Another triumph from Jaigirdar - I love how her novels expertly confront racism in microagression form as well as biphobia and xenophobia.

I loved reading about Hani and Ishu as if they were my actual friends. The book was warm, sweet and utterly charming - I loved the relationship between Hani and Ishu so I was rooting for them the very beginning.

The cast of supporting characters were real and fleshed out, I was utterly absorbed in Hani and Ishu’s world from the beginning.

This was the one book I read this year that I really wanted to love, because it felt like every thing about this book was meant for me: because let me tell you, as a bengali queer person, reading stories that reflect even an iota of me is monumental. But the book was too childish, which to some extent is to be expected with teenage protagonists, and the blatant hatred of white characters really left a bitter taste in my mouth. At times it felt less like a book for BIPOC readers, and more an anti-white people. And it was that that I really did not appreciate.

This is such an adorable story. I read it one sitting, just couldn't put it down. Hani and Ishu were such interesting and well written characters. Some of the most believably written high school characters I've ever read. I particularly loved Ishu and the arc of her relationships, particularly with her sister.

Thanks to Netgalley for a free e-ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

I loved Jaigirdar's previous book The Henna Wars so much that I was very excited to read this book.

In Hani and Ishu, Jaigirdar queers the set-up of To All the Boys I've Loved Before by taking two characters who have a lot to gain by pretending to date each other and seeing how sparks fly as their fake relationship causes them to grow close.

One of my favourite things about this book is how much I hated Hani's best friend Aisling. The way that Jaigirdar wrote this character was so perfectly composed as I slowly became increasingly outraged as the story developed. By the end, I wanted to scream anytime her name was on the page!

Also, how beautiful is the cover art for this book? It makes my heart melt to see two gorgeous Bengali girls on the cover.

I can't wait to read what Jaigirdar does next!

I’ll start out by saying that I loved the premise of this book. I loved the Muslim and Bengali representation, and the richness that came with it. There were so many layers to the portrayal of cultures I’m otherwise unfamiliar with and I loved learning about things like dawats as well as popular endearments and even Bengali foods!

The premise was what really drew me to this as I love a fake-dating trope, plus it’s f/f? Count me in! However I felt like the execution of the idea just didn’t meet up to my expectations. Hani and Ishu both had their own motivations to begin fake-dating but neither of them seemed particularly solid and I felt as if there were much simpler ways for them to achieve what they wanted - so why go through all the trouble?

The characters were almost 2D in my mind, none of them seemed particularly fleshed out (especially the supporting characters!) and their motivations weren’t always clear or logical. I didn’t connect with either Hani or Ishu in a way I would hope to, perhaps because neither of their solutions to their respective problems seemed to make sense to me. It didn’t feel particularly realistic in that respect and neither did the way a lot of the characters acted.

However I would always recommend anyone to give this book a go because I think it’s so important to have YA fiction representing not only the LGBTQ+ community but also the Muslim and Bengali communities too. I’d really like to give the author’s other work a go to see if I connect better with that instead.

Wow oh wow! This should be on everyone's TBR!!

This is the first book of Jaigirdar's that I've read and it certainly won't be the last! This is very much a must read!!

Trigger Warnings: Islamophobia, biphobia, homophobia, racism, bullying, toxic friendships, emotional abuse, parental abandonment.

Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar is a contemporary YA novel about two Bengali girls living in Ireland who decide to embark upon a fake relationship for mutual benefit.

Humaira (Hani) is a popular girl at her Irish secondary school along with her two white best friends Aisling and Dee, however, she consistently keeps parts of who she is hidden away for fear of pushing her friends away by being too “other,” too Muslim or too Bengali. When she reveals herself to be bisexual, Aisling refuses to believe Hani because she has never kissed a girl. Put on the spot and desperate to prove herself, Hani claims to be in a relationship with Ishita (Ishu)—the only other Bengali girl at her school.

Meanwhile, Ishu is having problems of her own. Her parents care about little other than academics, and Ishu’s older sister Nic has recently informed them that she is taking a year out of medical school in London to get married. Now her parents are pushing Nic out of their lives for choosing the “wrong path,” and Ishu is determined to avoid the same fate by becoming the perfect student. She needs to be elected as Head Girl, but her current position at the bottom of the social hierarchy means that is a virtual impossibility. What she really needs is the help of a popular girl like Hani.

The two girls agree to fake a relationship in order to win Ishu the Head Girl position and convince Hani’s friends that she is truly bisexual, but both girls soon realize that not everyone around them has their best interests at heart. At the same time, they realize that they might be starting to feel something for the other that isn’t quite as fake as it should be.

Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating was a genuinely great, easy-to-read story that I read from cover to cover in a single day. It is told from the perspectives of both Hani and Ishu in alternating chapters, which allows you to understand what is going on in both girls’ heads as their goals gradually shift. Although she was the more abrasive of the pair, I generally found myself enjoying Ishu’s chapters more—partly because I identified with her nerdy, studious character more than popular Hani. That being said, I enjoyed reading from both girls’ point of view, and I liked that both had unique difficulties they were facing such as the family drama around Ishu’s older sister and a forthcoming election that Hani’s father is standing for.

