Thank you for the chance to read this book, it was such a joy to read to was funny, emotional, relatable I felt like I wanted to be friends with the main character. Will be looking out for my books from this author.

It great to see both a British based rom com and an own voices debut exploring Bengali Muslim culture.

The premise is a great one, a year to find a husband or an arranged marriage it is - and all the pressure that goes with that. External and internal pressures do make you empathise with main character Zara’s internal conflict.

Firstly, I will admit to being a little triggered by this book so that definitely affected my enjoyment slightly. As someone who is involuntarily childless all the talk of dried up eggs definitely cut deep but sadly it reflects the way that slightly older women on the dating scene can be seen by themselves or others - and that needs to start changing.

That is definitely not a reason to settle for anyone though and this is what this book explores. Is it a case of pitching Mr Perfect against Mr Perfectly Fine though - No. But when no one is Mr Perfect and you’ve been hurt before how do you know how much to compromise? Is safety and security enough, does attraction need to come into it at all?

I have to admit to feeling a bit sorry for the male characters at times - shocker and I do slightly wish she had had a little more agency in the eventful conclusion of the story.

However the writing and culture depicted was vibrant and its great to see some familiar locations featured for once.

Fun rom com romp!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me access this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

A quick and easy read that I found myself picking up after a long day to unwind. The characters are beautifully written and I came to love them within the first few pages and was rooting for them all the way to the end. At times I wanted to stop reading because I just wanted the experience to go on for longer.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Zara is trying to find a husband to stop her mother matchmaking her. She needs to try and meet someone before she is 30, but will it be Mr Perfect or Mr Perfectly fine that she ends up with?
I was not a fan of the ending - more of an epilogue would have been nice.

The lead character Zara is the epitome of the British Muslim woman in a working world with a comfortable job. I applaud the author for entering the sphere of representation here as I know it’s difficult to please everyone. I enjoyed the premise of the character however I felt she could have been fleshed out a bit more to provide her with a bit more substance beyond her quest for romance and love.

I found the style of writing engaging but felt as if some of the inner monologues could have been shorter.

The romance aspect was good, it was enjoyable to read. It just felt as if there was too much going on.

I really enjoyed this book and read it very quickly. It had everything romance, laughter and I found it a bit sad.

Zara has just turned 29 and her Mother has decided if she is not married by the time she is 30 she will put her on a plane to where the family originally came from to find a husband there. We see how Zara goes through the next few months to try and find a husband. Her workmate Adam she finds him immature but over the months he seems to get closer to her.

I thought the characters in the book were very good the only thing I did find disappointing was the ending thought it might have ended differently.

I would certainly recommend this book and is a feel good read.

On Zara’s 29th birthday, her mum makes it clear if she isn’t engaged by her 30th birthday then she’s being sent to Bangladesh for an arranged marriage. Her mother sets Zara to work on creating a marriage CV.

However, Zara has no intention of leaving this to her family and takes matters into her own hands by subscribing to a dating app. Will Zara find a partner before she turns 30? Will she find the love of her life or settle for ‘Mr fine’.

I enjoyed this, it was an easy rom com read and refreshing to focus on Bangladeshi culture. There were chapters I felt were lengthy and I skimmed pages. I also didn’t believe Zara to be the naive about Adams feelings. I also didn’t like the ending without giving anything away.
The ending was perfectly acceptable just not what I hoped for. A great holiday read!

Zara's 29 and she decides to put all her energies into finding a husband before she turns 30, fearful her mum will select one for her. Mum's on the case already, enlisting the world of the scary aunties we know so well from so many other novels, and sharing biodata sheets, while Zara embarks upon the world of apps and matchmaking events disguised as networking events and the like. Or maybe she'll just meet someone in the run of her ordinary life ...

Zara soon meets Hamza, a kind and jolly Egyptian man who shares many of her values, the poor man being questioned several times on all sorts of details. There's just one problem: there's not that spark. He's also a bit controlling, although this seems to be put in to give more reason to not like him than as a real red flag, which I found a bit confusing. Then there's an annoying man who rubs her up the wrong way - there IS a spark, but he's totally unsuitable. As an undertone to all of this we have the horrible way her last relationship went, and a lot of unpleasant misogyny from various prospective suitors, ranging from insult to assault.

