From the Bookshelf of Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge…

Ayesha at Last

Uzma Jalaluddin

Start date: May 1, 2021

Finish date: May 31, 2021

Discussion: 2021 Monthly Group Reads

Why we're reading this: May 2021 monthly group read for "a book by a Muslim-American author" (or Muslim-Canadian, in this case - …more
[close] May 2021 monthly group read for "a book by a Muslim-American author" (or Muslim-Canadian, in this case - Canada is part of America!)

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2021 Monthly Group Reads

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* 2021 Monthly Group Reads - the Final List of Categories and Books
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What Members Thought

Apr 23, 2020 Jessica Haider rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, popsugar_2020, no-new-tale-to-tell, love-will-tear-us-apart, bookriot_2020, bipoc-author

Between 4 and 4.5 stars.

A modern day retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in Toronto, Ayesha at Last, features a cast of muslims of Indian descent. Ayesha is a substitute teacher but dreams of being a poet. Her mom encourages her to pursue her career instead of rushing into marriage. Meanwhile, Ayesha's cousin Hafsa is in the middle of reviewing potential grooms. Ayesha meets Khalid, her best friend's coworker at a poetry reading at a local lounge. Ayesha and Khalid don't make the best first im ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Apr 09, 2020 Sarah rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, islam-and-muslim-authors, india, canada, romance, north-american-fiction

This book was delightful. It's a contemporary retelling of Pride and Prejudice, set among religious Indian-Canadian Muslims in Toronto. I quite adored this book, as it's a romance that treats religious Muslims with subtlety and realism, while avoiding the worst adjectives often justly-applied to, for example, the genre known as Christian romance. When Ayesha and Khalid first meet, there is a case of mistaken identity and through it, Khalid ends up engaged to Ayesha's cousin. Drama ensues when Kh ...more

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Jul 24, 2021 Jaime rated it really liked it

Shelves: poc-author, romance-contemporary, new-adult, read-2021, popsugar-2021, 52-book-club-2021, year-of-smut-2021, romance-clean, muslim-centered, mistaken-identity

This was a sweet, muslim-centered rom-com that centered around arranged marriages and how one chooses to follow their faith.

Ayesha and Khalid may live across the street from each other, but are on different ends of the religious spectrum. Khalid is very conservative, wearing traditional clothing and keeping his beard long and his head covered. Ayesha is also conservative, but wears secular clothing, goes out to bars, and has chosen a job over a husband at this point in her life.

But Ayesha's you ...more

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Mar 28, 2020 Julianne Dunn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-read-harder

Very sweet story told in a very different way - it's a combination of a Pride & Prejudice with some Shakespearean drama mixed in. Ayesha and Khalid are so engaging and both dealing with misconceptions people make about them and the misconceptions they make about themselves. ...more

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