One thing I really appreciated in this book was the way it avoided playing into stereotypes. While both girls are Bengali and share some of the same culture, which has caused many of their peers to lump them together, Hani is a fairly devout Muslim while Ishu doesn’t believe in God. It’s also Hani—who comes from a more conservative, religious family—who is happily out as bisexual to her parents, while Ishu struggles with revealing that part of her identity to her parents. Despite their differences, however, both girls face racism from the people and institutions around them, and Hani also deals with significant Islamophobia due to her personal choices to avoid alcohol and only eat halal.

This was a wonderfully told book that explores LGBTQ identities from two different and lesser-seen perspectives. I would recommend Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating to anyone looking for a sapphic story different from the much more common portrayal of two white American girls.

WOW!! I usually steer clear of the fake dating trope because often the dilemma is down to miscommunication. But, this made it work. I loved the representation and the toxic friendships hit close to home.
The book was definitely character-driven with the plot allowing these characters to grow and evolve. By the end of the novel, I felt so proud of them for their development and self-acceptance. I loved the characters so much and I wish I had this book many years ago.
I'll definitely be buying a physical copy and recommending it to everyone I can.

4.5

'Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating' is a YA contemporary following the titular characters as their lives are thrust together and they have to parade a fake relationship to their peers - with Ishu wanting to achieve her parents goal of Head Girl, and Hani wanting her friends to accept her after coming out. This is a super fast paced, fake-dating contemporary which feels so true to the modern day experience of teenagers and their conversations around sexuality, relationships, family and religion.

The characters in this book felt so real and accurate to modern day teenagers in a way some YA novels miss. The way they spoke reflected that of people I have actually experienced, which helped me to fall into the story and get a quick grasp of the characters. In particular, the way that Hani interacts with the world really resonated with me - falling on the brink of acceptance and trying to be who others expect and want you to be. Her relationships with her friends and family had me thinking about my own experiences and reflecting upon my own relationships.

If you're looking for a super-cute, easy to read contemporary with some of your favourite tropes I would highly recommend picking up 'Hani and Ishu'.

This was such a sweet read - a wonderful story with amazing characters, that managed to tackle serious issues whilst keeping it light hearted. Highly recommend! I loved seeing bisexuality represented in such an awesome way and I will be rereading very soon.

Trigger Warnings: Emotional Manipulation, Peer Pressure, Racism

I was first introduced to Adiba Jaigirdar on bookstagram when I first heard about The Henna Wars (Read My Review) - a sapphic romance that literally took my breath away. I am not kidding, it was actually a breath of fresh air for someone who adored the YA genre, but was fast becoming disenchanted with the same old characters being reused over and over again.

Adiba Jaigirdar’s books are the response to those typically white washed experiences that a desi girl, who while enjoying them as a spectator, could never relate to the characters themselves.

Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating is a brown girl’s answer to that. Hani and Ishu are the only two Bangladeshi’s in their Irish school and they couldn’t be more extreme opposites if they tried.

Hani, an out bisexual, is one of the sweetest persons around. She always has a smile on her face, is genuinely helpful to anyone who asks and is quite friendly as well.
Ishu, on the other hand, is a focused, could be considered rude, sarcastic and almost unfriendly girl at her school.

When Hani finds out that her friends have trouble accepting her bi-sexuality; she, in desperation, says that she is dating Ishu.
Ishu, on the other hand, needs to be well liked to become the head girl, so she can show her parents that she is serious about her future.

Fake dating trope along with an almost enemies to lovers trope in a brown girl sapphic romance will have you absolutely giddy while reading this book.

It’s not all roses though, the trigger warnings are genuine - emotional manipulation, peer pressure, your own confidence in your identity as well the struggles that a brown girl goes through as an immigrant!

I certainly enjoyed The Henna Wars far more than this, true but Hani and Ishu find their own place in my soul when I read their book!

I knew I would like this book because I'm a fan of the author - and it managed to surpass my high expectations! Wonderful story of complicated family expectations and an adorable romance. The friendship issues portrayed reminded me of my own experiences as a marginalised teen.

I did really enjoy this book, but not as much as the henna wars.
I did like the two main characters a lot and I loved how this book explored family relationships.

However, I did think the ending was a little rushed and underdeveloped. I wish there had been an extra 50 pages or so.
Also, there was quite a lot of the miscommunication trope which I wasn’t a big fan of

First off we have to talk about exactly how damn cute this book is. It's got a lovely flow and there are so many heartwarming scenes. My one reservation was that I felt the relationship between Hani and Ishu sped along a little quickly, and more time could've been taken to develop the early stages.

The characters were well-written and contrasting, which made it all the more satisfying when Adiba Jaigirdar explored the relationships they had with each other, especially how there can still be high points amongst the complicated mess that family can be. I absolutely adored the dynamic between Ishu and her older sister Nik; so many of the themes explored in the book played out in their interactions, and I think the most successful aspect of this book is the deeper meaning of everyday scenarios, all the subtext that lay behind Hani and Ishu's school lives.

Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating is a story about identity, belonging, and acceptance, finding your place in a world that isn't always happy to receive your true self. As an Asian who grew up in a predominantly white country, there's a lot I could relate to in Hani's friendship woes, and similarly the pressure Ishu places on herself is commonplace amongst immigrant communities. The intersection of these two stories is a powerful thing indeed; bring me more.

Reviewed by my 13 year old daughter:

It was really good and I loved the trope of fake dating. There was a lot of representation which I think was done really well. The relationship between all of the characters was very natural. I loved how the toxic friend group was portrayed and explained and how you understood from her point of view that these were her only friends and she had no-one else to turn to. These friends didn't care about her considerations re her religion ie eating halal but she finally met Ishu who actually cared. I loved how mild racial aggressions were used in school because it s
showed white privilege.

Overall it was a good book with a cute romance with an easily understandable plotline.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Children's for an early copy!


Yay, another wonderful example of the current diversity in YA and children's books!

Not only does this have queer representation, this also rocks in representing people of non-European ethnicity. Might sound dumb to point it out, but it's still not that frequent, so kudos for that!

And not only does it have awesome representation, it's also a very cute and feel good romance.

Both main characters are very relatable. There's Hani, who's well-liked by anyone, but whose best friends are (frankly) huge jerks who refuse to believe that being bisexual is a thing. I stand by the fact that they're unlikable characters.
And there's Ishu, whose parents are putting a lot of pressure on her shoulders. With an older sister who set the example of a perfect childhood and early adulthood, she's trying to be even better... Until her sister rocks her world.

I thought this novel was really good at talking about different topics in a very sensitive manner.
The most obvious one is how it talks about bisexuality and the way some people still have a hard time believing it's actually a thing. Hani's two best friends are very accurate representations of what bisexual people have to go through, and I very much appreciated them not really having a redemption arc. Sometimes, people are dumb and stay dumb, and that's good to see in a book too. You have to move on and make new friends that accept you just like you are.

The other main topic is how parents can be really hard on their expectations, and how it can damage a relationship. Ishu is very much going through that, and I very much winced at how true some things that happened were.

The one thing that I can see as a weak point is that the book was quite predictable. It very much followed the pattern of a YA romance, with some added heavier topics thrown in. Then again, every book doesn't need to be extremely unpredictable, and I did very much enjoy that novel despite this!

Full review to come 24th June on my blog.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Thanks to Hodder Children's Group for the eARC of this book. It has not affected my honest review.

Content Warnings: racism, Islamophobia, biphobia, parental abandonment, toxic friendship.

This book was so cute. I knew that I loved Adiba Jaigirdar's writing from loving her debut, THE HENNA WARS, so I was excited for this one particularly because fake dating is one of my favourite tropes - I read so much fake dating fanfiction, you wouldn't believe me if I said how much. I ended up reading this entire book in one day, plowing through its incredibly readable prose so I could find out more about these characters I'd already grown to adore. While this did give me all the wonderful and fluffy feelings that I wanted from a sapphic fake dating story, it also had emotional depths to it that hit me hard.

The way that the biphobia is included in the plot was incredible, and very validating. The microaggressions were threaded through in the same insidious way that they usually appear from friends and family, but were equally highlighted and called out. I liked that Adiba Jaigirdar showed how these biphobic attitudes don't just come from strangers but can come from the people whose opinions matter the most to us. Equally, HANI AND ISHU'S GUIDE TO FAKE DATING showed Islamophobia from Hani's toxic friends, and it was extremely discomforting to read the way that Hani rationalised and justified their attitudes - which is so important for teenagers to see in their fiction. I really loved the way that Hani's approach to practicing Islam was portrayed. I can't comment on 'accuracy' of any of the rep but I really liked that Hani chose her path herself, and throughout the book we saw several different ways of practicing Islam from the different Muslim characters.

Both POVs were really well done. Both Hani and Ishu had such distinct personalities and voices, and I loved seeing everything through both of their eyes and experiences. Hani and Ishu really reminded me of the sunshine and the grumpy one trope. Their relationship felt authentic and like it had real chemistry between them. Their relationship built from acquaintances to friends to love in a way that was really believable and I fell in love right alongside them. I loved the slow burn feeling to it and the complicated feelings always brought out by the fake dating trope. This is such an easy comfort read and I highly recommend it.

Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating is a very sweet romance, one of those ones you can just sit in a cosy spot and breeze through in a few hours. On the whole, I think I had more mixed opinions on this one than anything. I still enjoyed it, but I guess it would be safe to say I didn’t enjoy it as much when compared to The Henna Wars. I do think the author balances the romcom nature of its plot with more serious topics really well. 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. However, I found both POVs very similar and written pretty much the same, which was at times quite difficult to distinguish.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating utilises one of my absolute favourite tropes ever. Fake dating is such a fun way of doing slow burn, and this book managed it well. Through a combination of fake dating hijinx, real emotional family drama, high school politics and standing up for what you believe in, Hani and Ishu won my heart. I also loved the focus on biphobia, and how casually and awfully it can be thrown into conversation. Overall this is definitely a must read for fans of contemporary YA and diverse books!

Super cute YA fiction. I liked what it had to stay about toxic friendships and bullying by those people who are supposed to be your friend