I picked up this book expecting a cute rom-com for young readers, which it was, but 'The Love Match' is much more than strictly a rom-com! This story is also about the love we share between our communities, friends, and family.

My favorite aspect of this story was that it takes place right after high school. I haven’t read many books where we find the characters in this certain phase of their life where they must figure out what comes next after graduating, especially when the character doesn’t have a concrete plan.

Zahra was accepted into a prestigious college, but due to her familial duties and financial situation, she isn’t able to attend. She has to come up with a new plan and she’s determined to work hard to one day walk the campus of her dream school. Her mother has other goals for her, and she believes Zahra needs a good “match” that can take care of her and her family as well.

To please her mother, Zahra continuously agrees to go on blind dates. That’s when her path crosses Harun’s. Harun is the “perfect” match according to Zahra’s mother. He has the brains, looks, and money. Too bad Harun and Zahra’s personalities completely clash the first time they meet. Both of them are in agreement that they wouldn’t make a good couple despite what their mothers believe. Plus, there may already be a cute guy at work that Zahra may or may not like. Cue the drama!

This book was so fun! I’m typically not a fan of love triangles, but Priyanka Taslim wrote these characters perfectly. Everything felt so natural even with all the drama that surrounded the three characters. Each of them was entertaining on their own but when they were together, I genuinely enjoyed it!

Besides these three, there were some other amazing characters. I loved the rep in this book! Every character is BIPOC and you rarely see this in a book from the main cast. I’m looking forward to reading more stories from Priyanka Taslim! I think she delivered on telling a story that young BIPOC readers will be able to relate to, especially when it comes to Bangladeshi representation.

I think many will also be able to see themselves in Zahra and her family. Her relationship with her mother was very emotional and there were a few times when I got teary because I could easily relate to the struggles both of them were going through. The love they have for one another and their family pulled at my heartstrings.

Overall, 'The Love Match' will make you laugh and cry! It’ll bring a smile to your face with the sweet love story that unfolds, and it’ll have readers questioning the bonds they share with the people they love.

Keep this book on your radar because it’s expected to release on January 3, 2023!

Really sweet, romantic coming of age story. Sort of reminded me of To All the Boys by Jenny Han, but desi- which I love!! The romance was so charming and natural, it didn't feel forced or artificial in any way, but snuck into my heart and stayed there for the remainder of the novel (no spoilers hehe).

I really enjoyed this book. It was interesting to read about the arranged marriages and how she got away from that. I would definitely recommend this book!

The whole premise of this book is based on a love triangle. I don’t usually like love triangles, so I wasn’t sure how this would go, but it was SO well done! I was rooting for both of them for different reasons and really had no idea for most of the book who she was going to choose. The drama was surprisingly relatively minimal and was realistic. All of the characters were well fleshed out, and almost everyone showed real character growth. I highly recommend!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

My rating: 3.5 stars

I was beyond excited to read The Love Match. A book about a Muslim Bengali girl and the absolute drama that comes with desi families? A Pride and Prejudice retelling? Sign me up!
But I wasn't particularly blown away. And there were a few things that really did irk me.
Don't get me wrong, the MC was great. A smart, and independent young woman, Zahra was such an amazing character to read about. Her backstory was something that you could connect with and her relationship with her siblings and mother were quite relatable. Her struggle with money and getting into college was a great subject to touch on and I really enjoyed that whole aspect.
The two male love interests, on the other hand were a little boring? Like I liked Harun a lot more than I did Nayim but they both had such irrelevant story lines. I did not care for the little plot twist about Nayim towards the end either.
What irked me the most, though, is the 'Muslim representation'. I know this book isn't advertised as a Muslim romance and the characters aren't perfect Muslims either (no one is a perfect Muslim!) but the kissing and relationships and the disregard for a few Islamic things and stuff, yeah I just couldn't get past that. And that's my own personal opinion.
But aside from that, the book was pretty good. A good Bengali, Desi representation and reinterpretation of Pride and Prejudice that had the perfect amount of soap opera-ness and drama to keep you hooked.

This book was a great refresher from reading too many sad books lately (that's completely my fault). The author has a unique writing style and really immerses the reader in wanting to learn more about the culture and language. It is always a pleasure to read books with diverse representations, and this book definitely did not disappoint.

This book follows the story of Zahra Khan, just a young adult who is struggling to love and live life like the rest of us. Zahra is the eldest daughter in her family, and with that role there is always a load of responsibilities to take care of, including marriage. Zahra's mother decides to take it upon herself to find a perfect match for Zahra, and trouble ensues. Zahra is caught between two love interests, one she is bedazzled with and the other she cannot stand. To keep Amma happy, she decides to play along while actually catching feelings for her new coworker. How long can Zahra keep this farce up and who will she pursue? Read the book to satiate your curiosity, you won't regret it. ;)

I liked this one because we get a great look into Bangladesh culture. We see Zahra who doesn't want a love match but then finds herself falling for two different guys.
I wanted a little explanation of the food and some of the culture, but I looked up a lot of it.
I liked how Zahra was going through a lot of decisions that teenagers go through. This is a relatable read for teens.
Thanks NetGalley for this ARC

4 stars.
I liked the main characters and I'm always super interested to learn about other cultures. Bangladeshi representation is not something I've ever read about, and I regularly found myself wishing for MORE terms, colloquialisms, foods, references, etc. I wanted to really be immersed in the culture, but I think it was tempered because Zahra is an American-Bengali teenager, and as such she doesn't have the same ties to her culture that older members of her community may have.

