Ayesha At Last

Completely charming, with a cast of sweet and funny characters, and a message about not judging other's actions - I just loved it!

Khalid is adorable, kind and honest and trying his best to make his mother happy even though he starts to have doubts about her approach to life and her restrictive views on how to be a Muslim. Ayehsa is intelligent and caring - her family allow her more freedom but she isn't sure what she wants to do with it.

When Ayesah and Khalid meet at the Bella lounge, Ayesha thinks Khalid is stuffy and Khalid thinks Ayesa is the "wrong" sort of Muslim. But neither of them can deny their attraction to each other.

Add to this a meddling mother, a Shakespeare quoting grandparent, a selfish young cousin, a banished sister and a best friend with her own romantic troubles and the stage is set for a funny and charming tale.

It's based on Pride and Prejudice - I've never read that so I can't say how faithful an adaptation it is but I have read Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (hated it), and there are a few things I can recognise from that story!

There's a very strong message in this story about not judging others or assuming things about them, and about how there is more than one way to be a good person. Ayesha and Khalid spent a good part of the book with the wrong ideas about each other - they have to see past their pride and their prejudice and learn to stop judging so harshly.

It stays light-hearted and fresh though - the characters are charming and well developed and the plot rollicks along at a fast pace that I just couldn't stop reading. I very much enjoyed it and it's hard to believe this is the author's debut novel. I hope she writes a lot more!

A heartwarming read that I couldn't put down, I highly recommend this.

I really loved this book. It was sweet, romantic and funny, and a great addition to the Pride and Prejudice retelling pantheon.
What I really liked about this book was that it was dual perspective. Often in Pride and Prejudice books, or modern love stories like this, we often only get the woman’s perspective on the story. With Ayesha at Last, we got to know both characters, their backstories, why they are they are the way they are and how they can make each other’s lives better. It made for a delicious reading experience because as a reader, you’re privy to both their thoughts, so you know that they’re falling for each other, even though they don’t.

I also I thought that Khalid was a very interesting take on Mr Darcy. He’s not necessarily stoic, but he is very loyal and dutiful, and many of his struggles are external, and to do with the prejudice of others and how he is perceived. This author did a great job of incorporating a story into a Muslim community in Toronto. I really enjoyed it.

"Ayesha At Last" is a charming and sweet romantic story based on "Pride and Prejudice" with Muslim main characters - hurray to diverse representation! .

Ayesha is a single modern hijabi who has just started her career a teacher, despite dreaming of becoming a poet. She has no time nor the inclination to search for a husband, despite being surrounded by well meaning aunties and a large family, who are all excited by her pretty cousin Hafsa receiving tonnes of marriage proposals. Then Ayesha meets Khalid - a conservative and religious young man, who believes that his mother will find him a suitable bride. They seem like a such an unsuitable couple, so how can Khalid/Darcy and Ayesha/Lizzie find love and happiness?

This is a funny and light romantic comedy which shows that some of Austen's truths are still valid in the modern world There is prejudice, misunderstandings, drama and romance, and yummy food as well. There are no kisses or sex scenes but somehow there is tension and love and some very sweet moments between the main characters. Some of the secondary characters might not be as villainous as I would have liked it, but I enjoyed guessing who was supposed to be whom in the story.

There was also a very current discussion on Islamophobia and discrimination at work in the book, as well as discussion on arranged marriages, which provided an interesting social commentary. Altogether, a lovely story with diverse main characters and a warm fuzzy happy ending.

The ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.