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.

Ahhh I really wanted to love this but it was just a bit meh in the end. I love a classic fake dating trope, particularly on a f/f novel, but this really did fail to hit the cutesy mark. Perhaps I have been spoiled by reading way too many amazing fanfictions that really do define the fake dating genre.

Hani and Ishu are two Bangladeshi-Irish girls in their last years of school. Hani is (supposedly) popular, a social butterfly. She's also bisexual and her friends dismiss her because she's never kissed a girl. So she needs a fake girlfriend! Ishu is a lesbian but she isn't out. She's really into studying and becoming a doctor, but when her sister drops out of university Ishu needs to prove to her parents that she's "on the right track" by becoming Head Girl. Hani might just be her way to become popular.

Okay, so what did I like? Familial relationships - Ishu grows closer to her sister Nik as she begins to change how she views her path in life. Hani loves her parents and they love her, but that doesn't mean they always agree. But they seem to solve their problems and quarrels with love. Fake dating trope: yay. I also liked Hani's thoughts and focus on being Muslim, especially as her parents do not seem to be especially religious. I liked the setting in Ireland, which is distinct from England.

What frustrated me? For starters, the whole fake dating premise didn't really make sense. The book says Hani is popular, but she only has two friends (literally, I'm not sure she ever speaks to anyone else in the book) and both of them are like 2D cutouts. Dee and Aisling have no nuance, they just serve to show how racism is bad, how biphobia and homophobia is bad, how hating muslims is bad, etc. They never suffer any consequences other than Ishu telling Hani that they are dicks and there's virtually no reason for Hani to be friends with them.

Hani on the flipside only seems to get annoyed at her friends for the wrong reasons. Like setting her up with a guy before they know she is bisexual, which in my opinion is a fairly small faux pas. Also, Hani's dad is running in a local council election and Hani gets mad because her friend's dad won't vote for her dad because he doesn't support his policies. Which is ... fine? I would never vote for someone I know in a government election just because I know them? Hani seems to have all the wrong priorities and it is really frustrating.

Also despite being called a "guide to fake dating" the book was never really about fake dating. I think they go on one fake date and a house party where no one even cares that they are dating. Ishu barely even attempts to leverage Hani's supposed popularity into Head Girl votes and the whole thing breaks up because the headteacher is a cartoon villain.

Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating had an interesting setting, some cool themes about family and love and growing older, but it never really grabbed me. Instead I felt like the main plot never really came together as both characters completely lose interest in the things that motivate them to fake date.

3.5 stars

Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating is a cute sapphic rom com that also deals with teenage struggles, especially those of queer POC teens. Hani wants to prove to her friends her bisexuality is valid and Ishu is trying to become head girl and in order to become more popular she agrees to Hani's scheme to fake date, so they can both achieve their goals. However over the course of their fake relationship they begin to actually develop feelings which leads to much angst as well as some soft cutesy moments.

My favourite thing was Ishu's relationship with her sister, I liked the sibling competetivness in the past but now Nikki is a lot more mature and knows better, whereas at the start of the book Ishu is conviced they are still in competetion with each other. I also really liked Nikkis struggle, having been pressured into medical school (as someone who is in medical school I can tell you it is NOT a good idea unless you really love medicine, never let anyone tell you you have to do it otherwise you will be very unhappy) and now for her own mental health she has left. I really liked the growth in their relationship throughout the book, I'm always a sucker for great and complex sibling relationships.

Hani has very toxic friends and throughout the book we see her realise this and become more confident in herself. However I did find her friends were SO toxic that i'm not sure how believable it was that Hani would have been friends with them for so long, there were so many red flags T_T

I think this book tried to tackle a few too many topics, and with it being so short it felt like a lot was missing and couldn't explore everything to it's fullest. Also the ending definitely felt like more stuff needed to be wrapped up, especially with regards to Ishu and her parents - hopefully there will be a sequel so this can be explored a little more!!!

This book is sooo cute ! I love hani and ishu chemistry and the whole fake dating plot. This is everything that I needed to read right now.

If you live fake dating, romance & a girl who fight for what she truly wants. Go for this one !

A really lovely rom-com that goes much deeper than first glance would suggest. I loved the main characters, the diversity of not only the setting but the characters as well, and how swoonworthy the romance was. A really quick, very enjoyable read.