Additionally, Zahra is balancing a lot as an 18 year old--sharing the responsibility of paying bills, working, saving for school, trying to have a social life. Then, mom wants her to consider a marriage of status, and her world turns topsy turvy. I enjoyed the various family dynamics, the differences between public and private behaviors, and the juxtaposition of parental expectations vs teenage desires.

There were a few twists that seemed unnecessary based on their predictability, but the quick pace and easy relatability made this a fast and enjoyable read. It never felt TOO forced, especially since the texts and supporting characters (like the Tahir twins, Ximena, and Sammi most notably) add levity to everything.

I'll tell my students about: parental death, LGBTQIA, language, mental health,

**Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for the free ARC prior to publication. All
opinions expressed are my own.**

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. While I appreciated learning about the culture, I was frustrated that a lot of foods and terms were not defined. I feel like writers close off readers when that happens. I want to know and understand it, so please define and share for me. Anyways, while it was cute overall, I found the love interests unrealistic and based on very little. I feel like teens deserve more substance than that. It wasn’t awful and got 3 stars, but it definitely left something to be desired. It was a clean love story and appropriate for readers new to YA romance but might leave them clueless with the language and terms.

Such a swoonworthy debut romance! Zahra is my favorite kind of protagonist, and Taslim perfectly fleshes out not just Zahra, but her family, friends, and love interests as well, creating an incredibly fun and vibrant cast!

In The Love Match, Zahra Khan isn’t interested in an arranged marriage but because she is considered Bangladeshi royalty, her mother Amma is determined to get her a good match. Amma is on the hunt for a Bangladeshi young man which will result in marriage and a secure future for Zahra. Zahra has used to her mother’s pestering and between her job at the coffee spot Chai Ho she doesn’t really have time for boys. When her mother introduced her to the handsome but standoffish Harun Emon, the two agree to a plan to “fake date” in order to keep their parents off their backs.

Zahra is only too happy to have a fake boyfriend and she soon meets Nayim Aktar who seems to understand Zahra in ways Harun doesn’t. Zahra juggles her fake relationship despite falling for Nayim but eventually realizes she has to make a decision between the two.

The Love Match by Priyanka Taslim is a feel-good love story and a clever play on Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. One aspect that makes it unique is the emphasis on Bengali culture and a look at the Bangladeshi-American community in New Jersey. The difference is both of Zahra’s love interests are actually exciting and good guys. There’s no villain and readers will feel the confusion that Zahra feels being pulled between two quality young men.

A perfect gift for young adult romance readers, The Love Match is a feel-good romance story about an independent young woman learning to trust her mother’s keen eye and find love.

This was a nuanced story set in the Bangladeshi community – a culture I haven’t seen represented in novels very often. Zahara was juggling so much in her life – working hard to help support her family, struggling with having to defer her college education while watching her best friends get ready to go – that my heart ached for her. And then her mother surprises her by trying to set up an arranged match that will solve their family’s financial problems.

Zahara isn’t interested in getting engaged and does NOT like the boy that her mother has chosen – Harun. But they decide to fake “dating” in order to sabotage their parents’ matchmaking. At the same time, she is connecting with the new dishwasher at work, leading to a love triangle. Who will she choose? I was guessing until the end, rooting for first for Nayim, then Harun, then back again.

I loved this story of a young woman coming into herself and discovering who she is and what she really wants.

I received an ARC from Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

For a book that hinges on a love triangle, this was done extremely well! I loved Zahra, and the elements of Bengali culture were so cool to read about!

This book was so cute! It’s a pretty straight forward YA love triangle steeped in gorgeous Bengali culture. There are a couple twists that are relatively predictable but the characters are so lovable I found myself immersed in the story anyway.

Okay this was so refreshing to read. First of all I loved the Bangladeshi representation, you do not get to see much of if in any YA books. The culture and representation were done and written so well that you know the author really knows what theyre doing and they have true love for their culture.

It made me laugh and cry, it was just so heart warming. I loved Zahra as our main character, she's charming without being cringey and also overall relatable.

Thank Netgalley for the ARC!

Zahra aims to be a Good Bangladeshi Daughter™, so when her mother arranges a potential match for her and surprises her with a date, she has no choice but to go along with it. Although the match, Harun, is good-looking, he's standoffish and cold but, being a Good Bangladeshi Son™, he is as eager to please his parents as Zahra, and the two of them hatch a plot to fake date for a few weeks to keep everyone happy. Meanwhile, Zahra begins developing actual feelings for Nayim a new boy in town - but with no money and no prospects, it's a match she knows her mother would never approve. Romantic schemes, grand gestures, Deshi cultural touchpoints, and a cast of friends and family make this romcom as lovable as any natok or Austen romance.

