I really enjoyed this, thought it was very cute and fun. The diversity was amazing and it's great to think that more young people will be able to see themselves represented in books with this kind of rep.
My main criticism was that I felt like I wanted more depth to the side characters. Hani and Ishu were well developed and multi-faceted but I felt like Ishu's sister and parents were quite one-dimensional and I would've loved to see more detail in those relationships.

This was a pretty cute story about two girls who decide to fake-date so that one of them can get her friends to recognise her bisexuality and so that the other can be voted head girl at school.

When I started reading this book I was hoping for a light, fluffy f-f fauxmance, and in some respects that's what I got. There’s an unbelievably tenuous fauxmance pact (seriously, is this something that gets taught in Author School??), some Mean Girl friends, MCs that hate each other to start with before developing the feels ...

The story goes deeper than just a fluffy fauxmance, though. There are family dynamics, expectations, sibling rivalry. The two MCs are queer, so they’re both trying to work out what queer means for them against the backdrop of their Bengali community in Ireland and the book did a really good job of highlighting how all experiences are different.

I did like Hani and Ishu, but I didn’t love them. Hani needed to woman up to her rubbish friends - I didn’t care that they’d been friends since primary school, they were toxic. Ishu was ok I guess, but really prickly and I wasn’t convinced by her desperation to be head girl.

All in all though this was a sweet book and better than your run of the mill queer fauxmance.

Thank you to Hodder and NetGalley for a review copy of this book.

This book was so great! It was cute, inclusive, diverse, fast paced and I loved the representation. This is my second time reading a book by this author and I’ve loved them both. Both Hani and Ishu were such great characters and I loved the journeys they both went on.

Hani is a Bengali Muslim whose family moved to Ireland from Bangladesh - her religion is really important to her but her Irish friends don’t understand. Ishu is a Bengali whose family moved from India to Ireland, to give their daughters a chance at a better education. When Hani comes out as bisexual to her friends, Aisling and Dee, they don’t think she knows how she truly feels and they question her identity. So, she asks Ishu to pretend to be her girlfriend to get them off her case. And Ishu decides to do so in the hopes of gaining popularity in her efforts to become Head Girl.

Fake dating is a favourite trope of mine and I thought it was done so well here. Both characters were great and I loved seeing their acquaintance blossom into friendship and then something more. They both gained the strength to stand up for themselves and were supported and bolstered by each other, which was lovely to see. This is such a great YA book and I highly recommend!

Thank you to Netgalley and Hatchette Children’s group for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Which trope do you like more: fake-dating or enemies to lovers?

'We are blind while judging the ones we love': my friend told me this verbatim when we were having an argument about another non-mutual friend of mine. Ad true as it seems, it is pretty hard to accept, especially while considering people we've known for a lifetime.

Toxic attributes and behaviour come a long way. Selective toxicity is when a person takes you for granted, such that only you are not allowed to be yourself with them. How dow e break free? That's one of the main premises of this book, apart from various other daily life themes.

'Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating' is a romance book and so much more. The first thing that caught my eye were the trigger warnings! Hats off to the author and publisher for making that happen.

Hani is a Bangladeshi bisexual sweetheart, while Ishu is a Bengali bisexual geek who hasn't come out yet. Very different, yet they find each other through their... relationship? Amazing character development and the sheer relatability to every brown girl make Hani and Ishu the most loveable fictional characters of all time.

This book uses the simple daily life of a brown girl to highlight various important issues for which the author must be given special appreciation. Gender validation, anti-racism, sibling rivalry/relationship (I related to this one a lot) are just some concepts found in the tip of the iceberg.

When I say this book is for everyone, it is my brown, broken, teenage heart that says it. Read this book at anytime in your life and I assure you, it'll be worth it.