Zara's from a Bengali background and from this comes something I don't think I've seen in other books about young Muslim women: she doesn't date or hang out with non-Muslim or White guys, but she does interact with an Egyptian and a Turkish Muslim and in both cases encounters the differences in their cultures and how they practise their mutual religion: this is really interesting and the best part of the book for me where they negotiate their differences and similarities (there's a very sweet bit where an Arabic family choose a Pakistani restaurant for the Bangladeshi family and can't cope with the spices).

Something I found a bit tricky, and it looks like Muslim / Bengali reviewers on NetGalley have found this, too, is the over-explaining, which makes it feel like the book's written - or has been tweaked - for a White/non-Muslim readership. Yet the author explains in her Afterword that she wanted to write the book giving her representation that she wasn't able to find herself in her extensive novel-reading. Bengali words are passed over without comment or loosely translated, the names of the five prayers are parsed, which is kind of understandable, but then at one point we have an explanation of what Ramadan is, which surely I would be expected to know or at least look up. I know this is probably in an aim of being accessible and getting a wider readership, but from reading blogs by Black and South Asian readers I'm aware that over-explanation can alienate them, and as a White, non-Muslim reader who does read quite diversely, I'll admit, it distracts me out of the story, too.

A shame, as this was an attractive and well-done novel. I liked Zara's sisters and friends and her feisty mum, and where others have disliked the ending, I thought it was believable and loved Zara's growth in confidence and self-worth. I'll definitely look out for more by this author.

review out 16 July https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2022/07/16/book-review-tasneem-abdur-rashid-finding-mr-perfectly-fine/

I am still mad at the ending of this book and was on the verge of giving the book 2 stars just for that ending.

I found it a bit weird that swear words were censored like just don't use them if you do not want to type them.

The plot of the book was quite good and relatable. As a south Asian woman coming up to my 30s I understand the pressure of society to get married so I was actually interested in Zara's story of choosing Mr. perfectly fine or someone who she might love. This is why I was torn over my annoyance for Zara leading the men on in the book but also I understood why she did it. Ultimately as south Asian's we want to choose the person our parents would approve of and I felt like that is what Zara ultimately was trying to find rather than her own happiness. It did confuse me though how Zara's Mr. perfectly fine (Hamza) was everything she wanted yet she felt no attractiveness to him. Just personally, if someone matches all my criteria then I would for sure feel somewhat attracted to them but maybe it isn't for everyone. In addition, Hamza had his faults but it was like Zara didn't realise the flaws and if his flaws had been used to justify her unattractiveness I would have been on her side but she never comments on his controllingness, how he put her in awkward situations without her consent or knowledge and how he basically ghosted her for ages. If the author has made Zara not like him for that I could understand but she didn't and that was a let down. I enjoyed Adam in the book and found his relationship with Zara to be cute but it felt more like crush/lust rather than I want to be and marry this man. So personally I couldn't root for any of the two men.

But the reason I am so mad at this book is the ending. This is nearly a 500 page book of a reeeeeally slow burn romance and I read all of it for that final page! I demand closure! I was not happy. I need to know what happens next for Zara and I don't mean I need a whole book but for once I wanted an epilogue time skip to find out what happens and we don't get that. It was so unsatisfying as an ending that I was like I don't think I can read for a few days now cause I am like wow.

The plot is decent albeit slow and I think it does a decent representation of modern south asian culture with a slight bit of whitewashing which makes sense as it is set in modern British south asian society and that is being integrated into our culture.

I would recommend the book but warn that the ending is so infuriating (or was for me)!

Such a lovely, quick, and heartwarming read. I loved Zara, and all the characters’ developments. The writing style was easy and fluid, and the storytelling with light and kept you hooked. This book gave you great insight into arranged marriages and cultural appreciation, all the while, balancing a little humour into the story. I just wish Zara got her happy ending.

3⭐️ A funny, banter filled must-find-a-husband-before-I-turn-thirty rom com that also explored an array of issues.

Happy Release day to Finding Mr Perfectly Fine! 📖

Thank you to Netgalley and Bonnier Books for an eARC in return for an honest review.

This was a funny rom com full of banter that also tackled some tough issues including culture, religion, cultural/religious identities and pressures and previous sexual assault. When I was reading it, the way it was narrated and the need to find a husband before turning 30 and becoming a spinster forever did give me Bridget Jones but make her Bengali vibes and overall it was a fun read

I really enjoyed all the different cultural aspects described, discussed and included in this book. I learnt things about Islam that I hadn’t previously known as well as about Bengali, Egyptian and Turkish culture which was something I enjoyed reading about. This book did also focus a lot on self-love and discovery which was really nice and Zara did noticeable change throughout the narrative to reflect this.