I read this book compulsively in less than 24 hours. I love when a book hooks me from the first page and chapter - it endears me to the story immediately - and this book only got better as the story went on. I found the main character Zahra, absolutely lovable, her humor makes the character jump off the page. Meanwhile, her relationship with her mom will be highly relatable for anyone who's ever felt the pressure to make their parents proud, especially if that came at the sacrifice of their own happiness. I also looooooved the main romance. The love interest was written well, and their connection felt so authentic and organic. It's a relationship that readers will be invested in and I think the ending was true to their story as well. I also have to say I loved how much Deshi, Muslim, and diaspora culture was included in the story; it's not a culture or history I'm very familiar with, so I really appreciated all the added background for us newbies (for instance, info on Paterson, Pakistan-Bangladesh history, tea and food descriptions, etc.).

The only things I didn't love were the supporting cast of characters felt a little under-defined and the ending felt a little rushed. There were a lot of moving pieces to this plot so I totally get it, but I could've done with another 10 pages of character shading on Zahra's friends and family. As well, the ending was fine but I would've liked to see first-hand the reconciliations/conclusions with both love interests.

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I received an ARC from Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing for review coverage.

Love Match was a great read. It's been punted as a To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before meets Pride and Prejudice and that's quite an apt description. It has all the easy, cutesy niceness of To All The Boys with the witty tension of P&P. The family and community dynamics, the strong women friendships and the cute romance were written well. Priyanka manages to write all the difficulties of being a brown girl without it coming off hating on the community.

The only thing I found slightly strange was the arranged marriage at such a young age but since I'm not Bengali-American I don't think I could really comment on that experience.

Otherwise a great read and would definitely recommend!

As soon as I heard about this book, I was so excited to dive into it. When I first started The Love Match, I had a guess as to how the story would play out, but I was pleasantly surprised at every turn! Not only did we explore romance but we also focused on Zahra's relationship with her family and friends. I was engaged with the story the whole time while reading because of the various aspects of Zahra's life we focused on. We saw her struggle to balance her responsibilities as the oldest sibling while also trying to achieve her dreams of becoming a writer. All the while she is also worried about being left behind by her friends who are going off to college. These various aspects gave Zahra so much dimension and made her a great character to read about.

The overall vibe of this book is really lighthearted which I enjoyed. There was so many cute moments that reminded me of the classic romantic comedies that I love. Plus all the fun tropes like fake dating! I'm usually not a fan of love triangles but this one worked really well! I could definitely see our main character choosing either of the love interests until the very end, and I thought the ending wrapped things up very well! My only critique is that one of the twists felt a bit unbelievable. The flowing writing style also made for a quick read. I saved a lot of quotes from this book! My favourite character was Zahra, we got to see so much of her personality throughout the course of her story. I would definitely want to be her friend.

Overall this book was super cute! I especially liked how it not only talked about romance relationships but also explored themes of family, friendships, and grief.

Well, firstly, I will blame Priyanka Taslim for putting a certain Bollywood song in my head, all about how to say I Love You in various Indian languages, including Bengali! (IYKYK) Honestly, I've been singing that classic since I finished the book!
Secondly, I LOVED the book.
Being a person of colour myself and a writer of desi fiction, I am thrilled to read books that show characters from more relatable backgrounds. Even though I am not from Bangladesh or Muslim, there are plenty of parallels that can be made between the characters in The Love Match and the lives of your average Asian person.
A girl with aspirations that she already knows won't ever be reached.
The responsibility of doing right by her family.
The reflection of her behaviour upon everyone else in her family.
Wanting to make her own choices but not being able to.
Zahra Khan is a fantastic main character, with all the above in her mind as she goes about her daily life, achieving excellent grades and working full time after high school to help her widowed mother make ends meet, as well as helping to look after her younger siblings. She has dreams of going to college, just like her best friends; however, that is not a financial priority right now. Neither is her passion for writing, which her mother and most of the adults around her don't know about or wouldn't understand.
Then throw into the mix the Aunties, who watch and know everything, passing comments on their WhatsApp groups.
Obviously, the answer to the family's prayers is for her to be paired off with a boy from an affluent family, so she can live in comfort, and that comfort and respect can be passed on to her own family.
But when you have another interest in mind, these arranged things can go a bit awry.
And all this at eighteen!
I loved it. The story was peppered with Bengali phrases, which meant I learned more as I read, and added words like saa, meaning chai or tea, and shona (darling?) to my very tiny repertoire of Bengali, which previously consisted of hume tumake balo baashi, (I love you) from the lyrics of the afore-mentioned song!
Okay, I am off to go and sing again, but definitely, it's one to read!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

I got to interview Priyanka on my podcast, Raise Your Words. I have Bengali relatives (brother's wife) and this was so much fun to read. It has a halal romance and IS SO SATISFYING. I legit read this in ONE day. I will promote the hell out of this book. Zahra is an incredible protagonist and I loved the two main leads. There's a lot of banter and family drama in this.