The MC in this books decides one day that she just fancies marrying rich and leaving academia behind. So she goes about it in the best way she knows how... data.

Unfortunately I did not finish this book, I stopped at 22%. I didn't get on with the writing style which was very verbose.

I think this book would be for you if you have struggled through a career in academia, there's probably a lot of relatability there! Or if you live in LA.

I didn't get on with this at all and found it really difficult to finish. The author uses incredibly dense imagery to say nothing: it's like she's trying to cram a social observation into every sentence, but none of them felt unique or fleshed-out (eg 'After a plate of kanpachi crudo, plus fries and a bread basket; after another up-and-down to check he hadn't misjudged my waist size; after the immense relief of a trip to the bathroom; and after the closing of the tabs-mine as light as the foam on that first sour, which through the sparkly tulle of my intoxication now seemed so far away-we left'). Her tab is as light as the foam on her drink? What does this add in a sentence this long?

I think this is just a matter of preference and style: clearly this isn't for me, but I'm sure it will find its readership.

Sounds extremely attractive on paper, but ultimately it wasn't the book for me. I think it's more a stylistic and tonal issue, most likely. I couldn't get through the entire text. Can't possibly rate this one but leaving it as a 2-star only because there I can't give it a zero.

3.5/4

A book of two halves for me.

The narrator of Liquid is a young LA-based, Iranian/Indian academic who finds herself, after years of study and academic success, without a job, running out of money and her rent due.

Friend, Adam, is full of helpful hints but little else as his own on again/off again relationship implodes once more. So the academic (unnamed throughout) decides the only way out of poverty is to marry rich and so decides on having 100 dates to achieve her aim.

Unfortunately before she can find Mr Right a tragedy forces her back to Tehran where the consequences force her to rethink her whole strategy.

I'm afraid the thing that drew me to this novel, ie the idea of taking a dispassionate view of love in order to land the perfect mate, was the part I found least interesting. I realise that the protagonist is an academic but parts of the first half of the novel felt like I was reading a dull dissertation.

For me, the novel only came alive when she finds herself in Tehran where she reconnects with her heritage and begins to understand her father's homeland and people more.

I realise the juxtaposition may be deliberate but I almost stopped reading until I got to the second half. I'm very glad I didn't because it saved the book for me. The end itself was a little predictable but none the worse for that.

An interesting novel and I'd recommend it to anyone interested in different cultures. I'd definitely be interested in any future novels by Mariam Rahmani.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Random House for the advance review copy.

Liquid explores the complex loves we have with figures in our lives; parental, friendly, romantic and self love. Each exploration demonstrates how different loves exhibit in a variety of ways, many of which we may never realise until it is much later down the line, and may never get to let the other person know that we finally see the love they have for each other.

There are some moments where I feel it is assumed every reader would know and understand what some of the cultural references are - this did lead to some web searches on my behalf. Having said this, the respect shown to the different cultures explored in this novel, reads like a love story itself....maybe this is the message behind the book that some people may have missed upon their reading and understanding of the novel.

There are some pockets of really great writing in Liquid, but in some areas I wish Rahmani had taken their exploration even further to allow me to connect with some characters on a more deeper level.

Overall, this was a pleasant read and would absolutely recommend it to others. Thank you to the publishers for a advanced copy of Liquid.

This book was not as I expected it to be, but I really enjoyed it regardless. Beautuifully lyrical, poignant, and humurous in parts. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance reader copy

this book was sharp and intelligent but also soft and vulnerable. alot like our main character. we follow her journey( and i mean in the proper sense not the way its currently "used") shes not a perfect character. but she is real. and reading her story felt so. it was light and shade in all the right place. it was about grief and growing. it was about what we think we want and what we think we need. and how that changes. and also how it is often forged out of a society that isnt really always out to help us in our best interests. so when you are brave. when you really become your own, wow then freedom can truly come. and so might happines?
the main character at first starts off thinking she knows the answer to happiness. or to coping with life at least is to marry rich. and so she dates and dates and dates to do so. but all is not well in the people she meets. and you could say this is because she isnt ACTUALLY going after what she wants or needs. not really. not for the true safety and happiness of life. she also has a few other complexities in life to deal with. not least with her mother.
then when her tragedy occurs she finds herself off to a different place and different culture altogether. meeting all new ways of life and characters but also something that was perhaps there all along. the complete swing change in the book is completely realistic. because what happens to her father was showed brilliantly by that swing in the book. a heart attack does that. it implodes and changes and moves everything you do and think forever. life is so full of fear, angst, changes and compromise. its heart breaking but also brings a huge realization of love and who you are. or certainly bring clarity. it also brings such strength in the relationship that stay with you or walk alongside you as you manage.
the character doesnt come to some newness. she isnt a different happy ending change or person. and why should she be. but she might have more about her that gives her the answers she does need. the answers she can give herself. and a calmness that comes from going something saw raw and life bending that suddenly things do and dont fall into place. and for not at least that is all you could wish for. a settling after such traumatic and heart aching times.
i appreciated this book for its honesty. its was life in all its shades. and though i can exactly relate to some of the subject matter or personal issues she faces. i could relate to so much of it. for simply being human.

