Reviews with content warning for Homophobia - Hani And Ishu's Guide To Fake Dating

Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Hani And Ishu's Guide To Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar

288 reviews

jennireadsmaybe's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful 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

Adiba Jaidirdar tackles first love, toxic friendship, messy family dynamics, and so much more in Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating. The Bengali and Muslim culture throughout the book was so good! I adore the fact that Hani's parents were completely supportive of her queerness and Nikhita was ready to go to bat for Ishu. Hani is further proof that queerness and religion are not a dichotomy, and I'm always so excited to find new books that explore the relationship between the two.

The romance between Hani and Ishu was the best kind of slow burn, because we got to see them become each other's person and struggle with what it means to fall in love with someone. Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes and this is a new favorite addition to the list. Do you love sapphic romance? Fake dating? Teens being teens? Pick this one up.

Hani's friends are going to get what's coming to them for all their crimes. We ride at dawn people.

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cats33's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted 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? No

5.0

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lugotthecinema's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

3.75

a very cute easy read

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daisyy_reads's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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ellagant's review against another edition

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emotional 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

3.75

I didn’t think that I liked the fake dating tripe until this book, but it was really fun! However, it was a very rom-com dramatic solution to a pretty simple problem.
In other news, it took me until about half way through this book to figure out that it was set in Ireland😂

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wardenred's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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

4.25

“You know you’re going to have to pretend to like me, right?” I ask. “And… if you want to be Head Girl, you’ll also have to pretend that you like other people.”

This reminded me of She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott & Alyson Derrick. The characters are younger and overall pretty different, the premise is almost the polar opposite, but something about the execution of the "opposites attract" trope and the overall vibe makes me want to put the books on the same shelf. I think if you (dis)liked one of these books, you are super likely to feel the same way about the other.

Speaking of tropes, I'm kind of surprised I've often seen this mentioned as "enemies to lovers," because like... I didn't notice a trace of that? Hani and Ishu are neither enemies nor rivals, they're simply not friends (until they are). They show up at the same Bengali gatherings and go to the same school, but they don't really know each other. Until, of course, roughly at the same time, each of them tells a spur-of-the-moment lie that snowballs into more lies in the form of a tenuous fake dating plan. It's slightly ridiculous from the get-go, but with the way it's presented, I found it weirdly relatable in that "teens meandering through life dramatically as teens do" way. I really liked watching these two get closer and catch genuine feelings, and I loved learning more about the Bengali culture along the way. The book actually prompted me to go look up a bunch of things for better understanding.

I also really liked the way the plotlines that prompted the girls to come up with that plan play out: Hani's relationship with her friends, Ishu's with her parents.

I've seen other reviews mention that those plotlines seemed unresolved at the end, but for me, that was kind of the point? Part of growing up is realizing that sometimes, you just can't make other people change, see things your way, etc. But you can change how you react to the situations and choices others present you with.

Also, I absolutely loved the development of Ishu's relationship with her sister.

There were things that took a bit from my enjoyment, though. Such as the weird accidentally shared google doc plotline (how was that even supposed to happen?). Or how it was never quite explained why Hani kept clinging to her toxic friends for so long. Around absolutely everyone else, she doesn't seem like such a complete people-pleaser, but with those girls, she just let them stomp all over the things that were important to her—her culture, her religion, her family, her values—and constantly justified it with "but they're my friends, but we have fun together." Whereas never once in the entire book were Aisling and Dee shown as someone acting non-maliciously friendly or being fun to be around. Perhaps it's their portrayal that's the issue, actually. If there was more nuance to their behavior around Hani, this entire plotline would be more complex and interesting.

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cocopom's review against another edition

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emotional funny 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? It's complicated

4.25

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luxxltyd's review

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emotional 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

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morgankailackerman's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

I absolutely fell in love with this book. It took complicated topics like friendships, identities, relationships with parents, racism, homophobia, and biphobia and made it accessible for young readers. The characters are so well-written that they feel real. I would highly suggest this book no matter your age - it's so important! I can't wait to read more books by Adiba Jaigirdar.

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dielesemotte's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Das war einfach mal unglaublich süß! Neben Hani und Ishu fand ich ganz besonders die Beziehung zwischen Ishu und ihrer Schwester super interessant und habe bei jeder Szene mit den beiden innerlich gejubelt.

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