“After years of faded friendships, failed attempts at relationships, and mismatched rishtas, here is someone looking at my truest, ugliest, and most vulnerable self, and still deciding to stick around.”
While we didn’t get to see a lot of it until the end, I absolutely adored the relationship between Maya and her mother (and her older sister). There was something so honest and supportive about how they loved each other, and the way they were, at heart, completely and undoubtedly Team Maya—even if she didn’t really realise it at first 💖
“You don’t need someone to find you, Maya. You’ll find yourself. It may take a while, and it won’t be easy, but when you find who you are, you’ll know in that instant.” The ghost of a pained smile touches his face. “And that’s when you’ll be truly okay.”
I personally think the book did a great job with the representation of desi culture in all its ins and outs, both the beauty of it but also its flaws. I also appreciated that a distinction was made between cultural beliefs and religious ones; and how the line between them often gets blurred, but that doesn’t mean that there *isn’t* a distinct line. And the fight us desi girls have to have to make those distinctions to traditional family members.
“If I can admit that love is worth paying the price of pain, then you can, too. Pain is always going to be part of the package when it comes to love, Maya. You can’t miss out on it just because you’re scared.”
TROPES:
- Grumpyxsunshine
- Forbidden love
- There’s only one bed
- Forced proximity
- He would take a bullet for her
- Emotional scene in the rain
- Pretending to be married
- Sick/comfort
- Hidden identity
- K-drama vibes/references
- A string of bad luck (is that a trope?? Its got to be a trope; and if it isn’t, it is now) A.K.A. Everything than can go wrong *will* go wrong
“Besides, if Crash Landing on You has taught me anything, it’s that even if I end up on the wrong train (or plane in my case) I’ll still end up at the right destination.”
Some of my hang-ups with this book:
- I’m personally not a huge fan of the cheating trope, even when it’s the main characters cheating on their significant other *with* each other
- I had really conflicting feelings about the Muslim rep—this is no shade on the author, I recognise that everyone practices at different levels and all representation is either a hit or miss for that reason; this was just mostly a miss for me in that sense
This story was so chaotic and funny and emotionally charged from start to finish and I was here for all of it. I liked that it was fast-paced (because of the plot) but it didn’t once feel like we’re missing out on any of the characters growth or in seeing depth to their characters and their relationship with one another.
“I have to admit, he looks kind of cute. But maybe it’s because he’s not talking.”
SPEAKING OF their relationship with one another, can I just say how wholesome it was??? 🥹😭💖 Their banter, their begrudging tolerance to something more, the things they made each other realise about themselves by seeing and accepting each other in their truest forms—it had me in an absolute emotional chokehold. Add in that Maya and Sarfaraz themselves were such likeable and easy-to-connect-with characters and the whole book was just one big swoon 😌
“After years of faded friendships, failed attempts at relationships, and mismatched rishtas, here is someone looking at my truest, ugliest, and most vulnerable self, and still deciding to stick around.”
While we didn’t get to see a lot of it until the end, I absolutely adored the relationship between Maya and her mother (and her older sister). There was something so honest and supportive about how they loved each other, and the way they were, at heart, completely and undoubtedly Team Maya—even if she didn’t really realise it at first 💖
“You don’t need someone to find you, Maya. You’ll find yourself. It may take a while, and it won’t be easy, but when you find who you are, you’ll know in that instant.” The ghost of a pained smile touches his face. “And that’s when you’ll be truly okay.”
I personally think the book did a great job with the representation of desi culture in all its ins and outs, both the beauty of it but also its flaws. I also appreciated that a distinction was made between cultural beliefs and religious ones; and how the line between them often gets blurred, but that doesn’t mean that there *isn’t* a distinct line. And the fight us desi girls have to have to make those distinctions to traditional family members.
“If I can admit that love is worth paying the price of pain, then you can, too. Pain is always going to be part of the package when it comes to love, Maya. You can’t miss out on it just because you’re scared.”
TROPES:
- Grumpyxsunshine
- Forbidden love
- There’s only one bed
- Forced proximity
- He would take a bullet for her
- Emotional scene in the rain
- Pretending to be married
- Sick/comfort
- Hidden identity
- K-drama vibes/references
- A string of bad luck (is that a trope?? Its got to be a trope; and if it isn’t, it is now) A.K.A. Everything than can go wrong *will* go wrong
“Besides, if Crash Landing on You has taught me anything, it’s that even if I end up on the wrong train (or plane in my case) I’ll still end up at the right destination.”