The teller of this story is a young woman born in America with an Iranian father and Indian mother. She has a PHD which she thought would lead to further opportunities but two years on, she’s barely scraping together a living from teaching and she is single with no romantic prospects. She decides on a new plan…to marry rich. Her internet dating has varied success and she doesn’t make much progress with her plan. But when her father gets sick, she goes back to his homeland and ends up looking afresh at her life.

The above may make this book sound like a run of the mill chick lit but it definitely didn’t feel like it. There is a lot covered, from racism, to poverty, to family relationships and friendships. I really appreciated a couple of things about the book. Firstly, that the author didn’t treat the readers as stupid (i.e. they didn’t feel the need to explain theories and ideas). It did mean I had to concentrate quite hard at times but that’s not a bad thing. Secondly, I appreciated the LGBTQ+ aspects of the story being included but as if it was normal (which is how it should be in real life!).

But at times I still struggled to connect with the characters enough to feel emotion when the big moments in the book happened. And at times the story felt a bit disjointed with the style the narrator used to tell the story.

But overall I did enjoy the book and would give it 3.5/5 if I could! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

I’ll admit that for the first few chapters, I wasn’t particularly taken with this book. I actually considered DNFing quite early on, but I stuck with it and it more than redeemed itself!

The book is split into two parts, one set in the USA and one in Iran. While the latter was much more compelling, the set-up of the first half was necessary to get there. In the first half we meet the main character and her mother (my personal favourite character), and we’re introduced to their complex relationship. The tone is fairly light-hearted, with witty observations about class, money, academia, and romance.

The tone is very different in the second half. Much like in real life, when something terrible happens, everything changes. It was very jarring but I think it was to good effect, and took the story on a sharp turn from the trajectory it had been on.

The final few chapters were the crowning glory, as the main character deals with grief, the fallout of her bereavement and inheritance, and starts to rebuild her life. The way Mariam Rahmani managed to bring all of the themes from the first half into those final chapters for the perfect full circle was masterful, and turned this from a good book into a great book.

I went into this book not really knowing what to expect, and I’m so glad I stuck with it. What started as a romcom-style story became a brilliantly observational slice-of-life story, and I absolutely loved it.

I received a free copy for an honest review.

Liquid tells the story of a young Muslim scholar, who decides to give up her failing career in academia and marry rich, planning to go on 100 dates in one summer. It’s told through meandering prose, reflecting on the problematic parts of academia, alongside growing up as a Muslim in the US. There was a lot of insightful commentary which I found really interesting and I enjoyed how this explored themes such as family and relationships.

However, this was definitely more vibes than plot, which I sometimes love, but it didn’t really work for me this time. I wanted something with a bit more bite and unfortunately the narrator wasn’t enough to keep me engaged. If you’re looking for something very literary and introspective this might be for you though!

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted copy 😊

I'm really on the fence about how I feel about this book. I enjoyed the first 50 pages or so but then found it to be quite dull after that. It's not really what it is marketed as and I don't know if it had been marketed correctly that would change my rating, but I just feel quite let down and underwhelmed. Honestly, the writing is really good but the execution of the plot falls flat.

I can't quite make my mind up if this is a super-clever novel, or one that is a bit confused. I'd like to think for former. In two distinct parts, the first is funny, contemporary, modern: girl wants love, goes looking, type of thing. It's funny, wry, has promise. The second is an entirely different style, doused in grief and an entirely different reading experience. I'm taking the title as a clue to the 'liquidity' of the narrative, and 'a love story' as a sardonic comment on relationships today. I might be wrong. My thanks to NetGalley and to the publishers for the ARC.

This was quite an interesting book with the protagonist searching for love and meaning in her life post PhD and trying to find it mainly through a series of blind dates. However, I found the author's writing style quite annoying and pretentious at times.
Thank you to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book

I picked this up on a whim and am not sorry, even though it's a romance (it's in the title so I can't say I wasn't warned).

I feel like I was being pandered to with all the lit crit references, and I'm not even mad about it - I loved that. Theory with a capital T, indeed.

The comps are all too easy - if you like Elif Shafak, you'll like this, I think. I do, and I did.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. I am grateful to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy.

*Liquid* is a hybrid of two distinct narratives—one exploring romantic love and the other grief and connection. The first half reminded me of novels like Nicola Dinan’s 'Bellies', while the second evoked 'Enter Ghost' by Isabella Hammad. However, the book often feels disjointed, and the main character comes across as pretentious and unlikeable which can be an interesting perspective in this kind of story. She navigates a transitional period in her life, using dating as an anchor to reality and others.

While the novel touches on compelling themes—diaspora, identity, religion, family, and love—it struggles to shape them into a cohesive story with a consistent tone and structure. Though I enjoyed parts of the reading experience, I found the protagonist’s pervasive disdain for others unnecessary and off-putting.

It was fun and interesting at times, I loved some of the more reflective parts and the way in which translation and language is used through the book. I think this one will work for those who love romantic comedies with a LGTBQ twist. The section in Tehran is quite compelling as well.

