by Adiba Jaigirdar
4.25 Stars
Do you enjoy reading books that feel like warm hugs, with sapphic romance, and diverse characters (Muslim MC, Bengali MC’s, Queer MC’s), includes the fake-dating trope (where two characters pretend to date for whatever reason and end up actually falling in love), and with realistic happily-ever-afters? If you answered yes to any — and even if you somehow said no — I recommend: Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating.
Summary: The book follows our two main characters (told from dual perspectives) Hani and Ishu. Hani comes out as bisexual to her ‘friends’ and they invalidate her- like the biphobes they are- and tell her that she can’t be bisexual if she’s never dated a woman. Not wanting them to think she’s straight, Hani blurts out that she is dating a girl- Ishu. The only catch? She isn’t. Ishu is a perfect daughter and student and as such, she needs to win the Head Girl position. When the popular and beloved Hani proposes that they fake date to aid each other, Ishu agrees. There’s only one small problem: Ishu doesn’t want to fake date Hani, she wants to date her for real.
Review: You know those books that have you grinning ear-to-ear and swooning like crazy? This book was that. Adiba Jaigirdar is a phenomenal sapphic romance writer (I highly recommend ‘The Henna Wars’ as well) and all her books have diverse characters that are usually queer. The book was fast-paced, sweet, funny, and so, so cute. The ending was sort of rushed (though not in a BAD way) and Hani was kind of annoying (fight for yourself, jeez) but overall I enjoyed this book a lot and I rated it 4.25 / 5 stars.
Reviewed by Jazleen H.
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