I loved Adiba Jaigirdar's first book and was eagerly anticipating this one - and it did not disappoint. Hani and Ishu are very real characters and I sympathized with both of them and their opposite approaches to friendship. The fake-dating-turned-real feelings was sweet and very relatable. Their home lives, while very different, were also very believable. Aisling and Dierdre were completely awful. And I loved Nik -- she's such a good sister and I would love to read more about her life. I was completely sucked into the story and finished it in a day. Highly recommend.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Children's Group for providing an e-arc for review.

his book caught my eye on netgalley because fake dating!!! sapphic!!! what more could I want?!! I was looking forward to seeing the dynamic between the popular girl and the overachiever, and to learning about Bengali culture. I have my issues with this book, but overall I really enjoyed it and it made me smile a lot.

Hani and Ishu are seventeen years old – Hani is a friendly popular girl who just wants her friends to take her bisexuality seriously, and Ishu has grown up in the shadow of her sister and just wants to achieve everything her parents have wanted for her – get into the best possible university to become a Doctor. So they begin to fake date – Hani to show her friends she dates girls, and Ishu to use Hani’s popularity to become elected head girl. What could possibly go wrong?

Hani’s story is centred on her friendship with two white girls, Aisling and Dee. Both have issues with everything about Hani, from her sexuality to her religion, their conversations are full of micro aggressions and racist remarks. They won’t eat Bengali food, they never go to halal restaurants and are contributors to bisexual erasure. Things don’t improve when Ishu comes on the scene, and Aisling’s jealousy leads to her doing some really nasty things to Ishu (and don’t get me started on the school’s response to it – the racial discrimination is strong).

Ishu has always been in the shadow of her sister Nik, but when Nik comes home with a surprise her parents couldn’t have predicted, Ishu starts feeling the pressure to be the perfect daughter. She never made the effort to make friends at school, and popularity is needed to be elected head girl. When Hani suggests they fake date, she’s unsure at first but soon sees the benefits to her.

Some of my favourite aspects of the book were when Ishu showed Hani what true friends act like – taking her to halal restaurants (Ishu is not Muslim) and respecting her. I also loved the dynamic between Ishu and her sister Nik now Nik has spent some time away from the environment their parents created. The food descriptions were also great, I just want to try all of the food now!

The issues I had were quite minor – sometimes it was hard to tell which point of view I was reading as Ishu and Hani have similar voices. There is a lot of racism and bisexual erasure throughout the book too, which may be triggering to some. Adiba Jaigirdar does have a content warnings list at the start of the book which is a big plus for her.

Overall, a fun YA romance that I enjoyed reading. I’ll be sure to get to reading The Henna Wars soon after this!

I was very excited to read this book as it combines two tropes that I love - fake dating and enemies to lovers. I loved reading about Hani and Ishu's fake relationship but I also really liked that this wasn't the only important plot. This book tackled a lot of issues, such as biphobia and racism, and it handled them all really well as each subplot was fully fleshed out and given the space to be addressed.
Hani and Ishu were both dealing with their own difficulties and it was great to see that they were both focused on and weren't just glossed over for the romance.
I did also really like the romance though! I love fake dating so I really enjoyed seeing how Hani and Ishu's feelings developed and how they processed them all!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Children’s Group for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Everyone likes Humaira "Hani" Khan—she’s easy going and one of the most popular girls at school. But when she comes out to her friends as bisexual, they invalidate her identity, saying she can’t be bi if she’s only dated guys. Panicked, Hani blurts out that she’s in a relationship…with a girl her friends absolutely hate—Ishita "Ishu" Dey. Ishu is the complete opposite of Hani. She’s an academic overachiever who hopes that becoming head girl will set her on the right track for college. But Ishita agrees to help Hani, if Hani will help her become more popular so that she stands a chance of being elected head girl. Despite their mutually beneficial pact, they start developing real feelings for each other. But relationships are complicated, and some people will do anything to stop two Bengali girls from achieving happily ever after.

Both Hani and Ishu face problems in their own way but I really enjoyed their compatibility with each other. Their culture is rather different to those around them in Ireland and it was great to see their young take on how that affects them - their relationships, their ambitions, their friendships etc. I liked that they had different outlooks on life and how their home life has impacted them as a person. Their issues were relatable and engaging and I found myself wanting to see more of Hani and Ishu at the end!

I am a massive sucker for fake dating stories! I just love watching two people develop feelings and deny them whilst executing an elaborate ruse for various reasons! This story is no exception. I loved seeing these two girls who had occasionally crossed paths create their ruse of dating to achieve their goals. It’s different than just trying to get eager parents off their backs about relationships etc because it was about one proving she knows who she is an is comfortable doing so, and the other wanting to do her parents proud. Jaigirdar definitely knocked it out the park with this one. With the inclusion of important topics - systemic racism, politics, peer pressures and homophobia - it really is a brilliant contemporary novel that draws the reader in.

