Yes no maybe so – A book review

Yes no maybe so – A book review

review | 20 comments

What turns a book good to great? I would love reading a predictable story if it has awesome, well developed characters. Is that what happened with Yes no maybe so? I am not hinting anything! Read on to find out more.

What turns a book good to great? I would love reading a predictable story if it has awesome, well developed characters. Is that what happened with Yes no maybe so? I am not hinting anything! Read on to find out more. Click To Tweet

About the book

YES NO MAYBE so cover

Book Name: Yes no maybe so

Author: Becky Albertalli, Aisha Saeed

Genre: Fiction – Romance

Characters: Jamie and Sophie Goldberg, Maya Rehman, Sara, Gabe.

Setting: Atlanta, Georgia, The United States of America

The plot

Jamie is a shy, awkward teen who wants to do everything in his might to help his favorite congressman win. He has aspirations to be a politician himself one day, if he can survive his toast at his sister’s bat mitzvah. To make things worse, his mom is pushing him to try out door to door canvassing.

Maya is a Pakistani-American Muslim who is not having the best summer. Her parents are splitting up and her best friend is moving away and has been too busy to hang out lately. When her parents offer to buy her a car in return for canvassing for Rossum, she is not thrilled. 

By luck and their mothers’ will, Jamie and Maya begin their canvassing with different goals in their mind. But a bill that was passed recently targeting Muslims and anti Semitic against Rossum’s supporters get them both rallied up.

Will the slow burn chemistry between them derail them from their political campaigns? Or is it the opposite? You might have to read Yes no maybe so to know more. 

My initial thoughts

Yes no maybe so is a cute YA contemporary romance with a liberal dose of politics. It takes a strong stand on their political leaning towards a particular side. So if you had strong opinions about it or that will stop you from enjoying this YA romance, you might have to watch out.

Even as someone who is not from the USA, I am not totally devoid of any opinions about it and such a law against covering the head would be against personal freedom, something that the USA boasts of quite often.

The one thing that did not sit right with me Maya’s sudden change of opinion towards kissing Jamie, given that she was not allowed to date non Muslim guys or to be physically intimate with a buy before marriage. Sure she was missing him and in love with him, but kissing (or any kinda physical intimacy) was explicitly forbidden. What made her make that leap?

This might sound too weird for others, but “no physical intimacy before marriage” is a real thing with desi families, and I am sure it would have been more strict in a Muslim household. #RepresentationMatters.

I loved Jamie’s cool grandmother and Sophie was a diva. I would love to read a spin off or fan fiction with them as main characters. It has been a while since I loved the sub plots so  much. 

Things that worked for me

  • I loved the fact that the romance takes a back seat (for a tiny bit) for family and politics.
  • Jamie was perfect. His awkwardness and mishaps kept me laughing!
  • The side characters were extremely well developed and I loved Sophie, especially.
  • And Yes no maybe so is based on a true story!

Things that didn’t work for me

  • We could have seen a bit more of Maya’s faith and her community.
  • Maya changing her belief and value for a white guy, may come off as a “white savior” thing to some.
  • And yes, the book takes a political stand. If you don’t like politics mixing with pleasure reading, that might be turn off for you.

Bottom-line

Yes no maybe so is cute and perfect for a summer read, or you know, for just staying in due to the lock down. It has well developed and likeable characters and takes a political stand. 

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Have you read Yes No Maybe So? What makes a good book great for you? What do you think about contemporary books that take a stand on social issues? Let us talk.

Yes no maybe so – A book review

Unmarriageable – A book review

Romance | 17 comments

I know retellings are all the rage recently. It looks like I am late to catch up, like every other trend out there. Retelling, a relatively new genre, refer to a new version of a familiar classic maybe in a modernized set up or imagined from a different point of view. After a lot of persuasion (wink.. wink..), I picked Unmarriageable, a new version of Pride and Prejudice.

After a lot of persuasion (wink.. wink..), I picked Unmarriageable, a new version of Pride and Prejudice. Read on to know how that worked for me. Click To Tweet

About the book

Unmarriageable

Book Name: Unmarriageable

Author: Soniah Kamal

Genre: Fiction – Romance, Retelling

Characters: Jena, Alysba, Mari, Qitty, Lady, Mrs. Pinkie, Mr Barak (The Binats), Valentino Darsee, Bungles Bingla, Jujeen Darsee, Sherry Looclas, Fahad Kaleen

Setting: Pakistan

The plot

Unmarriageable, set in Pakistani background, follows the Pride and Prejudice to the T revolving around the five daughters of Mr and Mrs Binat. Their elder daughters Jena and Alysba work in a school nearby and meet their counterparts “Bungles” Bingla and Valentino Darsee in a wedding.

While Jena and Bungles like each other right from the start, Darsee looks down upon the Binats, thanks to the actions of their dramatic sister and materialistic mother. Alys finds Darsee to be haughty and vain, and she befriends Jeorgeulla Wickaam, Darsee’s cousin who further tarnishes his image.

Soon the Binat family hates him and when Bungles leaves the town without proposing to Jena, they assume it was Darsee’s doing. Do they end up together forms the rest of Unmarriageable.

My initial thoughts

I picked Unmarriageable because I missed Jane Austen and wanted to get into her world, and Unmarriageable did exactly that. I could see the Austen’s characters in Soniah Kamal’s and it stayed true to the original. The sub plots of Kaleen and Sherry (Colleen – Charlotte) and the way they had been adapted to the modern Pakistan fit perfectly.

While I understand it is a retelling, I wish the author had explored the characters deeper. Lady’s character was a cliche and I felt there was more scope for development, given the period it is set in.

I couldn’t avoid feeling it was weird that the characters discuss so much about Austen and even a character talks about Alys being similar to Lizzie, but they didn’t figure out they were literally acting like them. A glaring plot hole maybe?

Things that worked for me

  • Unmarriageable stayed true to the original Pride and Prejudice, in terms of social commentary and the plot. 
  • I loved many of the desi version of the characters like Sherry and Kaleen.
  • There are parts where the author shines, especially where she had changed Austen’s text to suit her narration. 

Things that didn’t work for me

  • Maybe, Unmarriageable was too close the original and I found it unimaginative at places.
  • There were places that the prose to be dragging. 
  • I didn’t find the charm of the Lizzie Bennet in Alysba, but that might be a personal bias.

Bottom-line

While there are lot of things that I wish were better with Unmarriageable, but as a retelling the author succeeds in making me fell nostalgic about Pride and Prejudice. I am still on the lookout for a better retelling of Pride and Prejudice. If you know any, let me know.

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Unmarriageable

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Have you read this one? Do you like reading retellings? If so, what is favorite retelling book? Let us chat.