Some of my hang-ups with this book:
- I’m personally not a huge fan of the cheating trope, even when it’s the main characters cheating on their significant other *with* each other
- I had really conflicting feelings about the Muslim rep—this is no shade on the author, I recognise that everyone practices at different levels and all representation is either a hit or miss for that reason; this was just mostly a miss for me in that sense
March 26, 2024
HAPPY PUB DAY!!!
Thank you to Netgalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and MIRA for providing an eARC in exchange for a review
Maya Mirza is convinced she is cursed to have bad luck for the rest of her life, especially in love. She lives her life by a set of 'laws' that explain her bad luck.
She is about to be married and is on route to her destination wedding in Pakistan, but it is a disaster from the start. Her seatmate ends up being a grumpy lawyer, that as mishap after mishap happens ends up being her travel companion through a grounded flight, an unexpected stop in Switzerland, a bus breakdown, and more. They get very close over the tumultuous journey, and Maya starts to doubt who is the right guy for her.
I think this book was so well executed. I loved reading a book about a culture that is different to my own. The love story was so well paced, and you could feel as the characters fell in love over the length of the novel. The main characters grew over time and it all felt so organic. There was such a good balance of romance, serious topics, humour, culture, and growth.
Thank you to Netgalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and MIRA for providing an eARC in exchange for a review
Maya Mirza is convinced she is cursed to have bad luck for the rest of her life, especially in love. She lives her life by a set of 'laws' that explain her bad luck.
She is about to be married and is on route to her destination wedding in Pakistan, but it is a disaster from the start. Her seatmate ends up being a grumpy lawyer, that as mishap after mishap happens ends up being her travel companion through a grounded flight, an unexpected stop in Switzerland, a bus breakdown, and more. They get very close over the tumultuous journey, and Maya starts to doubt who is the right guy for her.
I think this book was so well executed. I loved reading a book about a culture that is different to my own. The love story was so well paced, and you could feel as the characters fell in love over the length of the novel. The main characters grew over time and it all felt so organic. There was such a good balance of romance, serious topics, humour, culture, and growth.
March 15, 2024
This was what i needed right now.
I breezed through this.
A lot of times I struggle to understand why the couple got together, but I didn’t have a doubt in this book. The way he grumpy but caring. 🥹
And he showed that he cared through his actions. 👏👏👏
It was also good seeing Pakistani and Muslim representation.
I breezed through this.
A lot of times I struggle to understand why the couple got together, but I didn’t have a doubt in this book. The way he grumpy but caring. 🥹
And he showed that he cared through his actions. 👏👏👏
It was also good seeing Pakistani and Muslim representation.
Want to read
October 22, 2023Pakistani MC, Muslim leads (including revert rep), a road trip with forced proximity and lots of angst
Wohoo yes please
Wohoo yes please
August 25, 2024
I can see why a lot of people took issue with this book. I'm not Muslim, but I know what is haram and what isn't, and saying "technically" to skirt the rules doesn't mean you're not absolutely skirting them... The fact that a number of things were mentioned to be haram in the first place, but still done by the FMC baffled me. I understand why the author had that note at the beginning because I know that the way this story is put together would definitely be scandalous to a lot of Muslim people. I'm going to let other voices shine here, because I'm not own voice, but I will say the amount of touching and kissing in this book was a surprise to me.
I am also disappointed by the infidelity element of this story. Both characters had no regard for her engagement and it was frustrating. Beyond that, it felt entirely against type for anything to go so far with two character who are seemingly devoted to their religion and beliefs. It felt like a betrayal on multiple levels and made me respect both of them a lot less.
The two standouts were her therapy sessions - yay for positive POC therapy sessions - and the beautiful descriptions of their travel. Unfortunately, this book as a whole though was a miss for me.
TW: infidelity, vomit, robbery/kidnapping; mentions divorced parents, divorce.
Plot: 1/5
Characters: 2/5
World Building: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Pacing: 4/5
Overall: 2/5
ARC gifted by HCC Frenzy in exchange for an honest review.