I enjoyed this so much! Hani and Ishu were both great characters, well-drawn and easy to 'get inside', thanks to the detailed dual narration. Obviously, this is packaged as a light text and has a romcom plot, but it also has so much going on that is serious and important. I was impressed with how well all of this is handled.
Complex family dynamics, academic pressure, biphobia, systemic racism, toxic friendships - so much going on! And at the same time, this is all wrapped up in a fake dating plotline, using other romcom tropes like opposite characters (grumpy/sunny dispositions), slow-burn romance - and of course, the twist that it is a F/F relationship.
The representations offered in this book are fantastic. Set in Ireland, both main characters are Bengali, and one is Muslim, so Jaigirdar is showing different aspects of Bengali culture - having dual leads is a great way to achieve this and avoid a monolithic representation. This is one I will definitely be recommending to romcom fans!

I was so excited to read this book since it is an own voices story and I've been hearing fantastic things about this story everywhere. This book was so sweet and adorable, seeing Hani finally being herself around others and Ishu realising she should do things for herself. The included conversations of homophobia, racism, Islamophobia, toxic friendship, gaslighting and parental abandonment and she did this really well and with care. This is such a great book for young teens, even adults and I'm so glad we have books like these for queer poc to relate to especially South Asians, since we didn't have many of these when I was younger.

Instagram blog review: https://www.instagram.com/p/CO2qnazLWXQ/?igshid=9eu0a1btu6uv

Hani and Ishu's Guide to fake dating revolves around two Bengali girls (the aforementioned Hani & Ishu) who cope very differently with attending a predominatly white school in Ireland. Ishu is determined not to be pigeonholed, while Hani is scared to make her differences known.

This book delves into identity, not only as the two MCs are Bengali, and Hani is muslim, but they are both trying to navigate their queer identities. It does a great job of highlighting how all experiences are different, how different people may feel varying levels of sureness within themselves. It also deals with family, frienship and blossoming love. I thought the characters were great and well rounded, each one brought an important element to the story and stood for something different. But omg was Aisling terrible (still important though - sadly some people are just bigots). I liked how Hani and Ishu rubbed off on each other, Hani became more resiliant and stood up for herself, and Ishu became more tolerant and open.

Now, this is an extremely slow-burn romance. Like, really slow. It did a great job of building tension - But it was just too little, too late, for me. I also don't think that I personally enjoy the fake dating trope - I know! It's literally in the title... But I wanted to give it a go. Now I know it's not really for me but I also know that there will be SO many people who will enjoy this book as much as me, if not MUCH more than me.

I am definitely interested in the Author's other works, because while this story didn't work me for, I enjoyed how beautifully written the relationship was and how it dealt with much deeper subjects.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating!

*4.5 star*

Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating centres around two main characters, Hani who is a bisexual Muslim Bengali and Ishu a queer Bengali. This story is an acquaintances to friends to lovers faking dating trope that deals with a lot of different themes so you will want to check TW before picking up this book.

Some of the things I really enjoyed about this book was getting to learn more about Bengali culture while also seeing it shown in two completely different ways and how much this story made me feel. I wasn't able to relate to every aspect of this book (and that's okay!) but I was still so immersed in the story and what was going to happen not just between the main characters but with the side storylines too. The relationship growth between Ishu and her sister was also heartwarming and probably my favourite part of the book.

Now as for why I ended up rating this book 4.5 instead of 5 stars is because there were a few things that felt unresolved by the end, almost as if the author forgot about them. If this story was going to have a sequel that would make sense, but I don't think that's the case as it read as a stand alone. Since it wasn't a very long book I felt as if some threads could have easily been wrapped up better.

Hani and Ishu are two 17 years old girls who come from Bengali families and live in Dublin. Ishu is studying hard to pass her exams with flying colours and make her Amma & Abbu proud and Hani is coming to terms with her reality and the reaction of those around her.
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I couldn't help but message the author once I finished reading it. As a south asian woman who comes from a Muslim family this story was an extremely moving story because tho my experience has been different but as Hani and Ishu moved ahead in the story Adiba writes in these undertones of a young girl who not only is trying to figure out what lies within her but what she has become with the purpose of fitting in.
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Hani and Ishu the only two south asian girls in their school and two of them for their own ulterior motives make a decision to pretend to date each other. They don't realise when both of them start having feelings for each other and find a sense of warmth and comfort with each other.
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The concept of community, family is something that is strongly written about in the narrative.
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The writer explores the reasons why two south asian woman connect more and the ignorant attitude sometimes people have around them.
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The author talks about religion,god and what is the history of following one's religion and how the characters connect with it.
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Writer also touches upon the themes of sexuality and the attitude of people towards the LGBTQ community in relation of the families of Hani and Ishu. The love for Biryani never goes away and so many delicacies of Bengali homes are talked about it was a delight to read the way the author talks about the "white people food" the context makes it very funny.
Figure out Hani and Ishu's story in this adorable, cultural stories that lets you tell them their story together and separately.

