Thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

CW: parental addiction, parental depression/suicidal ideation, cheating, parental physical and emotional abuse, religious guilt, purity culture, attempted kidnapping, attempted rape, attempted date rape, racism

This book is a fiction read that I don't think is very well represented by the blurb. This is both Soraya's story as well as her mother's, dual POV for both. Their stories of falling in love for the first time, and dealing with family expectations. This is a heavy read that can be triggering for a lot of reasons. While there is romance it is nowhere near the main focus and neither LI is a 'hero'.

Soraya's father is the villain for the majority of the story, and the book deals very heavily about what its like to have a family member a parent heavily addicted, what that looks like, the impact of that on their life.

This is written in 3rd POV and with the two contrasting story lines its hard to invest in either, but this book covers very heavy, very important topics of culture, addiction, family, and independence. While I would want people to check out the CWs and I can't speak to the accuracy of the Iranian/Muslim representation, it was good to see a different perspective represented just unfortunate it was not accurately blurbed for readers to know what to expect.

Rating: 3
Steam: 2 (a lot of discussions of sex/purity culture and some sexual situations but ultimately closed door)

This is not a romance. This follows two romances, a mothers and a daughters as they are in their 20s. The story is not about the romances though, it is about the two women coming of age, dealing with many different trials, emotions, and learning about themselves. We follow Soraya in present day just graduating college in London as a first generation immigrant from Iran. She is dealing with what she wants to do with her life as she enters the adult world and the worry she has of never being kissed. Soraya reaches out to a rugby player from college to try and amend this fact and her romance goes from there.

We also follow Soraya's mother, Neda, in 1970's Iran as she meets her husband. The story goes from her time in Iran to moving to getting married, moving to England, becoming a mother, up to present day. I think it is best to go into this story not knowing much and learning about the characters as the book progresses. Topics of racism, religion, drug abuse, alcoholism, sex, immigration, and homophobia are all covered. In my opinion these are done well, I cannot speak from any personal experience however. I do believe this is own voices for the Muslim and Iranian representation, I am not sure about the topics.

I enjoyed the story and the the characters journeys in this. I felt I could connect with Soraya's character more than Neda's since Soraya had just graduated college and didn't know what she wanted to do with her life. Neda's story coming full circle up to present day did really tie everything together well and helped the story to feel complete. My only complaint about the book was that the writing definitely felt like a debut novel. Details that should have been made clear from the start felt like they were thrown in when it was convenient. For example, I didn't realize that Soraya's best friend was also her roommate until 80 pages in, until that point I though Soraya was living on her own. And I didn't know the bestfriend was black until 300 pages in, knowing this earlier would have helped me to grasp how much the best friend could relate to Soraya dealing with racism. I think some more planning and thoughtful editing of small details and varying the vocabulary would have helped the writing a lot. With that being said I still really liked the story and look forward to seeing what other books the author publishes in the future.

I think Soraya and I are kindred spirits, especially in the guilt department.

Given the description, the alternating perspectives between Soraya and Neda, her mother, was unexpected. I needed more of Magnus and his muscles straining beneath his clothes!

A good multi-cultural story…with some reservations. And it’s not a rom-com as the cover might suggest.

The story is told in alternating voices/time periods/locations, ranging from revolutionary Iran to modern-day London.

Neda, a devout Muslim marries Hossein (against her father’s better judgment), and they end up moving to London where she gets her PhD. She works and raises their three children while basically nursemaiding her depressed and drug-addicted husband for 30 years.

Soraya is her 21-year-old daughter who has just graduated college in London and is struggling to find a job/career that makes her happy. Due to her strict upbringing she has never been kissed or had any sort of relationship with a boy other than her gay best friend Oliver. She picks Magnus, the college rugby heartthrob, to gain kissing experience but fails to share her lack of ANY experience with him.

There’s the usual building romance (which was frustrating for me in several ways and full of angst) along with heartbreaking betrayals. But the overlying theme is the push-and-pull of Soraya’s wanting to be a “good, moral” Muslim as she has been taught by her culture to strive for while also longing to experience a freer life as a young adult in London.

I enjoyed the second half of the story more than the first, but I had issues with all of the main characters and did not feel very connected to any of them. I felt there was a good bit of repetitive whining and that some hurtful issues (past and present) were resolved and summed up too neatly/quickly at the end. However, I was happy to see the growth and bravery of some characters along the way.

