Review | Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik

Sofia Khan is Not Obliged

by Ayisha Malik

My Rating: 

Unlucky in love once again after her sort-of-boyfriend/possible-marriage-partner-to-be proves a little too close to his parents, Sofia Khan is ready to renounce men for good. Or at least she was, until her boss persuades her to write a tell-all expose about the Muslim dating scene.

As her woes become her work, Sofia must lean on the support of her brilliant friends, baffled colleagues and baffling parents as she seeks stories for her book. But in amongst the marriage-crazy relatives, racist tube passengers and polygamy-inclined friends, could there be a lingering possibility that she might just be falling in love . . . ?

When January rolled around I found myself craving a bit of contemporary fiction; it's not a genre I read often, so when I'm in the mood for it I usually end up devouring it, as was the case here.

I discovered Sofia Khan is Not Obliged on Leena @ justkissmyfrog's YouTube channel (a channel which you should totally be following if you're not already) and I wanted to check it out for myself. There's no shortage of contemporary novels starring women working in publishing, but I'd never read one in which the protagonist is Muslim. In fact the more I thought about it, the more I realised I'd never read a contemporary novel in which the protagonist is Muslim. Considering I don't read much contemporary I suppose I can give myself a break, but other than the Ms. Marvel comics I don't think I've read any other books, regardless of genre, which feature Muslim protagonists.

Note to self: Fix this.

One thing I love about Sofia Khan and Ms. Marvel is that they're both also written by Muslim women, which is an added bonus. I'm not of the opinion that people can only write about characters like themselves - yes I think more trans authors writing about trans characters should be published, for example, but I don't think that means only trans authors can write about trans characters - but it's refreshing to read about a Muslim woman written by a Muslim woman, especially when so many Muslim narratives in fiction feature breaking away from tradition.

What I really enjoyed about Sofia Khan is Not Obliged is that Sofia is a practicing Muslim. She wears a hijab not because anyone is forcing her to, but because she chooses to wear it. I can't express how important this is when we live in a society that keeps trying to tell women who wear a hijab that they're being oppressed; as someone who is white and agnostic, it's none of my business what a practicing Muslim woman decides to wear. Even if I were Muslim, it'd still be none of my business.

God is very important to Sofia, but don't let that put you off this book; it's not trying to convert you to Islam, it's simply Sofia's story, and Sofia just so happens to be Muslim. Outside of her faith she's like any other woman: she's not quite sure where her life is going, she doesn't know if she's in the right job, she's pretty sure she's going to be single until the end of time, and she's just a bit lost.

Ultimately this book went in a direction I wasn't expecting; it started out as a Bridget Jones kind of rom-com and then became something a little more serious which, given Sofia's journey throughout this book, makes a lot of sense. However, sometimes the tone felt a little obscure because of it, leaving me not quite sure what kind of book I was reading. Having said that, I love that Malik tackled some more serious topics in this book, that she didn't let the genre she was writing in, a genre that's so often met with derision, dictate the kind of story she was going to tell; in many ways Malik's writing process and Sofia's are fairly parallel. 

Basically this book ticks a lot of boxes; it's funny, heartfelt, and thoughtful, and I'm definitely interested in checking out whatever Malik releases next.

Review | Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan

Little Beach Street Bakery

by Jenny Colgan

My Rating: 

Polly Waterford is recovering from a toxic relationship. Unable to afford their flat, she has to move miles away from everyone, to a sleepy little seaside resort in Cornwall, where she lives alone above an abandoned shop. And so Polly takes out her frustrations on her favourite hobby: making bread.

But what was previously a weekend diversion suddenly becomes far more important as she pours her emotions into kneading and pounding the dough, and each loaf becomes better and better. With nuts and seeds, olives and chorizo, with local honey (courtesy of local bee keeper, Huckle), and with reserves of determination and creativity Polly never knew she had, she bakes and bakes and bakes.... And people start to hear about it. Sometimes, bread really is life...and Polly is about to reclaim hers.

I don't read contemporary all that often, although it's definitely a genre I've started exploring a little more over the past year. Contemporary settings I can handle, but I love my speculative fiction; if a book doesn't even have a hint of magical realism in it then I'm immediately less likely to pick it up, but that isn't always the case. Sometimes I need something fun and light to fill me with the warm fuzzies, and contemporary is ideal for that.

