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Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'
Hani And Ishu's Guide To Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar
34 reviews
bookswithlauren's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
cats33's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Cursing, Racism, and Outing
Minor: Colonisation and Classism
lunep's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Some of the positive things I got from the book: I liked the characters, I thought Hani and Ishu's relationship was cute, and I liked how they grew as characters. I also liked Hani's relationship with her mom, it was really nice to see how accepting and understanding she was with Hani, and I liked that it was mentioned that they did have to readjust their expectations a little when Hani came out, but it was a Them Problem, not a Hani-Being-Bisexual Problem, it made me feel really warm to read all their interactions. And I also liked the relationship that Ishu and her sister developed, I'm a big enjoyer of sibling and sibling-like relationships where the siblings know they can count on each other even if they sometimes argue or disagree. I also really liked learning more about bangladeshi culture and Islam through the book.
However, the book itself had some things (I don't wanna call them problems bc they might be subjective) that made me not love it. I went into the book thinking it was a stand-alone, then when I had finished it I saw on here it was part of a series, so I thought "oh ok, maybe some of my grievances come from the fact that I had some expectations that shouldn't have been there, and will be addressed in coming book(s)" but I looked it up and there's no sequel, just a novella, so I'm back to my grievances.
The book deals with some heavy topics (it even has a Content Warnings page, which I liked) mostly racism, biphobia and lesbophobia, islamophobia, toxic friendships, and parental abandonement. But I'm not sure if it's because I've read about these topics before (I'm not trying to say I'm an expert on them, but I'm acquainted with them) or what, but I felt it was...kind of on the nose? Or like, too obvious? I'm not sure how to explain it correctly, I'm not trying to say these things don't happen irl, but while reading Hani deal with her friends, for example, Aisling and Dee's actions felt a little weird to me, like over-simplified, in spanish there's this expression "dar masticado" which translates literally to "to be given [something] chewed", which means simplifying a hard topic for easier understanding. To me the friends characters and the principal felt very 2D, with little nuance, kind of like their only purpose was to show "what these characters do is bad", so maybe this was better suited for someone who is just starting to foray into racism and biphobia? (It is a YA book, tbf, and I'm 24)
I also had some trouble with the ending of the book, and this is where the "oh, it makes sense if this is going to have a sequel" thing comes in. Because Hani and Ishu start fake dating so Hani's friends will take her seriously about being bisexual, and so Ishu can become Head Girl and thus prove to her parents that she's not going to "screw up" like her sister, whose shadow Ishu has felt she's been in her entire life, but towards the end something happens between Ishu and her parents, making her relationship with them more strained, and making her closer to her sister, and that plot-line, specially with the parents, doesn't get closed satisfactorily (I LOVED how Ishu and Nik's relationship grew tho); and the explanation we get for how Aisling acts since Hani tells them she's "dating" Ishu felt like BS quite honestly (which isn't to bash the author, because her intent might very well have been for it to sound like BS, because it also doesn't explain the biphobia and racism from before Ishu came into the picture), and Dee never grows as a character. So things seem to have been left open, and if it was intentional to make it open-ending, for me it didn't feel that way when I was reading. If you want the full explanation it's in the spoiler tag
And on Hani's side: After the cheating fiasco with Aisling, Hani is not sure who to believe, but ends up realizing it doesn't make sense that Ishu would copy off of Aisling, as Ishu always get stellar grades and Aisling doesn't, and confronts Aisling for being manipulative and a liar, and Aisling's only response is "ok I'm sorry I did that, are we friends again?", because apparently the whole reason she was a pos was that "she was jealous of Ishu because Hani has been friends with her and Dee all her life and she was changing", and when Hani tells her she needs time, Aisling throws a fit, Dee tries to defend her (saying "it was a mistake"), and finally Aisling tells Hani "Forgive me, don't forgive me. I'm definitely not apologizing to Ishita Dey" and leaves, and so does Dee. And while I don't expect a picture perfect ending where Aisling realizes she's a shitty friend, and gets over her biphobia and racism, we were shown a couple of times that Dee seemed to not always agree with Aisling, and sometimes go against her wishes in small ways, but like I said before, she doesn't get any development and she stays Aisling's follower until the end.
Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Racism, Islamophobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Minor: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Colonisation
pandemonicbaby's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Also, the characters of Aisling and Dee seemed pretty one-dimensional to me, as in i didn't see why they ever had any, let's say, "friendship chemistry" with hani. They didn't really seem that believable as her friends - they didn't seem to share any interests or anything like that -, and it's like they were only put there to be the villains. I think it would've been more interesting if the book showed them being more fleshed-out characters, and show us why Hani was so scared of standing up to her friends. It might be scary to stand up to people you dislike, but it's scarier to stand up to people you like, and I think the book would've been able to take the reader through a deepet journey in Hani's mindset if it showed reasons as to why she had liked her friends in the first place.
Overall, it was a very interesting concept, but i just wish it had been executed better. It was still a nice read, and I like sweet sapphic stories.
Among Jaigirdar's work, though, I think I still prefer The Henna Wars.
Graphic: Biphobia, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Racism, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Alcohol
elliereadsthings's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
★★★★✩
"You made a mistake, and your Abba made a mistake too," she murmurs. "It doesn't make anybody the worst anything in the world. It just makes us human."
Graphic: Toxic friendship
Moderate: Biphobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Outing, and Alcohol
skiis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
you know the book good when you wanna jump inside it and beat somebody up
i hate aisling and dee, i love ishu & nik's dynamic, watching hani get run over (toxic friendship wise) so many times and not being able to do something frustrated me, but then again i couldn't be mad at her because it was realistic
i feel like in the beginning, it was weird because the book started like i already knew these characters. it was jus a bit weird to me but by chap 5 i finally caught on
towards the part where hani didn't have an answer to whether or not she believed ishu, (killed me inside, yes, bc wtf girl) that's where it started to get a liiiittle slow but i guess it was to update us on head girl and the election, but we should've been updated while the book was going on yk? also plot twist when it turned out to be 6 weeks of this entire book??? it felt LONGER omg.
Graphic: Biphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Islamophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Eating disorder and Alcohol
kitty_may12's review against another edition
- 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
A thoughtful own-voices story that is dynamic and joyous. Embracing every aspect of both the Irish and Bengali cultures and weaves a confidently complex narrative that treats both with respect.
<also I hated Hani's fake-ass friends<
Graphic: Biphobia, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment
Minor: Self harm, Sexism, and Outing
angelfireeast24's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Moderate: Cursing
This is a really good book but at times the racism and bigoty was hard to read. The story is worth it. Read ittheespressoedition's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I was looking forward to a queer fake dating book, and while yes, that's the primary plot, all I felt like I got from this one was a bunch of teen angst and bullying. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I realize that YA means there will be a more juvenile take. However, it seemed like a bit of a letdown to have what could have been a really great story full of depth and character development feel so shallow. It was heavy without having any actual emotional weight to carry it.
In a lot of ways, it reminded me of how I felt after reading I Kissed Shara Wheeler. There was a lot of potential but it didn't live up to any of my expectations. Great concept with poor execution. And while I thought it would be cute, it really wasn't. None of the romance was even really swoon-worthy... it was just lacking in so many ways.
Definitely not my kind of book, sadly.
Graphic: Biphobia, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Cursing
ninahuynh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Only reason not 5 stars is there are a few typos and mismatched quotations marks that I can't help but notice and keep track. Not sure if it's just in my copy, but wanted to note that.
Graphic: Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Islamophobia, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Minor: Religious bigotry