Overall, Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating is another fabulous edition to the fake dating trope!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you again to NetGalley and Hachette Children’s Group for an advanced copy of this book. Review will be live on my blog on release day.

Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating is a young adult love story as the two Bengali girls in their Irish school end up pretending to be in a relationship to help each other out, despite being seemingly opposite. Hani is known for being friendly and popular, even if her friends don't really understand her being Muslim, whereas Ishu is known for being a standoffish overachiever, and they've never really got on. When Hani tells her friends she's bisexual and they don't believe her, she accidentally makes up a relationship with Ishu. This turns into something that could be mutually advantageous, as Ishu wants to become head girl and therefore needs some popularity at the school, but what if they actually get along better than they expected?

This book combines fake dating and vaguely enemies-to-lovers tropes (they're more like people who don't get on, but have been forced together previously due to both being Bengali) with an exploration of common teenage issues like dealing with friends who've grown into different people and navigating family tensions. Despite the main narrative being around the fake dating, the various plots woven throughout mean it doesn't just feel like a romance, and in fact the romance's conclusion is more understated than the importance of the resolution of other parts of the plot. Both protagonists (the story is told from alternating points of view) get their own stories and character development, and in particular Ishu's story around learning to aim for things she wants rather than what her parents want and repairing her relationship with her sister is well-rounded and interesting.

Other than the opening plot point about Hani's friends having issues about her bisexuality when she comes out to them, the book isn't really focused on coming out, either at school or to family, and that gives it a lot of space to explore the other plot points and also have their romance going on throughout. It's also nice that even being friends/'fake dating' each other means that both Hani and Ishu stand up for themselves and work out more about themselves, showing that sometimes other people can help you gain perspective on things.

A YA novel featuring a love story between two Bengali girls with very different lives, Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating is a fun book that manages to pack a lot into its narrative. Fans of Jaigirdar's debut The Henna Wars will probably like this one as well (I actually liked it more), and it's a book for readers looking for both cute romance and other plot going on too.

The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar is easily the best YA novel with a Muslim protagonist that I've read. I loved how the author wrote a story that was fun and entertaining but at the same time covered important and topical subjects such as Islamophobia, homophobia and cultural appropriation. So, going into Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating, my expectations were fairly high as I knew I could trust Jaigirdar to write an engaging yet critical story with well-developed characters. Let me just say that H&IGtFD exceeded my already high expectations.

This is a brilliantly done enemies to lovers AND fake dating romance story. Incorporating two beloved YA tropes into one story seems quite ambitious and one with a high potential of failure and yet both tropes were excellently tackled. This was a true slow burn enemies to lovers where the tension between the two characters is very evident and believable and doesn't just disappear into thin air after a couple of encounters (as is often the case with enemies to lovers stories). The fake dating adds interesting stakes to the story and I thought both characters' reasons for the fake dating scenario were equally believable.

The characters themselves were, unsurprisingly considering Jaigirdar's track record, complex, interesting and likeable. As a South Asian, I found the characters, their home lives and a lot of the issues they face very relatable – but even aside from the cultural stuff, Hani and Ishu are characters with very distinct personalities who felt really well fleshed out, which made it even easier to get sucked into the story and invested in their romance. Their humour and dynamics with each other were great and meant I was rooting for them to get together from the start.

As with her debut novel, Jaigirdar covers important topics such as Islamophobia, racism and homophobia in this book. An issue I have with a lot of books with Muslim characters (regardless of whether they're written by Muslim authors or not) is that they read like they're aimed at non-Muslim readers, where certain issues are over-explained for the benefit of non-Muslim readers, or non-Muslim characters who say and do ignorant and racist things get a "redemption" without their issues being acknowledged and tackled properly. However, Jaigirdar's books feel very unapologetically Muslim in that as a Muslim reader I feel like they're written for me, with jokes that I can laugh along with, scenes where non-Muslim characters say and do ignorant things that I can sigh with frustration at and then feel satisfaction at them getting rightfully called out and even small things such as bits of Bengali and Sylheti not being translated and letting readers who don't understand the languages guess the meaning from the context. Just small details like these are really what make this book stand out.

