e-Audio, 09:35:36
Narrated by: Randa Sayed
Release Date: November 7, 2023
Published by: HarperAudio
Read from: November 21-22, 2023
Stand-alone
Source: Netgalley (I received a copy of this audiobook from Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Misogyny
For Readers Interested In: Romance, Religious Diversity, Racial/Ethnic Diversity, Adult, No Spice, Realistic FictionSet in Sydney, Australia, Courting Samira is a charming and frothy romantic comedy about a twenty-seven-year-old Muslim woman who finds herself in an unexpected love triangle—a sparkling ode to meddling best friends, traditional courtship, The Princess Bride, and, of course, the possibility of love. Coming from a moderately traditional Muslim family, twenty-seven-year-old Samira Abdel-Aziz has endured her fair share of arranged matches—first dates she calls “doorknock appeals,” where she and her possible suitors eat snacks in her living room in the company of both sets of parents. Her general no shoes with tassels, no cheesy leather jackets, no mustaches. A girl has to have some standards, right? The truth is, Samira is already experiencing enough wedding drama as an assistant at Bridal Bazaar magazine and as a gofer for her soon-to-be-married cousin and nemesis Zahra. She’s not sure she needs to add any of her own. When she meets the charismatic Menem at a work retreat, Samira finds herself intrigued. But her best friend Lara insists Menem isn’t right for her, and now her childhood friend Hakeem has begun behaving oddly. Adding to the confusion, Samira is offered a promotion, yet isn’t sure it’s the job of her dreams. Suddenly, her life is full of drama and complications, and she realizes that part of growing up is making difficult choices about what—and whom—she really wants.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I saw that this book was coming out and I was looking for more books by Palestinian authors to read, so it was like fate that I found it. I immediately requested it from Netgalley and got to reading it. And to top it off I was definitely swayed by the way this cover looks. Idk why, but I love it so much. I think it’s the colors. They blended really well together.
OK so the first thing that bothered me was that one friend. He was so annoying. And they wanted to say he acted that way because he liked her?! Dude, are you in kindergarten? I hate when dudes in books do this. It’s like grow up. And the way he was so pretentious towards her, over dumb stuff. I just did not understand him. And as far as the other people in her life, I really didn’t like any of them. None of them deserved her.
The romance was hard to believe in my opinion. She shunned him the whole time and then out of nowhere was like “BUT I LOVE HIM!” I think if there had been more book after that declaration or more of them together before that I would have been like ok, I can see that. Now I’m not Muslim and I don’t have to worry about keeping appearances in front of my family or anything like that, and I’m sure that had a hand in the way this played out, so I can’t say whether it was accurate or not, but I will say it made me want more. I think I needed to see her speaking more positively of him more often in order for me to fully believe it.
The family dynamic in this was stellar tho. I don’t think I’ve read a book where I was this enthralled into the family in a long time. Like the mom? Girl, go find some business lol And the cousin?! I have read so many Bridezillas this year and she was up there with the worst of them. I hate when they say “I didn’t actually want you in my wedding” and then the main character still does it anyway. Like naw girlie pop, have your wedding without me then lol But all of them were interesting, even the ones that were meddling and couldn’t understand why some things shouldn’t be done or said. Some things just aren’t other people’s business. And it made me feel strange because at one point I agreed with the Bridezilla and I didn’t like that lol Don’t make me agree with the villain!
This book is mostly about her trying to find her husband while courting different gentlemen, all with different personalities. And let me just tell you, none of them deserved her lol I hate that society is the way it is because she seemed like she was pressured to make those decisions and it didn’t seem fair to her. She was an amazing character by herself and I hated that her society made her feel like she needed a man to round herself out.
Overall, I give this