Well written, witty and sharp, I didn't really relate to the main character but I loved the parts in Teheran which were more mellow.

I would challenge that this book is a romantic comedy, as honestly I am struggling to comprehend that from the initial synopsis after finishing the story. Yes there are some moments that could be considered witty but really it just came across pretentious and a heavy eye roll from me followed!

There is no love story or romance here, our main character is the narrator they decide to go on 100 dates to be able to find the person to marry, ideally rich. There are two parts to the story the first part is around the journey for some of the said dates, including a snap shot of an excellent spreadsheet which was eye opening! Part two is a change of pace which is welcomed but much more focused on the developing story of her very unwell father back in Tehran. This is quite a drastic change but I generally felt most of the characters were quite unlikable, shallow and to say it again pretentious.

The ending was rather predictable and I generally struggled with the story and the characters. If you enjoy some general rhetoric LA literacy that really is for you a literacy critic dream perhaps! Thank for the opportunity to read and I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author. It is well written but unfortunately I cannot say I enjoyed. I would advise make your own opinion when the book is released on the 1st May.

Liquid is a novel about a recently graduated woman with a PhD deciding to marry for money, only for life to take her in a different direction. The unnamed narrator is getting nowhere in the academic job market so when her best friend Adam suggests she marry for money, she takes it as a plan, trying to date a range of people in L.A. in the hope of finding a more financially viable life than writing a course outline for a course on romcoms she'll be rejected from teaching. When unexpected news takes her to Tehran to deal with a family emergency, her plan goes on hold, but maybe the stability she was looking for was something else entirely.

This book is something of a literary fiction romcom, with disjointed parts that come together to make it that overall hybrid. The first half sets up a romcom of academia, with the desperation of an out of work PhD graduate trying to find someone to marry, and then the second half is more of a literary style exploration of someone looking for self in a country they feel a complicated connection to, whilst dealing with family tragedy. One of the most potentially divisive things about the book is that the ending returns to the romcom, without really dealing with much the narrator has faced or avoided.

The main unifying factor across the parts, other than the narrator herself and her position as a Muslim American in the US and Iran, is an ongoing thread around the concept of inheriting houses, which could've been delved into even further alongside bits of commentary around independent wealth being needed for art (and, by extension though its not as explicit discussed in the narrative, academia). There's a lot around class and race and gender in the book, sometimes with space to be explored and sometimes not so much. For example, due to the fast-paced, at times confusing tone of the first half, there's not much depth to the narrator as a queer Muslim woman dating a wide range of people in L.A. so it feels more like half-thought out bits of a montage in a romcom film than something with more depth. The second half is slower and has more space for introspection, and I found it more enjoyable to read, but it also very predictably set up where the book was going in a way that wasn't subverted at all.

This is the sort of book that plays with a lot of ideas and two distinct styles of novel, and in doing so probably makes a book that isn't entirely satisfying to either people looking for the romcom or the literary fiction search for purpose. At times it feels written entirely for people who've got humanities PhDs from the US, but then I guess many campus novels do, and at times this feels like a campus novel without a campus and the tragedy of not having one and having to find something else to do. On reflection, the book is clever, but sometimes at the expense of it being enjoyable to read, and I wish the romcom ending had enough space to be interesting and not just predictable.

A sharp, witty and thought-provoking exploration of love, identity and the contradictions of modern life.

In Liquid, A Love Story, the unnamed Iranian-Indian American narrator is a PhD graduate who prides herself on being the smartest person in the room. After earning her degree from UCLA, she feels no closer to the middle-class comfort she expected from her education or the successes of her immigrant parents. Instead, she’s stuck in a place between expectations and reality. When her best friend, Adam, jokingly suggests that she marry rich, the narrator takes the idea to heart, creating a spreadsheet to track 100 dates with potential suitors and aiming for a marriage proposal by the start of the fall semester.

The summer that follows is a whirlwind of quirky dates with a variety of potential partners, each more bizarre than the last. From martinis with the heir to a construction empire to board games with a wealthy producer, the narrator navigates the absurdities of dating in a way that is both humourous and deeply revealing. Yet, as she embarks on her quest, doubts begin to surface, and the real work of introspection begins.

The first half of the book is filled with vibrant descriptions and cultural analysis as the narrator reflects on her upbringing, her friendships, and the media that shaped her understanding of love. Living in Los Angeles as a half-Iranian woman, the city becomes a character in its own right, with recognisable streets and landmarks that anyone familiar with the area will appreciate.

However, the tone shifts dramatically when a tragedy in Tehran forces the narrator to return home to care for her father. This section of the book is poignant and beautifully written, as the narrator reevaluates her relationship with love, money, family, and her own identity.

Liquid is a compelling mix of humour, cultural insight, and emotional depth. Rahmani's portrayal of academia, the search for love, and the complexities of immigrant life are both relatable and poignant. This is a book about contradictions—the contradictions of modern relationships, personal expectations, and the journey to understanding oneself. It’s an engaging read for anyone interested in exploring the intersection of love, identity, and the pressures of modern life.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.