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amberinpieces's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
helenareadsbooks's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
slow-paced
4.5
Kamila Knows Best is the first book I’ve read by Farah Heron and I loved it! It’s a delightful and funny contemporary romance but it’s also so much more. This book is a nuanced character study that explores the factors that make us who we are, with a focus on the societal and parental pressures and expectations put on South Asian daughters. It’s also about finding people who see you for who you truly are and how the expectations other people place on you can cloud your own sense of self. Kamila is such a loving character with amazing friends, and it touched my heart to read about a group of people who are so compassionate and caring with each other. Rohan, the love interest, is the best and his chemistry with Kamila kept me smiling and laughing.
This book also features queer relationships and mental health discussions, which made it even better. Pick this up for a lighthearted book with wonderful friendships, intriguing drama, a loving central romance, and of course, cute dogs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Car accident and Death of parent
thecuriousbean's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse and Emotional abuse
Minor: Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual harassment
kfmcf's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I would say this book is less of an "Emma" retelling and more of a "Clueless" retelling (yes, I know it's based on "Emma," but there are differences). This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does fall a little flat in its characters. Also some of the Austen-isms felt a bit forced or stale. For example, Dane with the photo was nearly identical to Elton in "Clueless."
I didn't really feel the spark between Kamila and Rohan and had no real desire to see them together. Kamila was also a bit unlikable at times, but I don't think that was problematic (nor do I think FL should be likable all the time, no one is IRL).
Normally I am all about the side characters but I thought this one got a bit muddied by having too many. I think a smaller focus would have been stronger.
I did enjoy the prose of the book. The dialogue could have used a little tweaking to feel a bit more natural, but the words had a flow to them.
Overall, I really just wanted something _more_ from this book and I don't know what that is exactly. It just lacked a certain sparkle.
I didn't really feel the spark between Kamila and Rohan and had no real desire to see them together. Kamila was also a bit unlikable at times, but I don't think that was problematic (nor do I think FL should be likable all the time, no one is IRL).
Normally I am all about the side characters but I thought this one got a bit muddied by having too many. I think a smaller focus would have been stronger.
I did enjoy the prose of the book. The dialogue could have used a little tweaking to feel a bit more natural, but the words had a flow to them.
Overall, I really just wanted something _more_ from this book and I don't know what that is exactly. It just lacked a certain sparkle.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content
Minor: Sexual content, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
beccaruthe's review
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, Medical content, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting
susanknights's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Misogyny and Car accident
simpleexplorations's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Medical content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Infidelity
allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is one of those special romances that gives you the coveted happily ever after feeling while also staying true to the challenges of life with humor and poise. It's aspirational in that it shows a relationship built on communication, maturity, and a fair bit of teasing, and also in that it shows a woman coming to terms with her career goals, rethinking her judgments of other people (good and bad), and confronting her socialization and trauma that lead her towards people-pleasing. It peels back the veneer of girl power to look at how feminine presentation is mocked and belittled in a professional setting, how skills like event planning are both treated as necessary and even assumed for women while their importance and impactfulness are simultaneously minimized.
Kamila's story is an Emma retelling, an Austen work I have yet to read, but my experience with film adaptations gives me the (limited) authority to say that Kamila's meddling and social managing ring true to the original. She loves matchmaking, planning parties, running her dog's very stylish TikTok, and volunteering with the animal shelter. She's also the first to step up to support her friends and her Dad, and she's passionate about supporting women-led small businesses as an accountant. Kamila contains multitudes, and this is an example of single POV romance done well. Being so familiar with her mind helped me have compassion when she made a bad decision and made me all the more impressed by her fits and starts of ultimately profound personal growth. I found her not only admirable but likable, and the entire cast of supporting characters gave me warm, fuzzy feelings from her family to her friends to her secret nemesis.
