This book completely took me by surprise, and honestly, that's what I liked the most about it. It's pitched as a "You've Got Mail" type of romcom, which is a trope and a movie I adore and so I was already hooked. Here, Hana juggles her dream job in radio, a side hobby as a podcaster, and spends the remainder of her time waitressing at her family's halal restaurant in Toronto. Sales are slow, especially as a new upscale halal eatery is moving in across the street. In the exposition, she's working as a radio intern hoping to get promoted, rambling on in her podcast episodes which is where she forms a connection with an anonymous listener, all while trying to keep the family business afloat. Then, a mysterious aunt and cousin arrive from India, she discovers a family secret and grapples with a hate crime attack nearby. There are all sorts of complications to contend with, including her attraction to rival restaurant owner Aydin who may not be as much of a stranger as she initially thinks. When life as she knows it shifts and changes, Hana must figure out how to use her voice, be strong, and decide what her life should be. This coming of age read features captivating, descriptive language, and in addition to see the text, the story's also told through her podcast transcripts and the anonymous DMs they share. There is a lot of exposition that starts off pretty slow, but thanks to vulnerable and authentic characters you can't help but get sucked in and want to find out what happens next. It's well-written and captivating, as well as profound and insightful to look at this cultural identity and perspective, especially if you are on the outside. Then, of course, the ending romance and HEA is so flipping cute and precious that had me smiling from ear to ear.

Welcome to: Hana Khan, her Canadian community, and her crazy cousin Carry on!
Author Uzma Jalaluddin is so good, she'll have her readers rooting for the romance between Hana and the guy who steals her mom's restaurant business!

I've been to Toronto once, and Jalaluddin's light, quirky words flew me back to the clean, cool town with delicious Halal food and Hijabis at every corner. Readers will love her vivacious, talented and smart heroine, the full, entertaining plot, and the colorful warm characters, especially cousin Rashid (who needs his own spin-off)!

Thank you so much Ann, Uzma, Berkely, HarperCollinsCa, and NetGalley for the delightful experience of reading Jalaluddin's second book!

Disclaimer: I got this ARC in exchange for media coverage. As always, all opinions are my own.

Thank you for writing a book that's going to stay with me forever. The characters are funny, quirky, and loveable. The Muslim rep is perfect in this book and I absolutely adored this! A huge thanks to @NetGalley, Uzma, and Kate for this copy of Hana Khan Carries On! I'm not going to say much on here because I'm also doing media coverage for a magazine, but this story is everything I could want in a Muslim story. You won't be able to put this down and you'll want to savor every moment. I have highlighted so many parts of this book and I know I'll read whatever book Uzma writes next!

I proudly announce we have a BIG WINNER! This book is bold, thought provocative, unconventional, feeding your inner rebellious self by reflecting a true, genuine, stunning approach to racism, religion, hate crimes!

It is blood boiling, heart pounding, fist clenching, a true emotion trigger with well crafted characters with entertaining, smart, heartfelt, remarkable back stories.

Hana Khan,24 years old, hosting her own podcast, working at radio station as intern and her mother’s Indian-Canadian fusion restaurant is not only the narrator but a talented story teller who share the vivid characters of her own family.

In her own words: she lives in Scarborough: an east end suburb of Toronto/ Canada. Her parents were immigrated from India before she was born. They run a small halal restaurant called Three Sisters Biryani Poutine ( Biryani Poutine is Hana’s favorite dish which sounds not like a real appetite stimulant!!! I love both of those dishes separately and I have to say : sorry Hana but mixing them sounds like worse than the food I randomly cook at home! ) : she gave the name to the restaurant even though they’re only two sisters. Their mother was too busy to waste of her time for finding creative advertising solutions for their small business.

This book reminded me of interesting combination of Meet Cute- Marriage Game- Ex Talk and the hate u give. Those three books seem like so different from each other but when you start to read it, I’m so sure you’ll find small pieces of those amazing book’s story.

But there are two things make this book so unique. Two supporting and remarkable characters who probably stole the book from main characters Hana and Aydin.

They are cousin Rashid( I visualized him as younger Ranbir Kapoor on my mind when I read his parts) and of course Billi a.k.a Kawkab Khala a. k. a. The runaway bride in the tree! ( if this book would be adapted into big screen, Madhuri Dixit would be my first choice to play her! )Those two incredible characters deserve their own books. We need more legendary Aunt Billi adventures!

When Hana started her own podcast show, the boy nicknamed Stanley P became her one and the most loyal audience of her! He always supported Hana with his funny, strict to the point, motivational comments. It seems like they start to like each other even though they don’t know anything about each other’s real names, jobs, families.

In the meantime she meet with Aydin and his father who plan to open a new halal burger joint at the same street. Their small restaurant is already struggling to attract customers’ attention and Aydin’s father acts so hostile against local businesses, threatening them to take their jobs.

Even though Hana can’t resist Aydin’s charms, she need to fight them dirty to save her mother’s business including starting untrue rumors and slanderous comments about their business on social media.

But as she learns about Aydin’s past and his genuine intentions, she starts to question everything about her life: her goals, her perspective, her true identity!

But finally she finds herself at her lowest point. She’s Hana Khan, she’s brave, she’s excellent story teller, she’s daughter of immigrants, she’s sister of soccer star, niece to a warrior queen, cousin of Machiavellian Rashid. She’s wielder of microphones and slinger of the stories!

And in my opinion this warrior, intelligent, brave voice ( especially podcast parts of the book are deserved to be reread several times! They are so motivational and inspirational!) earned my 5 extraordinary, revolutionary, rebellious, powerful stars!

Special thanks to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

Loved this warm-hearted story! Such a clever spin on You've Got Mail. Will definitely recommend this book to readers for a spring book roundup on Mashable.com