It goes without saying that Jaigirdar's representation of LGBTQ+ Muslims in both The Henna Wars and H&IGtFD is so important, especially so because she handles it so well. Even though it really shouldn't be a novelty, her depiction of Muslim parents who are fully accepting and supportive of their child's sexuality in this book is something that's rarely seen, particularly in YA fiction, and Hani's relationship with her family was one of the highlights of the book for me, alongside Ishu's relationship with her sister (Jaigirdar is really skilled at writing realistic and heart-warming depictions of sibling relationships, I find).

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and Jaigirdar is fast becoming one of my favourite YA authors. Her books definitely deserve more recognition, not just because of the topics they touch on but also because they're genuinely fun, entertaining reads. I really look forward to seeing what new stories the author blesses us with in the future.

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Another fun, light and adorable YA rom-com from adiba jaigirdar which expertly balances being funny while also holding many important conversations. This book is full of a rich Bengali culture which I adored exploring! Our two main characters start a fake dating scenario that will benefit them both but ends up then them falling for each other!! Overall, a very fun and cute read!

Two girls, both brown, both queer, both living in Dublin - but other than this, Hani and Ishu have nothing in common. Hani is a sweet, popular softy, Ishu is all spike and ambition, determined to ace her leaving cert and not caring about friendship or - well, anything else. Unless…

Due to a series of tricky circumstances, Hani and Ishu suddenly need each other and so, the guide to Fake Dating is created. Prepare to fall hard for both Hani & Ishu - the story is a very sweet queer romance, sparkling with joy and compassion for its characters. The Bengali backgrounds of both girls are drawn in all their joy, love, and complexity, and the difficulties of family lives aren't shied away from either.

The girls have very different home lives, and both are explored with love and care for Bengali culture and family life, without feeling preachy or overly sympathetic towards some characters’ harsh decisions. Hani’s Muslim faith, in particular, drew me in, as it’s not often we see a positive portrayal of religion of any sort in literature - maybe that's just what I read, but still! Hani’s relationship with her faith is not without its difficulties but Adiba Jaigirdar does a fantastic job of portraying not only the difficulties but the benefits for Hani, too. Overall, the real win for this novel is that it is hard to imagine better representation than this for brown queer girls living in Ireland today.

Hani and Ishu are wonderful - opposites in many ways, which is why the story works so well. I also loved the teen-ness of it all; Hani and Ishu's worries are the same worries I had ten years ago, albeit with extra layers of race and sexuality concerns. The homophobic and racist microaggressions experienced by both girls are infuriating, and add an extra dimension of conflict to the plot. It mostly works, though when the long-awaited resolution happens, it doesn't quite happen - it's more of a fizzle than a bang.

Hani and Ishu’s Guide To Fake Dating is about two girls without all the answers for the problems in their lives, but who are doing their best. I love a story like that, and ‘Fake Dating’ is ultimately satisfying at the end - props to Jaigirdar for not wrapping things up in an overly perfect bow. Overall a sweet and hopeful story about finding yourself, first love, and community that will warm the hearts of anyone who reads it.

I am utterly in love with this book!
I loved how the characters were written. I think that Hani's friends portray very well the prejudice that a lot of people have towards bengali. This was my first book of the author and it was amazing. It is awesome to read about these cute girls falling in love to each other. Ah I wish I had something like this when I was on highschool.
I will have to pre-order this book, because I want an edition just for me. I need to annotate it and use a lot of post-its.

‘Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating’ is one of the most heart-warming YA queer romances I read this year, so it’s not a surprise I read the whole book in one sitting.

Adiba Jaigirdar’s book follows Hani and Ishu as they navigate school and start fake-dating. For Hani, it’s a way to convince her friends that she is, indeed, bisexual. For Ishu, it’s a chance to become more popular and possibly become a Head Girl. The only problem? There are more things at stake, and real feelings appear.

‘Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating’ it’s a cute and adorable YA romance, but it’s also very real and deals with heavy topics. I love the fact that the author and the publisher chose to include trigger warnings at the beginning of the book, it’s so important. The book handles the topics of biphobia and islamophobia in particular, and there are moments when the narrative is heartbreaking as Hani and Ishu don’t deserve the certain treatment they get when those attitudes come to play. But they are both strong characters, and it’s good to see them finding a way to move forward and leaning on each other.

I would definitely recommend ‘Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating’ to anyone enjoying YA romances.