I am also disappointed by the infidelity element of this story. Both characters had no regard for her engagement and it was frustrating. Beyond that, it felt entirely against type for anything to go so far with two character who are seemingly devoted to their religion and beliefs. It felt like a betrayal on multiple levels and made me respect both of them a lot less.
The two standouts were her therapy sessions - yay for positive POC therapy sessions - and the beautiful descriptions of their travel. Unfortunately, this book as a whole though was a miss for me.
TW: infidelity, vomit, robbery/kidnapping; mentions divorced parents, divorce.
Plot: 1/5
Characters: 2/5
World Building: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Pacing: 4/5
Overall: 2/5
ARC gifted by HCC Frenzy in exchange for an honest review.
April 9, 2024
Love love loved this book!
It was everything a Romcom should be; full of hilarious moments, characters you root for from the very beginning and a trail of the sweetest romantic moments along with swoon worthy tension and slow burn.
I thoroughly enjoyed all the cultural aspects weaved into the story and it really made the tale come alive with authenticity.
I'm a big fan of stolen moments i.e accidentally elbow touches and longing looks and this book was filled with them,I was giggling and kicking my feet🥰.
I look forward to future work from this author!
Thank you to the gifted copy of this book from Simon & Schuster.
It was everything a Romcom should be; full of hilarious moments, characters you root for from the very beginning and a trail of the sweetest romantic moments along with swoon worthy tension and slow burn.
I thoroughly enjoyed all the cultural aspects weaved into the story and it really made the tale come alive with authenticity.
I'm a big fan of stolen moments i.e accidentally elbow touches and longing looks and this book was filled with them,I was giggling and kicking my feet🥰.
I look forward to future work from this author!
Thank you to the gifted copy of this book from Simon & Schuster.
March 25, 2024
Thank you so much to Harlequin Trade Publishing and Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Maya Mirza's father walked out when she was a young girl. She comes from a Muslim family, so her mother gets shamed for her failed marriage. Maya's view on love and relationships in general are skewed, so she makes up her own laws about love and believes that she's been cursed with bad luck. On a trip to Pakistan, where her arranged marriage takes place, she gets taken on a journey that she never expected.
It took me a while to get through this. As someone who's not Muslim, I didn't understand a large chunk of what was going on in the first couple of chapters. And I don't feel like it was explained at all for those who don't know much about the religion/culture. Because of that, I couldn't connect with this book or the characters at all. I also noticed a few instances in the book that, even with my little knowledge, I'm fairly certain goes against their beliefs.
Towards the middle of the book, I started to really enjoy it and seeing the relationship develop between Maya and Sarfaraz. That's where it started to pick up for me.
Obviously, I already knew what was going to happen at the end. It's fairly obvious. But I felt like it was a little too corny.
Maya Mirza's father walked out when she was a young girl. She comes from a Muslim family, so her mother gets shamed for her failed marriage. Maya's view on love and relationships in general are skewed, so she makes up her own laws about love and believes that she's been cursed with bad luck. On a trip to Pakistan, where her arranged marriage takes place, she gets taken on a journey that she never expected.
It took me a while to get through this. As someone who's not Muslim, I didn't understand a large chunk of what was going on in the first couple of chapters. And I don't feel like it was explained at all for those who don't know much about the religion/culture. Because of that, I couldn't connect with this book or the characters at all. I also noticed a few instances in the book that, even with my little knowledge, I'm fairly certain goes against their beliefs.
Towards the middle of the book, I started to really enjoy it and seeing the relationship develop between Maya and Sarfaraz. That's where it started to pick up for me.
Obviously, I already knew what was going to happen at the end. It's fairly obvious. But I felt like it was a little too corny.