I found this difficult to rate it started off with me feeling a bit unsure but by the time I was halfway through I was pretty hooked and needed to just keep reading. At this point it looked like it was going to be a 4 ⭐️ but unfortunately the abrupt and open ending was disappointing for me and didn’t feel right which is why it went down to 3⭐️. The ending felt rushed which was such a shame and I was so shocked when i turned the page to see ‘epilogue’ and realised this book wasn’t going to have the closure or i’d expected and it seems as though this is a standalone as well so i’m not sure i’ll get that satisfaction. I think I can see what the author was intending to do, leaning into the self love and self discovery elements but it didn’t work for me. ☹️

I am always looking for Muslim rep and I feel its quite hard to do. You are either too strict or too modern and you can't make everyone happy, however I felt this represented me TO THE T.

I was highlightinf sections and sending it to my sister's, laughing at the inside jokes, picking up all the funny things that our families do, it was just brilliant in that sense.

Then you get the plot itself and I loved it. Its relevant, it's a plot that we don't get a lot in this community (just carefree, fun!) and I am here for it!!! I was Hooked. I didnt want it to end.

Speaking of the ending EXCUSE ME. Book 2???????

LOVED the writing the most, I will now read anything by this author!

This one is a bit tricky to review. On the one hand, I was incredibly excited about the Muslim rep - especially as we don't see enough Muslim romance. I do think this could've used a sensitive read or two, however. It's a shame that the depiction feels very whitewashed and Westernised (the casual drinking and smoking, for example). It makes sense that the MC is trying to 'find herself' but it doesn't seem like she gets anywhere by the end. However, appreciate this was an early PDF and might've since had work done.

There's a lot of hilarious moments in this story but there's also the pressure and the possibility of an arranged marriage.
It's well plotted story that talks about a contemporary woman and how she tries to find happiness and not be forced to marry someone she never met.
The author is a talented storyteller, I loved the characters, and the tightly knitted plot kept me hooked.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Finding Mr Perfectly Fine was Perfectly Fine, until the traditional romance genre trope of a 3rd Act Conflict - or Tragic Misunderstanding - ruined it all. The story was muddling along nicely as one might expect from a romance novel, the characters were engaging enough and fairly well defined. Zara was a bit annoying in her indecisiveness but she's a protagonist of a romance novel, it's not her fault. It was pretty clear to me that she was going to end up with Adam by the end and we were trucking along until it got to that.

Until. Until she didn't talk to him and just assumed things. Until he didn't talk to her and just assumed things. Until she wasn't up-front with Hamza, lying to him over and over. Until breaking Hamza's heart.

Until. Until she ended the book by talking about how she's a strong independent woman that doesn't need a man to make her happy. Well done for finding that out after completely messing with two perfectly lovely guys. This book bills itself as a journey of self-discovery but I don't think it is. You don't flip-flop between two guys making decisions you're not happy with appeasing your mother and breaking people's hearts and then when you're thoroughly dumped say "I know more about myself now." Well, I suppose you can, but it makes you an arsehole, not an inspiration.

I really enjoyed this book, it zipped along and was great to read a book where the protagonist was in a different marriage culture than me; her family was great, funny and frustrating – the universal feeling; and I loved the ending.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a breath of fresh air. I love reading about different cultures and ethnic backgrounds. This is quite a funny book as in she joins a Muslim dating app in the hopes of finding someone to date to make her mum happy.

I didn't have high expectations of this book because there are lots of books out there on young Muslim women which never hit the mark but was pleasantly surprised about this one. The plot was entertaining and felt realistic and authentic to the British Bengali Muslim experience. The main character Zara was endearing although at times it felt that her life was just one cringe-worthy moment after another and we had less chance to see her value for the successful woman that she actually is. However, this was early on and later we did manage to see Zara outside of all these embarrassing situations.
I think the main storyline around her marriage search was also really engrossing and her struggles to decide were also portrayed in a very real manner. I would have liked more exploration into Hamza's controlling behaviour because it felt like that was never really resolved (unless you count the ending as the resolution!).
Overall, a fun and entertaining read which provides a relatable story encompassing the struggles of finding "The One" which stretches beyond Zara's identity and community.

What a joyous cozy read. A story that showcases the realities of Morden day dating and the effects it can have on different people and on people from different majorities. If found parts of the book to be relatable but written in a humorous way at times. If you’re looking for a easy read romance book, this is the book for you.