Sweet young YA romance about Hani and Ishu (two girls who are very different to each other) who enter into an agreement to 'fake date' so that Ishu can get more popularity votes for her Head Girl campaign and Hani can convince her (so called) friends that she is serious about her bisexuality. Hani's toxic friends were toe-cringingly ghastly & I particularly loved the depiction of the positive relationship that she has with her parents. As a parent to teenagers I was taking mental notes!

This was my first Adiba Jaigirdar book and I loved every second of it!
This was diverse exciting and showed the challenges of being a queer Bengali teen. There was drama and family issues that were quite exciting. I liked how Hani finally stood up for herself and how Ishu got her through it.

I didn't really like the character of Ishu but then we got to see a different side of her which made her a well rounded character.

The fake dating aspect was a bit lagging but otherwise this was a great read and I would recommend it!

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the E-arc!

Going in to this one I was expecting a cutesy cliche read about two girls falling in love by accident. Actually it didn't fit in to any of those expectations at all, Im not even sure I would describe it as cute as there are a whole lot of issues and prejudices examined throughout the book. The romance for me becomes overshadowed by all the other stuff going on, and I actually really liked that, even if it was totally different to what I thought I was going in to.

It was actually the friendship that developed between the girls that I really enjoyed, particularly Ishu's gradual realisation that you can be friends with someone who is completely different from you, and plenty of people are worth getting to know. Funnily enough, I actually found Ishu easier to like, considering she's the grumpy, stubborn one of the pair, I'm not sure what that says about me! I found Hani a little more frustrating, as I just wanted her to be able to stand up for herself, and to see how truly awful her so called friends were.

A lot of the book looks at family relationships, and often the differences between Bengali families and a typical white Irish family. This ranges from expectations, religion, and a completely different approach to community. Ishu and her sisters new found friendship was one of the highlights of the book, it was lovely to see them come together. I also really liked how accepting Hani's family were of her sexuality, as so often writers will fall into the trap of writing only negative experiences, which can add to harmful stereotypes.

I particularly liked the way Jaigirdar managed to inject a lot about how society would typically treat these two girls, without centring the entire narrative around it. From the way the school reacts to an accusation of cheating, to the homophobic attitudes that Hani experiences from the group of people you would most expect to be supportive of her, there are so many challenges facing both the girls. Most of it will make your blood boil, and there are some characters in particular that I absolutely loathed as they represent everything wrong with society.

A great read, which has adorable elements as well as more serious. Definitely worth a read!

When her friends question her bisexuality, in a panicked state, Hani Khan tells them she is dating someone: overachiever Ishu Dey who is the complete opposite of Hani. But Ishu agrees to help on the condition that Hani would help her become Head Girl in hopes of convincing her parents she will not become like her sister. The guide made and rules set down; all they need to do is last a couple of weeks. As the weeks go on, Ishu can’t understand why Hani allows her friends to mistreat her. Hani can’t understand why Ishu won’t trust her older sister. But when they really start falling for each other, things get messy, and rules are broken.

I was not the biggest fan of Jaigirdar’s The Henna Wars, so I went into Hani and Ishu’s story quite hesitant, but I can definitely say my expectations exceeded a lot. Jaigirdar has improved a lot, and it shows in Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating because this was such an adorable read!

Hani and Ishu take the fake dating trope and gives it a fun, refreshing (and desi) twist. Despite being out to her parents, her friends give her trouble when Hani decides to finally come out as bisexual to them. She already struggles to explain her religious and cultural background to them, so they aren’t too supportive when it comes to her sexuality. There she decides to blurt out that Ishu Dey is her girlfriend. Coming from similar backgrounds (They are both desi, Hani is Bangladeshi, and Ishu is Indian), Hani soon convinces them it’s real; now she just needs Ishu to get on board. Ishu Dey is top in her classes, low on the social pecking order. When her sister returns home and shatters their parent’s expectations, she is desperate to not look like a failure under their eyes. And dating Hani gives her the attention she needs to boost her social standing.

I loved how wholesome this story was. Hani and Ishu are trainwrecks in the best way possible. They appear incompatible, but Hani helps Ishu open up in ways that she never thought was possible after spending some time together. Even telling her why she feels like the need to compete with her older sister. Ishu opens Hani’s eyes to the way she’s been mistreated by her friends and begins to make her realise that she doesn’t need to hide parts of herself, her religion and culture because they chose to not listen. Her friends will frustrate, but it’s so natural for a lot of young Muslim teens.

Overall, Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating was a fantastic read. So wholesome and highly entertaining! A story of two girls discovering themselves and becoming more comfortable in their own skin. A great quick read for young teen readers!