August 9, 2023
you are cordially invited to the messiest wedding of the century
edit 8/9/2023
hello friends!!
it's me, alina, the person who wrote this book. now that the book is finding its way into the hands of readers, i thought i'd come on here and say a quick thing. i firmly believe in maintaining boundaries between authors and readers, so i'm going to drop this lil note and then see myself out.
there is one tw in this book, so tw: parental abandonment (which is dealt with on page).
moving on. im rating it 5 stars not just because it's a wonderful book (ofc biased opinion), but because of the hard work i put into it. my little fever dream book, the one i wrote at 3am for so many nights, my labor of love, is something i'm so incredibly proud of. i believed that girls who looked like me deserved to see themselves reflected in the books that they read, and if i wanted to see it, then i'd have to do it myself. i hope in some way or the other, you can see yourself in maya.
now, to answer a question that a lot of people have asked: this book isn't 100% halal. There are kissing scenes and other physical touch such as hand holding, hugs, etc, but nothing that goes further than that. i don't believe in misleading people, and i don't want people to come into my book thinking they're going to get one thing and then end up disappointed because they got something else. if you're not comfortable with the level of physical touch in the book, then i completely understand! please feel free to skip this book, and i'd be so so happy to recommend you other books by authors that feature more halal stories (zoulfa katouh, sk ali, ream shukairy, aamna qureshi, and uzma jalaluddin come to mind). but just because there is physical touch in this book does not negate the Muslim-ness of the characters, because being halal isn't all that it takes to be Muslim. it is the love of and devotion to Allah (SWT) that makes you Muslim, and then the decision of if you're good/bad is only up to God. if you can read with an open mind, then that'd be wonderful. if you'd prefer to skip this, then i completely understand. and in the spirit of authors respecting readers, i ask that you please respect me in return. all i wish to do with my books is reflect the diversity that exists in the real world, and help open doors for other Pakistani Muslims to share their own stories, because there truly is such diverse experiences within our culture that all deserve to be seen.
finally, i leave you with the author's note at the start of the book to give you an idea of what you'll be in for. this book is no longer only mine, and im so happy to make it yours. i look forward to the day you can all meet maya, and i hope you love her as much as I do <3
Dearest reader,
This book is for the women who don’t have it all figured out.
Specifically, for the brown Muslim women. For the women who don’t feel like adults. Who go straight from their parents’ house to their husband’s house. Who find it hard to make friends in adulthood. Who long for companionship but are worried it won’t happen for them. Who had to grow up too soon. Who don’t have a sense of their own identity.
But it’s also for the brown Muslim women who love shalwar kameez. Whose hearts come alive watching Pakistani dramas, and who long for their rom-com moment. Women who whisper prayers in their daily life and think in more than one language. Women who deserve their big, grand love stories without having to compromise who they are.
Maya’s Laws of Love came from a lot of different places, but mostly it arose out of my desire to see more faces like mine in books. To show Pakistani Muslim women that they’re worthy of whirlwind, heart-fluttering romances just as much as anyone else. With that being said, please keep in mind that this is just one experience. There are 1.9 billion Muslims in the world, all from different countries and cultures; it’d be wild to expect this book—or any book, for that matter—to completely encompass the experience of every Muslim. I know the phrase “my Muslim experience” may seem like a bandage that people slap on to cover any imperfections in their portrayals of Muslim characters, but that’s just it: there will always be imperfections. The Perfect Muslim doesn’t exist. Our backgrounds (given that Islam is a religion and cannot be associated with specific races or cultures) inform so much about how we practice. My experience will be different from yours, and it will be different from the next book you pick up, and the next book, and the next. We are all trying the best we can, and everything else is between a person and Allah (SWT).
That being said, this book is about life, love, pain, and the happiness that comes from being our truest selves.
So, grab your ticket, your suitcase, and your mind, and prepare to lose them all on Maya’s journey to finding her truest self.
And never forget: no matter what, you deserve the world.
All my love,
Alina
edit 8/9/2023
hello friends!!
it's me, alina, the person who wrote this book. now that the book is finding its way into the hands of readers, i thought i'd come on here and say a quick thing. i firmly believe in maintaining boundaries between authors and readers, so i'm going to drop this lil note and then see myself out.
there is one tw in this book, so tw: parental abandonment (which is dealt with on page).
moving on. im rating it 5 stars not just because it's a wonderful book (ofc biased opinion), but because of the hard work i put into it. my little fever dream book, the one i wrote at 3am for so many nights, my labor of love, is something i'm so incredibly proud of. i believed that girls who looked like me deserved to see themselves reflected in the books that they read, and if i wanted to see it, then i'd have to do it myself. i hope in some way or the other, you can see yourself in maya.
