(4.5/5 stars)

At 24, Hana Khan is a busy bee. During the day when she's not interning at her local radio station, Hana helps out at her family's struggling restaurant, Three Sisters Biryani Poutine - the only halal restaurant in the Golden Crescent neighbourhood. But being a lover of storytelling and also needing an outlet, Hana uses her spare time to start a podcast under a pseudonym: "Ana's Brown Girl Rambles". With her loved ones busy with their own lives, Hana's only comfort is her growing friendship with one of her podcast listeners, username StanleyP.

But things take a turn for the worse when another, more trendy, halal restaurant is on the verge of opening in the neighbourhood. Worried about her family's livelihood, Hana tries to sabotage the competing restaurant's opening - which would be a lot easier if she didn't find the owner so attractive.

Hana Khan Carries On has quickly become one of my fav contemporary romance reads. I devoured this in one day and instantly fell in love with the fun characters, their witty banter and the intriguing subplots.

- The romance is super cute and I really enjoyed the enemies-to-reluctant-allies friendship between Hana and Aydin.
- Love the intra-family relationships and the emphasis on community.
- Hana's an Indian Muslim so there are a lot of cultural and religious references that Jalaluddin weaves in and subtly explains for the non-cultured and non-Muslamics.
- Despite Jalaluddin exploring Islamophobia, I really appreciate that it doesn't consume the whole book and manages to remain a fun, cute read.
- Also, the fact that Hana doesn't question her faith at any point is a win in itself. No "Muslim girl falls in love and realises she's been oppressed by Islam all along" over here! (Wow the bar is so low.)

Highly recommend this book to my fellow romcom lovers because this will give you all the feels!

I absolutely loved this book. I love romance books and there is a severe lack of Muslim romance novels so reading this was like a breath of fresh air. I had so much fun reading the adorable romance between Hana and Aydin. I also loved how it wasn't purely focused on the romance as it also dealt with family dynamics and Islamophobia. I loved Hana's family, every single member was well-developed and played an important part. I also loved the radio aspect of this story and how Hana was determined to only create things that she believed in. The only issue I had with this book was the climax. I felt that the reveal of the 'big twist' to Aydin could have been dealt with better and I wish we saw more of the fallout with it, since it is such a major piece of news for him. Overall, this was an incredibly cute, diverse romance novel and I want more of those.

Although I'm sure many will find this to be a great read, I found the dialogues to be incredibly unrealistic, the 'bad' characters came across as cartoonish, and the flirting between the male lead and the female lead was questionable (for example, he makes a joke about her being in school, or looking like a schoolgirl...which yikes). I am also tired of female leads comparing themselves unfavorably to other female characters (and usually, it turns out that actually our female lead is just as if not more beautiful). Here we get a whole paragraph in which our main character compares herself to her sister (who is tall, slim, and has angular facial features whereas our mc is short and curvy).

This book does a great job of explaining how a Muslim in the west lives there life to a reader that doesn’t know anything. It explains terms clearly whilst not pulling you out of the narrative. I enjoyed this story of an early 20’s first generation women living her life in Canada.

What a treat! People talk sh*t about “chick lit” - but it can be deep, educational, entertaining and enjoyable. Hana Khan Carries on is all this and more.

Beautifully written and expertly planned out, the novel tells the story of Hana Khan. She’s Canadian, Muslim, the daughter of first generation Indian immigrants and an absolutely spectacular character. There’s a You’ve Got Mail plot line (but better, and not as white), poutine biryani and timely discussions of white supremacy.

One of the best books I’ve read this year.