Female Fantasy is the epitome of a book written for romance readers everywhere! This was the most fun I’ve had reading in a while, and I practically binged this book in a day.
Joonie learns that her favorite book’s love interest is based on a real life person, so after a long string of failed relationships, she makes it her mission to meet her supposed “soul mate”. She spends more time in her fantasy world than not, according to her brother’s next friend, who invited himself along for the journey. Joonie soon finds herself in a wild adventure and may find love along the way.
Joonie is overlooked by a lot of people in her life, and is seen as a silly girl with her head in the clouds. She has such perseverance displayed throughout the story, and especially when it comes to her love life backstory. Her love for romance books makes her a stronger person, and shows everyone around her how full of love she truly is!
The snippets from A Tale of Salt and Water and Secrets were fantastic! I totally understand Joonie’s obsession with the book and the MMC, Ryke. The two stories were interwoven perfectly and added depth to the plot of the overall book.
Both Joonie and Marriah had suffered through abusive relationships, but overcame their pasts to become strong women. The book has an overall fun vibe, but also contains important messaging about how the romance genre can be beneficial for readers.
Thank you to Netgalley and Cosmo Reads for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The best parts of this book were Joonie and Nico, which at times felt like my heart was being squeezed, to be followed immediately by switching into the storyline of Marriah and Ryke. The underwater fantasy storyline resembled closely domed aspects of ACOTAR (a little too closely at times where I was cringing). I enjoyed Iman’s entry into romance writing and look forward to her expanding in this genre.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

Female Fantasy is a sharp, funny, and refreshingly original take on the romance industry in all its chaotic glory. Her voice is instantly recognizable—witty, compelling, and impossible to put down. And Joonie might just be my favorite FMC she’s ever written.

I loved this book so so much! Iman is such a talented writer, the way that she is able to use satire in her storytelling is executed to perfection. I also love the underlying message of the book. I can’t wait for my friends to get their hands on this when it comes out in October!

A brother's best friend? Sign me up! This book was fun and and the premise is great - a silly and light beach read!.

Our protagonist is a jaded woman who is sure the only man who isn't absolute garbage is fictional - I am sure many book girlies can relate. The fantasy world (which mirrors a problematic book series, but I digress) is interesting in how it's placed into the book, like seeing two stories at once. Nico was sweet and a good balance for Joonie. All in all a fun read!

I really loved this playful take on the romantasy genre and especially the found family.communities found within that genre. It's often said that books geared towards a female audience are taken less seriously, and I love how the protagonist used all the things she learned from her favorite books to make her the hero of difficult situations. Especially when her male counterpart was too afraid or stunned to do anything useful. Hariri-Kia excels at writing about complicated relationships, but especially when it comes doen to the root of the main characters trauma and how it relates to the way they live their lives. I can't wait to read more of whatever this author publishes in the future.

Wow, this was such a charming and delightful read! I didn’t know what to expect but the author’s note at the beginning had me feeling like I’d love the story.

Joonie is such a fabulous and inspiring FMC with how hopeful and trusting she is. It was easy to root for her even when some of her decisions felt wild to me (getting in a car with suspicious individuals???).

I loved Nico too and how he wasn’t some perfect, idealized version of a man that we see all too often with MMCs. Joonie saved their lives while he panicked, and it was so great so see.

I was also pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed the fantasy story playing out between the actual story. The only thing I didn’t like is how it’s basically ACOTAR, but that’s just because I’m an SJM hater. It felt weird using SJM/ACOTAR as a template in this story where some of Joonie’s struggles are because she’s a WoC. But I imagine it was the best real world novel to mimic with how popular it is.

Silly, fun, goofy read!!!! UNHINGED in the best way💙
This was such an interesting plot and concept! Iman killed it!

Thank you to Cosmo Reads and NetGalley for the ARC!

3/5 stars

This was a very interesting and unique read! We had Joonie's story panning out in real life as she is on her own unexpected journey to finding love but we also have the story unfolding from the series she loves. While I did appreciate the way this was written and being invested in both stories, it was a little challenging to stay as connected as I could when we slipped back and forth with no warning. I started to be able to understand and anticipate the switch between stories but it still felt jarring when something big happened with Joonie and then the next sentence we're back underwater with the mer.