I wanted fantasy and although I don’t mind a relationship type book, I kept thinking but where is the fantasy… Expectations vs reality, from the blurb, I simply expected something completely different.

dnf on page 44
<spoiler> racism, slur against Sinti and Roma, mansplaining, misogyny, being orphaned </spoiler>

Two women, two sisters, are in love with the same guy. One of them might make their parents happy by finally marrying, but who will it be?

I did not get on with this book at all. It starts off with a family meeting, and I just have no patience atm for parents trying to pressure their children to do something, especially something as big as going into a certain career or whom to marry. Or marry at all.
I understand that this is set over 20 years ago, and in another culture, and that we're not meant to have fun with this family meeting. It's just not what I want to read, but I could have ignored that.

My main problem is the writing style which consists of the authors telling you everything. Even in the middle of the conversation, there are more thought from the first person narrator than there is dialogue, which I see as bad writing. I waited if it was going to stop, but it kept annoying me.

The love interest gives me the vibe that this book started by having some ideas, collecting more ideas, and then having to bring them together to a coherent plot.

Then we get to one of the sister's best friend. She's a professional dancer, and to show how quirky and creative and open she is, her best friend is gay. And not only is he gay, his first words are very woe is me, if I were hetero we could just marry and solve all our problems.
We could have sex in the restaurant. Right now. Here. On the table.

This is the worst way ever to introduce a gay character and I'm out.
The arc was provided by the publisher.

I had a lot of fun in reading this entertaining and engrossing story of sibling rivalry and magic.
The plot is full of humor the descriptions of the British Pakistani community are interesting and made me learn something new.
The characters are well developed and likeable. The fantasy part plays a minor part in this book but I appreciated the world building.
I can't wait to read the next book in this series.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Clever, funny and self deprecating, this book also offers an insight into life as a modern woman in a traditional family. The relationships and dialogue are first class and I literally laughed out loud at some of the descriptions and conversations.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Undying by Ambreen Hameed and Uzma Hameed is a tale of sibling rivalry and magic set in South London in 1998. The story revolves around two British Pakistani sisters - Sufya and Zarina Malik - who are falling for the same man. Heathrow is a single Muslim man who was childhood playmates with both sisters. When Zarina gets jealous, she turns in magic involving djinns to get Heathrow for herself. The story alternates first-person POV chapters between Sufya and Zarina. At its core, this novel is about family dynamics in an exotic setting.

Here is a humorous excerpt from one of the opening chapters, which recounts a conversation between the two sisters:

"'And you won't believe who our delightful cousin has brought with her, supposedly as an attempt o find me a husband...'
'Who?'
'Only hairy Asif! And worse still, he's been on a jaunt to Pakistan and come back as a fundie with a hideous jutting beard!'
I cringed inwardly...
Coincidences happen to most people, but something so branded with the mocking grin of fate could only happen to Zarina. For her, such events were unsurprising, only serving to confirm the ill-fortune that she considered to be her portion of the sibling cake. And of course, it would have to happen on the day when I, her sister, always the lucky one, was to be reunited with the romantic icon of my teenage years, now a famous and eligible film-maker."

Overall, Undying is a great #ownvoices novel written by authors of color, and I was so happy to get approved to review this ARC so that I can support it. Unfortunately, I went into this novel expecting fantasy like A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark, and that's not what this book is. The djinn doesn't appear until halfway through the book. This book is a relationship drama first and the fantasy elements come second. I took off one star for this reason. I took off another star because there was a lot of Muslim/Urdu lingo that I did not understand. I expected there to be some, but there were a lot of parts that I didn't understand. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of relationship dramas by #ownvoices authors, you can check out this book, which was published in January of this year!