Tasneem Abdur-Rashid's The Thirty Before Thirty List is a charming and relatable novel about self-discovery, love, and the pressures of hitting milestones before turning thirty. The story follows the protagonist as she embarks on a journey to complete a bucket list she created, leading to unexpected adventures, personal growth, and the reevaluation of what success and happiness truly mean. Abdur-Rashid's writing is witty and engaging, filled with humor and warmth that makes the characters come alive. The novel captures the essence of modern life and the universal struggle of balancing cultural expectations with personal desires. It's a heartwarming read that will resonate with anyone who's ever questioned the path they’re on or felt the ticking clock of societal pressures.

The Thirty Before Thirty List is a comforting read which explores family pressures, friendships and work challenges. At first, it was hard for me to get into the book but as I got further in, it became a lot more interesting but I would have loved a longer epilogue with more moments and tension between Maya and Zakariya. Ultimately, it is relatable and well worth the read.

Thank you to the author Tasneem Abdur-Rashid, the publisher Zaffre and Net Gallery for an advanced reader copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review.

Maya meets Noah on the underground as she rushes to get to work. At first, their conversation feels odd—strangers don’t typically interact on the underground—but Noah persists, and their 20-minute chat leaves Maya intrigued. When Noah rushes off, he leaves behind a notebook. Curiosity gets the better of her, and Maya opens it to find a list titled "30 Things Before 30." With the help of her friend, she begins working her way through the list, initially hoping it will help her find Noah.

As Maya tackles each item on the list, she faces family pressures, work challenges, and the complexities of juggling old and new friendships. During this journey, her family introduces her to a potential suitor, Zakariya, whose meeting doesn’t go quite as expected.

The supporting characters—her family, Dina, and Lucy—add depth and provide a vivid picture of Maya’s network, enhancing the story's connection. I found Maya's character very relatable. It's funny how a book can come along at a time in your life and resonate with so many personal moments. It felt as though Tasneem had somehow tapped into my thoughts and feelings.

While I wish there had been a bit more to the epilogue, I thoroughly enjoyed the book!

Thank you, NetGalley, for the download!

This book is like a warm hug to all the brown girls out there. A nod to all our struggles, that little squeeze on the arm, that reassurance to say "I get it" and "You're not alone"

I said it with Tasneem's first book and I will say it again. REPRESENTATION TO THE T!!! Don't underestimate how hard this is, to capture Islam, to capture Muslim women in a way that brings joy and understanding!! Tasneem's writing is perfection. The banter in this book, from pop culture to sibling rivalry is executed so well.

Just like her first book, I was highlighting sections and sending parts across to my sisters like "look at this!! Isn't this so relatable" publishers, take note! This is the type of books we want!

Plot wise, I was in tears. Both of laughter and sadness actually. In simple terms. Maya is struggling with the pressure of finding a husband and on the way to work, runs into a cute guy. He leaves his notebook on the train and in it, she finds a list of 30 things he wants to do before he turns 30. So Maya decides to upcycle her stagnant life and take on the list.

The characters make this book perfect. Maya with her hilarious thoughts - she's a green flag and genuinely out of all the books I have ever read, the only time I've loved a female main character over the male!!! No spoilers but the male character is 10/10 and I want one please.
I also adored Malik, who is Maya's brother - please can we have a book based on him?!?!?!?

I am obsessed.
I cannot wait for my physical copy to arrive.
I've cried on Bookstagram for this book
I've asked my friends and family pre order. (subsequently I've pledged to buy it for my sister and cousin who remind me so much of Maya and her twin cousins!)

If you are a Muslim who enjoys a fun romance, with an empowering message that still captures our religion, THIS IS FOR YOU.

If you are not Muslim and you want to understand what it's like for us, the pressure, the guilt, the struggles but also the laughter, the joy, the family we protect... THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU.

Tasneem.... hats off to you.
You should be really proud.