So for me, not quite what I had hoped for, but I’m sure others will resonate more with some of the elements of the story.

TW: domestic abuse/violence, emotional abuse, drug abuse/addiction.

My thanks to #NetGalley and #Dell for providing me the free early arc of #TheMismatch for review. The opinions are strictly my own.

This book was not at all what I was expecting? I know it was marked as both Romance and Women’s Literature on Netgalley but honestly, I feel like it was much more women’s literature than romance.

The book featured recent Muslim college grad Soraya navigating her life post-university, struggling with her strict and religious upbringing as well as her familial troubles. Things seem to take a turn for the better when she begins seeing Magnus, a classmate, but then maybe not so much.

I was not the *biggest* fan of the author’s writing style but I will say the plot was incredibly interesting and unique. The flashbacks between modern-day London and revolutionary Iran were definitely interesting. There was some misogyny, references to past racist incidents and comments, abuse, alcoholism, drug use, and other issues that definitely made this a heavier read but overall it wasn’t bad. Im not entirely sure I would wholeheartedly recommend it— but I think I would recommend it to more niche groups who I know for a fact are interested in these kinds of reads.

The ending was a bit anti-climactic in all honesty, especially as far as the romance went (which is why I think it was definitely more women’s literature than romance) overall thought it was definitely interesting and a super quick read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House publishing for the e-arc! All thoughts are my own!

TW: drug addiction, alcoholism, abusive relationships, fat-shaming, recreational drug use, cheating, misogyny, referenced racism.

Review will be posted on my instagram sometime between Friday July 30th and Monday August 2nd!


*Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!*

About 30% into this one, I considered DNF, but decided to push through with at least skimming. This book is trying to be a lot of things. I was expecting from the description and the cover a mostly light romance, a few heavier things maybe, but not what it is. It’s heavy, alternating between Soraya in the present and her mother in Iran as a new bride. Includes wrestling with cultural, religious, second generation immigrant themes, but also drug use and domestic violence, including a pretty graphic assault scene. Even beyond the unexpected subject matter, I at no point was invested in the relationship between the two leads. So, overall a miss for me, but I continue to be grateful that books of all genres, especially romance, that feature non-white leads continue to be published.

Know that this is more the dual tine line story of a family dealing with cultural issues than it is a rom com and you will find it a rewarding read. It moves between Neda in Tehran in the late 1970s and her daughter Soraya in London in the near present. Soraya has not been wholly observant except about men- she's not been kissed but now there's Magnus, the very Anglo man she's been watching in classes for years. She's having a hard time finding her way, finding a job, and understanding what's happened to cause an absence in the family. Neda falls in love with Hossein, who, as you'll later learn, has an issue that hovers above the family. The two parts don't entirely match up (Neda in the present isn't as vivid as she could have been). Parts of this might make you smile, other parts might make you tut tut but it's interesting. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

DNF around 25% - I had high hopes for The Mismatch but it did not live up to expectations. I think the writing was just a little off where it needed to be. Plus, and I know this is a weird reason for putting down a book, but there was *so* much talk about her being a virgin/her wanting a first kiss, etc. etc. It is a big part of the plot and her character motivation, at least in the part I read, and despite the point being that she is 21 and still very inexperienced due to her upbringing and religious beliefs, I still felt like it read a little untrue for a young woman of that age.

This book needs a Content Warning/Trigger Warning. It is not truly a "Romance" as much as a family drama about multi-generational cultural abuse with a romantic element. I could not finish it.

I received a gifted copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/4.

I am not quite sure what didn’t work for me. I think partially I did not connect with Soraya or the relationship with Magnus.

I enjoyed seeing the back and forth between Soraya’s story and her mother’s in Tehran/when she first moved to England.

I was incredibly frustrated, but also resigned, to reading about the hypocrisy and misogyny in Muslim culture. I can imagine the challenges Soraya and her sisters faced trying to navigate between staying loyal to their culture of origin and assimilating into British culture. Soraya grapples a lot with the guilt of being a “good Muslim” and figuring out what that means for her.

Go into this knowing it is not a light romance and is more a multi generational family drama with some romantic elements. This is heavier and hits on a variety of complex topics.

[CW - drug use (casual, heavy, addiction); domestic violence; anxiety; racism; sexism]

Wow! I walked into reading this novel thinking it would be a typical romcom like I normally find myself reading. I was very pleasantly surprised! Jafari's novel has a lot of heart. I was so engrossed by her characters and was rooting for them from the beginning!