In terms of the romance, Rohan is a dreamy love interest because he is supportive with no strings attached, learns from his mistakes, and is neither pushy nor a pushover. He challenges Kamila but respectfully and with love. While the romance wasn't always front and center with other moving pieces of the story, it always shone through. First, "accidentally falling asleep on someone's chest" is a god tier trope for me so 10/10. Purely because of this book, I have also decided to add to the list of best tropes "two people who always dress to impress becoming comfortable being a mess in front of each other." And it's not a trope, but intense attraction to forearms is something I can get behind. It's friends-to-lovers done right with layers upon layers.
This romance has it all. It covers issues with an intersectional view, covering disparate topics from mental health to race to family expectations. It's nuanced without derailing the story with a thesis, thoughtful while retaining a signature sense of humor I found irresistible. All the relationships show progress, and the enviable strength of Kamila's bonds with others don't smack of unrealistic perfection. Honestly, I can't recommend it more. Thanks to Forever for my copy to read and review. I'll 100% be seeking out more from this author in the future.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Infidelity, Islamophobia, and Cultural appropriation
medhini's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I would actually rate this around 3.5 stars. I'm a big fan of slow-burn friends to lovers and liked how that trope was used in this book. Although I can't speak to the Muslim representation as I am not Muslim myself, I loved the mentions of Bollywood movies and Indian foods as an Indian-American reader. I also liked that the book depicted Kamila as an unconventional Desi lead and discussed therapy and her father's mental illness. It mentioned how these topics can be stigmatized in the South Asian community without dwelling on this excessively, and instead focused on the experiences of the characters themselves.
My only criticism of this book is that it took me a while to be invested in the story. This may also have been because I am not familiar with or interested in the business world, but it took me a while to warm up to the characters. That being said, I was more and more invested as the story went on.
Overall, I'd recommend this to anyone who is a fan of Emma by Jane Austen, "frivolous" Desi leads, people interested in the corporate world, and slow-burn friends to lovers!
I would actually rate this around 3.5 stars. I'm a big fan of slow-burn friends to lovers and liked how that trope was used in this book. Although I can't speak to the Muslim representation as I am not Muslim myself, I loved the mentions of Bollywood movies and Indian foods as an Indian-American reader. I also liked that the book depicted Kamila as an unconventional Desi lead and discussed therapy and her father's mental illness. It mentioned how these topics can be stigmatized in the South Asian community without dwelling on this excessively, and instead focused on the experiences of the characters themselves.
My only criticism of this book is that it took me a while to be invested in the story. This may also have been because I am not familiar with or interested in the business world, but it took me a while to warm up to the characters. That being said, I was more and more invested as the story went on.
Overall, I'd recommend this to anyone who is a fan of Emma by Jane Austen, "frivolous" Desi leads, people interested in the corporate world, and slow-burn friends to lovers!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Death of parent
100_pages_hr's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I really enjoyed this Desi Own Voices book. I had heard it was an Emma retelling but went into it with an open mind since those aren't my favorite and I enjoyed it simply as a friend's to lovers story.
I absolutely loved Rohan. He was pretty perfect both in looks and in personality. I loved all the ways he was there for Kam and her dad. I think he is the sole reason I'm rating the book so high. Well, that and the food. I'm hungry now!
Kam drove me pretty insane to be honest, but she definitely grew a lot throughout the book and I liked her a lot more by the end. I appreciated the representation she gave from how she was raised by her mother. I also did really appreciate her dedication and commitment even if I felt it was a little too much at times.
As always I loved the Own Voices representation in this book. The insight into family life are so interesting.
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.
I absolutely loved Rohan. He was pretty perfect both in looks and in personality. I loved all the ways he was there for Kam and her dad. I think he is the sole reason I'm rating the book so high. Well, that and the food. I'm hungry now!
Kam drove me pretty insane to be honest, but she definitely grew a lot throughout the book and I liked her a lot more by the end. I appreciated the representation she gave from how she was raised by her mother. I also did really appreciate her dedication and commitment even if I felt it was a little too much at times.
As always I loved the Own Voices representation in this book. The insight into family life are so interesting.
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Infidelity, Medical content, Death of parent, and Pregnancy