The Thirty Before Thirty List covers a kind of bucket list of things to accomplish - great premise for a novel.
But combine it with the challenges of living under the expectations of a British born Bengali Muslim girl, and you've got quite a story in your hands!
Maya has always played it safe - living at home after her law degree and taking the first relevant job she could means that she is still 27 and has never been on a date, let alone had a relationship.
She meets someone who could tick off all the boxes on her list - but their 20 minute encounter ends before they can exchange anything except their names. However, the mysterious Noah leaves a notebook with his '30 things before 30' list inside and this then inspires Maya to set a course for her own adventures - hoping to bump into him again along the way.
I really enjoyed the family dynamics and getting an inside view into a culture I know a little bit about at surface level but not much detail (for example, I didn't know that friends would remove their hijabs when visiting each other in their homes), and could really sympathise with Maya's slightly fractured relationship with her oldest friend Dina, as their lives separate on to different paths.
One thing I didn't like as much was the way the Begali language was written in to the dialogue - not the language itself but the writing style (she is saying to me.....)instead of perhaps just the translation in italics under the dialogue?? I found it a little colloquial and didn't really match with the rest of the text.

Overall, an interesting and emotive novel which will enlighten readers on what it means to live a culturally complex life like Maya.

Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an advanced release copy in exchange for an honest review.

A breath of fresh air, this original novel explores themes of love and family alongside faith and cultural norms. I really enjoyed this book, it kept me hooked all the way through, and I appreciated how the author peppered the story with both language, and cultural details, from our heroines background, so that this novel was both entertaining and educational

I am speechless! Absolutely speechless! I completed this gem of a book within 2 days! I absolutely savoured every part of it! There wasn’t even one part where I could honestly say that bored me! As a British Born Pakistani I could relate to so many of the struggles portrayed in the book for a South Asian woman in a Western Country! I loved how Tasneem portrayed topics in a light hearted manner! There was a couple of twists along the way which I wasn’t expecting at all! Thank you so much for giving us a 2nd masterpiece after Finding Mr Perfectly Fine!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnier Books UK for this ARC.

Maya is a 27 year old British Muslim woman living in North London. Her parents aren't as strict as some but they would still like her to marry and settle down. Maya isn't interested - she is happy with her small life as a paralegal, still living at home, watching Bollywood films with her parents. Then one day she gets talking to a nice man on the tube who leaves abruptly at his stop, leaving his notebook behind. In it is a Thirty Things Before Thirty List, covering all kinds of intellectual and sportive challenges. Maya decides to do the list to inject some adventure into her life. When she decides to go back to uni part-time her parents use this to try and get her to see arranged marriage candidates but the first one she meets she has met before in an art class - and hated on sight.

We accompany Maya for a year as she, with the help of her friends Lucy and Dina, brother Malik and cousins Pretty and Pinky, navigates her way through the list, doing things that take her right out of her comfort zone and vacillating between love interests.

This book was a culture shock to me. There is so much talk about Bengali culture, Sylheti language and Asian food, plus practising religion and needing to work on her connection with God. I'm an atheist and that much God talk is very alien to me. I also learnt that according to Islamic law, sons will inherit twice as much as daughters, as sons are preferred. This is simply accepted as the way things are, although Maya and her brother have screaming arguments about their role in their parents' household - they do love each other, but Maya thinks she is treated as second best. Maya struggles a lot with her brown identity and the expectations of her community, torn between tradition and individuality. Starting therapy helps - it is one of the thirty things to do but she keeps it up, just like she keeps up her budding friendship with Zakariya, even after she finds Noah again.

Maya is a very complicated and real character, living in modern Britain but still hugely influenced by her Islamic heritage. Sometimes I could understand her, other times it was as if she lived in a completely different world to me.

The theme of finding yourself before you can find love is universal though, and is explored well. The plot and the characters are great, however, the ending is a bit abrupt.

Recommended for British Muslims who want to read a romance novel that is rooted firmly in their community.

3.75 stars