The Mismatch is a multi-perspective multi-generational novel following the lives of Soraya Nazari with flashbacks from her mother, Neda. While Soraya is struggling to figure out who she is - she wants to figure out how she can consider herself a Muslim while fitting in with the Western world - we see Neda trying to find her own place in the world by leaving Iran for England with her husband in tow.

Part of Soraya's plan to get her first kiss over with with British lad Magnus seems like the perfect plan for a easy fling, but the longer Soraya spends with Magnus she realizes they may have more in common than she originally thought. Can she just keep this as a fling?

I was engrossed by Soraya and rooting for her the whole time. On surface was a romance, but as the events of this novel planned out it was the story of family. About what we do to keep our families together and the secrets that can tear families apart. It was a story about immigrants trying to keep their traditions and faith in a new country. It was a story about feminism and breaking away from societal norms in our own ways. It was a story about not judging a book by its cover because most of the main characters had more going on beneath the surface than they let on.

I will definitely be recommending this book to others!

The Mismatch was exactly the type of book I needed and wanted to read. While the cover depicts it as your typical rom-com/beach read, it was so much more. Finally narrated by Soraya and her mother, Neda, it gave insight into Muslim culture, feminism, and the struggles between balancing both of those simultaneously. Many other important themes such as addiction, self esteem, and family were intertwined.
I highly recommend this book.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

A mother and daughter fumble their way to self-discovery as they deal with their dysfunctional family.

Thank you to Dell and NetGalley for the ARC.

This book feels like it's going through an identity crisis. While I did ultimately enjoy it, I do question whether the branding and marketing of the book align with the actual contents - the plot got a lot darker at points than I was expecting based on the plot summary.

I did genuinely enjoy watching as Soraya navigates her first real relationship, and found her dynamic with Magnus to be very relatable. She doubts her own emotions, and struggles to reconcile what she's feeling with her strict Muslim upbringing. I also enjoyed the contrast of Soraya's experiences against Neda's history - getting glimpses into the past helped to set the stage for how we ended up here. However, the story also delves into issues of addiction and domestic violence that were much darker than I had expected from this story, and I urge readers to check trigger warnings before picking up this book - these more serious elements truly came out of left field for me and were upsetting to read.

I also had some issues with the pacing of the book. There's a lot of exposition for the first half, and at the 50% mark I found myself wondering where this was going and how long it would take to reach the climax and conclusion of both Neda and Soraya's storylines. Things did pick up in the second half of the book, but at points I did feel rushed - I think the plot could have been more balanced over the course of the whole novel.

Overall, while I did enjoy the book, I'd be hesitant to recommend it without passing along trigger warnings.

I went into this book expecting opposites attract, culture clash, kissing lessons, fall in love despite themselves romance. And what I got was guilt, shame, double standards, deep misogyny, drug abuse, and messed up people muddling through with their messed up families constantly hurting each other and themselves.
This is a good book, I think, just absolutely not what I expected or was emotionally prepared to deal with right now. I don’t agree that it’s a romance, because most of the book is not about Soraya and Magnus’s relationship, the romance fell flat for me, and the constant angst that Soraya felt about being with Magnus and how that made her a bad Muslim was realistic, I think, but not romanctic. Nothing about their relationship felt sweet or fun or comforting. There were very few light moments between them, and their chemistry was forced.
The secondary storyline told from Soraya’s mothers perspective through time was even more depressing, as she dealt with the man she loved and married slipping into depression and drug abuse, and then physically abusing her and her children. Realistic perhaps, but not what I want to read about. This is contemporary fiction, coming of age fiction, own voices storytelling, but not a romance. I think if you are looking for something one the heavier side and don’t need a strong romance, you should definitely read this book.
Thanks you to Netgalley for my honest review, all opinions are my own.

This was definitely darker than the cover suggests and it wasn't so much about a first relationship but more about family and a struggle between the culture you were born into versus the culture in which you grow up and live. This book made me sad but I think it was honest and opened up a lot of things we should be thinking about.

The Mismatch comes out next month on August 3, 2021 and you can purchase HERE.

Neda wondered whether other people noticed when their families fell apart or if, like her, it caught them by surprise. Time and time again, after everything they had been through, and just when she felt able to exhale, loosen her shoulders, a new problem would arise, the ground shifting beneath her once more.