Little Beach Street Bakery isn't the first Colgan book I've read, I fell in love with her Rosie Hopkins books at the end of last year and have been eager to check out more of her contemporary since because I love the way she includes food in her stories, from sweets to cupcakes to chocolate and, now, to bread! Who doesn't love a bit of bread? Apart from people who can't have glucose...

Perhaps it's my love for Daphne du Maurier, but for whatever reason I have a weakness for books set in Cornwall. I knew I wanted to read more of Colgan's work outside of the Rosie Hopkins series, and to be honest it was the Cornish setting that sold Little Beach Street Bakery to me. The setting was beautiful; Colgan really brought Cornwall to life, to the extent that the setting felt like a character in and of itself. Writing place is something Colgan does incredibly well.

At first it felt a little strange to be reading a Colgan book that wasn't about Rosie, but Polly soon grew on me; she's a really fun and honest protagonist to follow around, and I certainly empathised with the predicament that she found herself in at the beginning of the story. She makes mistakes, she learns from them, and she grows. What more could you want from a protagonist?

I also loved her trusty sidekick Neil the Puffin, even if he was a little unrealistic. Then again if I wanted realism I wouldn't read fiction!

However, while I enjoyed this book I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the Rosie Hopkins books. I felt no real chemistry between Polly and either of her love interests - though I did appreciate that Colgan gave her more than one relationship, unlike many other contemporary reads I've come across - and judging by a lot of the other reviews I've read I'm not alone here. In fact there were times when I felt as though the story would have been just as good, maybe even better, without any of the romantic elements at all. 

I did like her best friend, Kerensa, despite being a little unsure about her at first, but I thought the subplot involving her nearer the end of the book got a little too silly for my taste.

I will definitely read Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery, which I already own a copy of, as I'd like to return to Cornwall and see how these characters are doing. With any luck there'll be a little more chemistry there than I felt in this first book! I did enjoy it, though, it's just a shame Colgan spent so much of the book talking about chemistry that wasn't there.

Review | A Winter Flame by Milly Johnson | Twelve Days of Christmas!

A Winter Flame

by Milly Johnson

My Rating: 

Eve has never liked Christmas, not since her beloved fiancé was killed in action in Afghanistan on Christmas Day. So when her adored elderly aunt dies, the last thing she is expecting is to be left a theme park in her will. A theme park with a Christmas theme…

And that's not the only catch. Her aunt's will stipulates that Eve must run the park with a mysterious partner, the exotically named Jacques Glace. Who is this Jacques, and why did Aunt Evelyn name him in her will?

But Eve isn't going to back down from a challenge. She's determined to make a success of Winterworld, no matter what. Can she overcome her dislike of Christmas, and can Jacques melt her frozen heart at last…?

Throughout November I was on something of a contemporary kick, so at the end of the month I decided to tick one of the books off my Winter TBR. As soon as I came across A Winter Flame I knew I had to get my hands on a copy of it - who doesn't want to read about a Christmas theme park? - and luckily for me my local library had a copy.

It only took me a couple of days to read. It was fun, quick and festive, but my reviews can only be honest, and honestly I was disappointed with this book.

Eve is not a likable character. That may seem like a harsh thing to say given that she is a character who is still grieving, but even people who are grieving are capable of being nice human beings. For the most part Eve was a grumpy, bitter woman who jumped to ridiculous conclusions about everyone around her, which was odd for someone who was apparently such a good judge of character.

Jacques was on the other end of the scale in that he was almost too ridiculous. He was just too lovable and boisterous, to the extent that at times he felt like more of a caricature than a three-dimensional character.

One of my biggest problems with the book was this recurring message that all of the women could only ever be happy with a good man by their side. Eve had managed to start and run her own successful business and was very proud of her achievements in the workplace, and yet all everyone wanted was for her to meet a man and settle down so she could be 'truly happy'. It was as though people were judging her for being single and successful. No wonder the woman's grumpy.

Ultimately I enjoyed the book enough to read it to the end, and if you're looking for something fun and fast during the festive season I would recommend it, but unfortunately it's quite problematic in places and not the story I was hoping it would be.