This is How you Fall in Love is an interesting story about personal growth with a dash of romance that was fun to read.

I loved that this book took me on a journey with Zara while she discovered what being in love meant to her. It also delivered a twist I was not expecting and appreciated; it was not a classic friends to lovers story.

The characters were entertaining, relatable and 3D. I especially liked that the main characters were Asian and I got to experience some of their culture and food while reading.

This was not a typical romance however, as a romance reader, I enjoyed Zara and Sadie's obsession with romance and how different tropes were discussed in the book. Overall, this was an enjoyable read.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'This Is How You Fall In Love' by Anika Hussain.

Walking into this book I expected that I could work out the plot instantly. From the fake dating to the misunderstandings, I knew this would be a book I would enjoy from the offset. However, it wasn't as predictable as I thought. My 5 star rating for this book instantly went higher in my heart because it felt real and although it did keep with the tropes, the characters felt more than just bound to the fake dating. I loved each character and honestly, I think this would be a perfect book for a movie company to pick up and adapt accurately because this book definitely needs the love when it publishes.

This was a masterpiece of a book and I will be buying my own copy.

A quick, easy and cute read that I finished in one very shot sitting. I liked the writing which was engaging. the storyline was adorable and the characters were well developed. I loved it.

'This is How You Fall in Love' by Anika Hussain was a delightful read. Adnan and Zara have been best friends since forever. Their families spend Sunday dinners, holidays to Bangladesh and every other major life event together. When Adnan falls for new girl Cami, he stumbles across a big problem - they need to keep their relationship a secret due to Cami's overprotective family. Enter a classic fake dating scenario which challenges the boundaries of Adnan and Zara's relationship. Is the love they feel for each other actually like siblings or something more?

I loved lots about this novel. Zara and Sadie's friendship and obsession with romcoms was great. I enjoyed the self-aware labelling of every trope going, with Hussain purposely trying to disrupt and subvert our expectations of what it means to be in love. I am also hugely into Pokemon Go so Zara's quest for legendary pokemon, raiding, and checking Leekduck had my nerdy soul singing. Such a niche nerd area of life but I felt very seen! (ha)

Overall, Hussain avoids predictability and I enjoyed the plotline. I did sometimes have anger towards how Adnan and Cami treat Zara but everything is addressed with refreshing candid honesty. 4.5 stars.

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

Great romantic comedy. I'm a big fan of the best-friends to lovers trope. The characters were very cute and I loved their relationship and their dynamic. The writing was good, funny and kinda easy to read. Great development and twists.

This is definitely one of those feel good books, light, fun, and I really enjoyed this one and am thrilled to acquire it for our YA section, but older folks will enjoy this one as well! Full review and more thoughts to come!
5/5

Zara loves love in all forms: 90s romcoms and romance novels and grand sweeping gestures. And she's desperate to have her own great love story. Crucially, a real one. So when her best friend Adnan begs her to pretend to date him to cover up his new top-secret relationship, Zara is hesitant. This isn't the kind of thing she had in mind. But there's something in it for Zara too: making her parents, who love Adnan, happy might just stop them arguing for a while. She may not be getting her own love story, but she could save theirs.

So Zara agrees and the act begins: after all, how different can pretending to be in a relationship with your best friend be to just hanging around with them like usual? Turns out, a lot. With fake dating comes fake hand-holding and fake kissing and real feelings... And when a new boy turns up in Zara's life, things get more confusing than ever.
The course of true love never did run smooth, but Zara's love story is messier than most...