now, to answer a question that a lot of people have asked: this book isn't 100% halal. There are kissing scenes and other physical touch such as hand holding, hugs, etc, but nothing that goes further than that. i don't believe in misleading people, and i don't want people to come into my book thinking they're going to get one thing and then end up disappointed because they got something else. if you're not comfortable with the level of physical touch in the book, then i completely understand! please feel free to skip this book, and i'd be so so happy to recommend you other books by authors that feature more halal stories (zoulfa katouh, sk ali, ream shukairy, aamna qureshi, and uzma jalaluddin come to mind). but just because there is physical touch in this book does not negate the Muslim-ness of the characters, because being halal isn't all that it takes to be Muslim. it is the love of and devotion to Allah (SWT) that makes you Muslim, and then the decision of if you're good/bad is only up to God. if you can read with an open mind, then that'd be wonderful. if you'd prefer to skip this, then i completely understand. and in the spirit of authors respecting readers, i ask that you please respect me in return. all i wish to do with my books is reflect the diversity that exists in the real world, and help open doors for other Pakistani Muslims to share their own stories, because there truly is such diverse experiences within our culture that all deserve to be seen.
finally, i leave you with the author's note at the start of the book to give you an idea of what you'll be in for. this book is no longer only mine, and im so happy to make it yours. i look forward to the day you can all meet maya, and i hope you love her as much as I do <3
Dearest reader,
This book is for the women who don’t have it all figured out.
Specifically, for the brown Muslim women. For the women who don’t feel like adults. Who go straight from their parents’ house to their husband’s house. Who find it hard to make friends in adulthood. Who long for companionship but are worried it won’t happen for them. Who had to grow up too soon. Who don’t have a sense of their own identity.
But it’s also for the brown Muslim women who love shalwar kameez. Whose hearts come alive watching Pakistani dramas, and who long for their rom-com moment. Women who whisper prayers in their daily life and think in more than one language. Women who deserve their big, grand love stories without having to compromise who they are.
Maya’s Laws of Love came from a lot of different places, but mostly it arose out of my desire to see more faces like mine in books. To show Pakistani Muslim women that they’re worthy of whirlwind, heart-fluttering romances just as much as anyone else. With that being said, please keep in mind that this is just one experience. There are 1.9 billion Muslims in the world, all from different countries and cultures; it’d be wild to expect this book—or any book, for that matter—to completely encompass the experience of every Muslim. I know the phrase “my Muslim experience” may seem like a bandage that people slap on to cover any imperfections in their portrayals of Muslim characters, but that’s just it: there will always be imperfections. The Perfect Muslim doesn’t exist. Our backgrounds (given that Islam is a religion and cannot be associated with specific races or cultures) inform so much about how we practice. My experience will be different from yours, and it will be different from the next book you pick up, and the next book, and the next. We are all trying the best we can, and everything else is between a person and Allah (SWT).
That being said, this book is about life, love, pain, and the happiness that comes from being our truest selves.
So, grab your ticket, your suitcase, and your mind, and prepare to lose them all on Maya’s journey to finding her truest self.
And never forget: no matter what, you deserve the world.
All my love,
Alina
May 14, 2024
I don’t even know where to start… I just.. why did she… And why did he… what was the point…?
I kept waiting for some repentance, a spiritual journey, something for me to relate to, but alas, nada. I’m tired of the arranged marriage vs. love marriage trope. The whole disowning a son for changing his major was a bit far fetched, desi’s LOVE their kids.
I don’t know how to rate novels with Muslim characters that are not a good representation of the religion. The author did give us a disclaimer, but, I’ve had cultural Muslim friends and even they wouldn’t do the things the characters in this book ended up doing. If the characters weren’t Muslim, this is a typical fluffy easy to read romcom that would get a 3 star from me.
I kept waiting for some repentance, a spiritual journey, something for me to relate to, but alas, nada. I’m tired of the arranged marriage vs. love marriage trope. The whole disowning a son for changing his major was a bit far fetched, desi’s LOVE their kids.
I don’t know how to rate novels with Muslim characters that are not a good representation of the religion. The author did give us a disclaimer, but, I’ve had cultural Muslim friends and even they wouldn’t do the things the characters in this book ended up doing. If the characters weren’t Muslim, this is a typical fluffy easy to read romcom that would get a 3 star from me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2024
Pretty cheesy, kookily, and predictable but regardless I was entertained. A true Disney story.
Salama and Kenan?
Salama and Kenan?
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