I received a copy of this e-arc in exchange for an honest review thanks to NetGalley and Hatchette Kids.

I just love that this book has content warnings at the beginning! This needs to be the new norm for books!

Ahhhhh I absolutely hated Aisling and Deirdre! I just cannot understand how you can be so dismissive of someones belief! Being muslim means that Hani eats halal food, doesn’t drink alcohol and prays, but they just don’t seem to understand that - or if they do, they just don’t care because it’s not what they do.

Focusing on Hani and Ishu, I absolutely adored them! I’m a sucker for the fake dating trope. Their relationship had a rocky start which was made worst thanks to Aisling and Deirdre (again, hate them so much!) but luckily, the other people in Hani and Ishu’s lives made them see what they’d missed.

I loved the character development, especially for Hani! She struggled with biphobia and islamophobia from her friends whereas Ishu struggled with her relationship with her parents.

Overall, it was a fantastic book!

Oh I absolutely loved this. You routed for Hani and Ishu from their first meeting and the whole story just warmed my heart.

This was an average YA contemporary for me. I wasn't blown away like I was expecting. The story is solid but nothing really hooked me or roped me in. The characters could have used a bit more development since I didn't really feel connected to them, It just felt like names on pages.

Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating is, at its heart, a story about love in all its various forms. Love for yourself, for your family, your friends, and of course, romantic love. It is a classic fake dating story, but with so much depth to it.

At first glance, Hani and Ishu seem like opposites. Their one commonality being that they are the only two Bengali students in their Irish school. They have different priorities, different faiths, different friendships and family dynamics. But as they make a pact to help each other out and pretend to be in a relationship, as a means to an end, they start developing real feelings for each other. It is a brilliant slowburn realisation, and with it comes a wonderful sense of not needing to change yourself to fit in with others, but instead embracing and respecting your differences.

Recommended to all contemporary YA fans.

This was everything I expected when I picked up the book! Soft sapphic love, deals with friendships, has family-focus, and is also a nice coming-of-age story.

The book is quite similar to The Henna Wars due to the setting, the family, and the overall feel. The story is completely different but because it had the same feel, it was comforting too because I really liked The Henna Wars.

It was so nice to read a fake dating YOUNG ADULT book with two girls as the couple. The relationship development between the girls was slow and warm. I loved the parallel focus on other things and the way nothing overtook briefly.

I do wish the epilogue was better because it somehow didn't satisfy me enough? But oh well.

Good book!

I didn’t think I was big on romances, however I just read this in the day so I think I need to re-evaluate my tastes, because I love them when they are this well written!

Hani and Ishu are brilliant characters and so well developed throughout this whole book as they go through their own character arc, but also the growing relationship they have between one another. I love how honest the dynamic at first is between them, that awkwardness is so well written and is so genuine it brings the story to life.

The plot is funny, charming, heartbreaking in moments and brilliantly delivered throughout, with connections to family and friends done in a profound and important way - personally for me what I love about this book was the relationship Ishu and Nik, her sister formed in this book, I’m so glad the author chose for them to be there for one another.

I loved this book and devoured it in a day, I can’t wait to read more from this author as she writes compelling stories with characters that you feel you must know, they feel so honest as you read them. One of my new favourites!

I received this as an ARC on NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review

Actual rate: 4.5

Good:
- bisexual! Indian! Girls! I love them! Diversity that feels built in, not fake
- Fun and easy read (mostly)
- issues of homophobia and biphobia, as well as slight islamophobia were handed well

Bad:
-nothing specific to say!

This book was adorable. I love these characters, who feel real and developed and like friends by the end of the book. I am also a sucker for LGBT+ religious characters, and I loved loved loved the Muslim gay love and accepting family! We need more of this in fiction.