This is not a rom com like it’s being publicized as, but rather a look into how a Muslim girl balances the culture/religion and related restrictions she has grown up with and the desire to fit in amongst her peers. Soraya wants to be the good girl she was raised to be, experiences Muslim guilt when she thinks about breaking any family rules, and also wants to belong. She wants to be like the other girls at university, know what it’s like to kiss a boy. Enter Magnus, a classmate who is unknowingly pulled into Soraya’s plan to be kissed, but along the way a relationship develops, feelings grow, and Soraya wonders if the bubble she’s grown up in is preventing a future that would bring happiness.

While I can’t 100% understand what Soraya went through because I didn’t experience the abuse or same level of strictness, much of this resonated for me as I faced similar restrictions growing up that had a lasting impact on me. This book is less about romance and more about fighting the patriarchy and misogyny found in many middle eastern and south Asian cultures. About finding who you are as an educated brown girl, and knowing it’s ok to want to respect your religion and culture while pursuing your goals and passion. And that love of your own choosing is okay, regardless of the person’s color.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

I was so excited to read a book with a Iranian-british female lead! The synopsis was promising and I thought I would read a deep love story between Magnus and Soraya. That's why the chapters from Soraya's mother's (Neda) point of view threw me off. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy Neda, but then this book should've been marketed that way or at least mentioned in the synopsis that the story "weaves the stories of mother & daughter." That would been more compelling and then braced me for what "The Mismatch" was actually about. Thus, I went into the book with certain expectations and was left feeling a bit disappointed.
Loved that she included themes of addiction, islam, cultural mindsets, post-grad confusion, and domestic violence. Her writing skills need to a bit more polishing.
However, this was a promising debut and only tells me that with more a little more practice, refining her writing skills and honing her voice, Sara Jafari could one day go one to write an unforgettable novel.

I went into this book thinking it would be a stereotypical romance and it was definitely not that. Though this book wasn't what I expected, I really did enjoy it. I felt for Soraya's journey through her relationships and her identity. I felt like I could relate to Soraya as a character in multiple ways. These character details spanned beyond her cultural background, which I find important in reaching a wider audience. The romance between Magnus and Soraya felt insignificant or forgotten, however, compared to her own development.
I really enjoyed the parallels between her own life and her mother's life. Some of the chapters even followed similar plots, but set 40 years apart, which fascinated me. The inclusion of several cultural and religious moments was a little daunting, as sometimes I couldn't use context clues to figure out what the thing was, but it didn't take away from the story. It made the experiences of Neda and Soraya much more personal and I liked learning about Islam as a religion and Iranian culture.
I'm glad I picked up this book. Maybe I read it at the right time of my life, as Soraya and I are similar in age, but I recommend this.

i really enjoyed this one! the summary of the book led me to think it was a little more romance-y but i still thoroughly enjoyed it. being able to live through soraya's current problems that stemmed from her childhood and how it affected her and then being able to also read about how those problems started from her mother's point of view as well were interesting. i think when i think about influences and life growing up, i can pinpoint what changed me or why i am the way i am. i suppose i don't think too much of how those things came about, it's just something i have accepted because i can't change it now. i can only change going forward. i think that was a big theme here.

i also thought this book would be more practice-y a la the kiss quotient but that's not what's happened here, which i really don't mind. i liked soraya and magnus's relationship. they were sweet with one another and although soraya was judgmental about some things, i think she was mostly cautious and also just sort of insecure. magnus wasn't painted as some wonderful, amazing god and i appreciated that they both had flaws and real life problems that affected them. this made the book refreshing to read and to see how they could grow individually and together. it was a wonderful coming of age book!

being able to read neda's point of view was also very interesting. seeing how she grew and dealt with everything was heartbreaking and inspiring. her story was filled with hope and her kindness was shown with the forgiveness she was able to give. she was such an understanding character, willing to grow and listen and i appreciated that. it was so reflective of how i would hope to be. also, her faith made me think about my own. spirituality can be difficult for some to understand and this book dips into spirituality and how it can also help and hurt people. i found it really inspiring.

this book does deal with many heavy topics from near sexual assault, drug abuse/mention, addiction, alcoholism, sexism, slut shaming, misogyny, domestic abuse, physical abuse, and mentions of homophobia so i warn you to read with caution.