This is not a page turner in the typical sense, but I did find myself to choosing to read this often and keep picking it up, which counts in my book! I did wish it was a little longer, and i would have loved to see some more development after the little hint of gay at the party at the end (gay Muslim FRIENDS!) but I suppose if we get a sequel (HINT: I NEED ONE) then we miiiight get this,

Representation, fun and refreshing.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is LGBT+ or has struggled finding their place in society, or with their community. And young adult fans, and teen lit fans. Perfect.

Overall: 5/5

Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating is a very sweet romance, one of those ones you can just sit and enjoy in a few hours. It follows two girls who don’t really interact, but who end up fake dating, when one of them blurts out to her friends that they’re together.

On the whole, I think I had more mixed opinions on this one than The Henna Wars. I still enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong! But I guess it would be safe to say I enjoyed it less. (Of course, I’m expecting to be in the minority here. If you loved The Henna Wars, I fully expect that you’ll love this too.)

Let me start with the good things. Both of the main characters are ones that you’ll love instantly. They’re also just a bit more chaotic than Nishat was, in the best way, so you’re like...watching them do all this fake dating aware that it’s all going to go downhill. I mean, that’s all I ever really want from a romcom, to be quite honest. You know how it’s going to go down, but that’s what’s great about it. You can sit back and enjoy it.

As with The Henna Wars, this is also a book that well balances the romcom nature of its plot with more serious topics. There’s Hani’s friends’ biphobia (and how they treat her badly overall), and the plotline with Ishu’s sister. I think one of Adiba Jaigirdar’s major strengths is striking that balance, so no one part of the plot feels overlooked or brushed past.

Where this book perhaps fell down a little for me was that I didn’t find the characters’ voices that distinct. Obviously not in a “whose POV is this??” way, because they’re distinct in the sense you know whose you’re in, but more like…the writing sounds exactly the same for both. For some people I guess that’s not even going to register as a potential problem, but I think that’s what stopped me liking it so much as The Henna Wars.

But overall, this is definitely a book I’d recommend, and one of those that you come out of knowing you can trust the author in future.

Adiba Jaigirdar's debut novel 'The Henna Wars' was a touching and thought-provoking celebration of Bangladeshi culture - I thought no characters could warm my heart as much as Nishat and Flavia. Wow, was I wrong! Enter Hani and Ishu. Despite being the two Bangladeshi girls in their year group, the pair have never really been friends. That is until Hani's friends, Aisling and Dee, refuse to believe Hani is bisexual as she has never kissed a girl. Cue an elaborate fake relationship where it is quite possible some real feelings may develop along the way.

I adored Hani and Ishu's slow-burn relationship. Jaigirdar layers the developing feelings with a nuanced commentary on more difficult topics, including the racism and homophobia of Hani's friends. I felt my anger boil as Aisling and Dee continually undermined Hani's bisexuality and forced her into uncomfortable choices between her religion and her popularity. A particular moment involving a party game and alcohol was representative of Hani's horrific treatment and left me wondering why it took her so long to embrace her true self and fight back against her 'friends'.

Ishu's family storyline is also affecting as she strives to be the perfect daughter. She is desperate not to make the same mistakes as her sister, a university drop out, at the expense of truly living life on her own terms. I felt than Hani and Ishu taught each other a lot about how to reclaim their own identities, whether that be sexual orientation or religious. The ending was satisfying but left further room for them to grow beyond the confines of the narrative.

Overall, this is not merely a cutesy romantic young adult novel. The layers of nuance and exploration of difficult themes makes this a captivating read indeed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review – thanks so much as always to Netgalley for sending this to me!

Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating follows Humaira – Hani – and Ishita – Ishu – two Bengali teens who are, make no bones about it, not friends. Ishu is far too busy studying to befriend the only other Bengali girl in her class, while Hani already has her own tight-knit circle. But when Hani’s friends, Dee and Aisling, react badly to her coming out as bisexual, and Ishu needs a popularity boost to help her become Head Girl, the solution is simple: they’ll fake date. What could possibly go wrong?

Let’s be real, who isn’t a sucker for fake dating? The forced proximity; the public displays of affection that end up becoming as natural as breathing; the pining; the slow countdown to the inevitable dissolution of the arrangement, as both characters start to realise that they don’t want it to end after all… it’s a god tier trope, and it’s done so well here. Hani and Ishu are adorable. If you love the grumpy one vs the sunshine-y one, this book definitely delivers; Ishu is prickly at best, hardly a people-person, while Hani just wants to please everyone. They definitely seem like an odd match to begin with, but somehow it just works. Ishu starts to thaw out and loosen up; Hani grows a spine and learns to stand up for herself. They really do help one another grow in the best possible way, and it’s so heartwarming to see.

One of my favourite things about this book, which was also present in Adiba’s last book, The Henna Wars, was the family dynamics. Adiba writes such complex, intriguing families, across a broad spectrum of experiences – not just the typical absent parents you usually come across in YA. Some of her parents are supportive, while others are reticent; sometimes they’re close to their children, other times awkward and struggling to connect. It’s raw, real, often heartbreaking, and refreshingly honest to see these very different dynamics reflected on the page. Likewise, the sibling relationships are amazing – I was fascinated by Ishu’s relationship with her sister Nikhita, who she’s been competing against her whole life, determined to live up to her golden reputation. We get to see this relationship grow and change throughout the course of the book and it’s lovely to see. Most of all, I appreciated the grey area here; so often, there’ll be this firm stance in books that any family member who is difficult or unsupportive of the main character should immediately be cut off. Real life is more difficult than that, isn’t so cut and dry. As a side note, I have been begging for YEARS for more authors to write about a queer relationship where one person doesn’t come out for whatever reason, or is selectively out, and isn’t demonised for it. So often we see this insistence that if you’re out, you have to be out in every single context, and it was so nice to see a character who is allowed to be selectively out and isn’t shamed for being unwilling or unable to share their sexuality with absolutely everyone in their lives. This book’s willingness to understand shades of grey is one of my favourite things about it, and I hope to see more of this kind of complexity and careful handling in YA books in the future.

Full of lush details, raw and honest emotional moments, unafraid of shying away from discussions of racism, Islamophobia, biphobia and other forms of discrimination, yet somehow managing to tie it all together with a sweet slow-burn romance, Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating is a wonderful addition to the realms of sapphic YA. 4/5 stars.

Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating is Adiba Jaigirdar’s second YA novel and her writing is once again incredibly heartwarming and comforting!

It is a YA romance queer novel where the main characters start fake dating for the mutual benefits it can bring both of them and then end up falling in love for real. But things are not so easy, especially when Hani and Ishu are very different and when there’s people that want to keep them apart.

This novel is very easy to read but it doesn’t mean that it’s at all shallow. The characters struggle with homophobia, islamophobia, racism, family issues and other conflicts. The relationship between Hani and Ishu and their respective families feels very real and even though they are very different I related with both: I know what it’s like to feel like you can tell your parents anything and that they’re your best friends, but I also know what it’s like to try to live up to their expectations.

One of the things I liked the most about this book was Ishu’s relationship with her sister Nik and how it progresses. I thought it was very genuine and sweet and I loved how Ishu’s character development was tied to her relationship with her sister.

Another one of the things I liked about this book is that both main characters are Bengali but only one of them is a Muslim, which gave me a better understanding of the different sides of being Bengali. I also liked the mentions of different Bengali traditions, dishes and clothing. However, I would have enjoyed more descriptions of all of these things to understand them slightly better, because in my case, being a white person from a catholic background I didn’t know many of these terms and having to look them up while reading sometimes made me lose focus on the story.

Generally, I would have liked more descriptions in the novel: of places, people, food, etc. But it might be the lack of all those descriptions that make the book feel fast-paced and dynamic.

Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating is what I would define as a cozy book, a story where you can lose yourself for a few hours and remember what it’s like to fall in love for the first time. I found myself smiling multiple times while reading and in the end it’s a book left me feeling good and happy.

After reading this novel and The Henna Wars, I will no doubt come back to Adiba Jaigirdar’s writing whenever I need a comfort read to find some happiness and peace.