Written in the Stars: A Novel

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I was so enthused when I started this book because these characters’ first meeting was a wild ride but so very perfect to set the tone, I just wished the rest had kept up. Such a lovely romance that was sweet and sizzling in equal measure. I absolutely loved both of the main characters. Elle, who believes in star signs and destiny, and Darcy, who seems emotionally closed off and cynical about love. Probably my only gripe is that the miscommunication went on for one or two too many rounds for my liking. Still a gorgeous romantic read. I vividly remember a time when one of my friends told me that when her mother discovered she had a boyfriend, she slapped her. For my friends and me, corporal punishment was a distant reality. Our parents had never raised their hands on us, and we always believed they never would. But for my friend’s mother, the real life existence of her young daughter’s boyfriend had been a turning point. Moments like those are representative, because they teach you that some issues are bigger than your imagination could conceive. Even though for years and years we are told to sit properly and not laugh loudly and stay away from boys because boys will be boys and it is on girls to protect themselves, the misogyny of Pakistani society is still hard to digest in all its extremes. elle and darcy themselves have amazing chemistry, although i think elle's character is more developed than darcy's? or perhaps elle is just more relatable to me. her growth is phenomenal; her deep loneliness and desire to be seen and wanted, and her gradual realization that she deserves better than the bare minimum. so inspiring to see elle struggle to know her worth, and finally commit to believing in herself. Although, I feel the need to shed some positive light over this too, as it should be noted that not all cases of consensual arranged marriage end up in lifelong misery or forced adjustment, of course. There's no denying that following this line of tradition can and has (as I've witnessed firsthand) led to a remarkably successful and love-filled espousal.

elle was very earnest and sweet, i liked her too. the steamy moments were well written and the writing style was very entertaining to read. i absolutely loved the development of darcy and elle’s relationship for most of the book and thought that they had great chemistry.

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As a desi, I think it’s so important for us to see representation, and as a desi from an upper middle class family, I can tell it’s important to talk about the kind of horrors that some arranged marriages can cause in small villages in Pakistan. But as a reader of international fiction, I worry about what the non-Pakistani reader takes away about our country from this novel: do they believe all Pakistanis are intolerant of love marriages and willing to drug girls into saying yes? And in continuing this conversation, isn’t it upon the reader to not expect a book to represent everything about a country, in all of its complexities and contradictions? Is the author to blame if our country is not publishing enough fiction to represent all the different ways of living in Pakistan there are? Even though this is a love story yet it is more theme-driven. The area it focuses is forced marriages. Unfortunately, the plague of such marriages against will is deeply enrooted in many parts of the world and knows no boundaries of country, race or religion. Naila is just one victim of this narrow-mindset and her story is significant because she is the representative of such girls going through such unfairness. Naila is hiding a secret from her parents: She's in love with a boy named Saif and if her parents were to find out, they'd be furious. The choosing of her husband is left to up to them, with no input from her. As a result, This may see like too much involvement for some, but for Naila culture, it's a deep level of trust and love for her parents that motivates her to accept this... kinda. The problem is that since she has found someone who she's fallen in love with, she no longer wants that for herself. But the worst does happen, and Naila suddenly finds herself whisked off to Pakistan, far away from the boy she loves and a life she wants. This is certainly one of the best sapphic romances I've ever read. Though there are quite few to be found. If you love the romance genre you’ll like this one! It is set around the holidays so I think its a great book to read in the winter. Get the Book!

When Darcy begs Elle to play along, she agrees to pretend they’re dating to save face. But with a few conditions: Darcy must help Elle navigate her own overbearing family over the holidays and their arrangement expires on New Year’s Eve. The last thing they expect is to develop real feelings during a fake relationship. When I was twenty-two years old, I married the love of my life. Both Pakistani-Americans raised in traditional families, our wedding was semiarranged by our parents. We met only once, surrounded by family, before getting engaged, and only a handful of times before our wedding day. This novel also made me think a great deal. It's always nice when a book brings up something that makes you slowly set the book down, stare into the cloudy sky, and really think in depth about what you just read. I thought a lot about what it would be like to be forced into a marriage, I thought a lot about the differences between being an Irish Catholic American versus a Pakistani-American. I contemplated the moral and cultural aspects of arraigned marriages. Even in my head, that one was hard because I almost feel like I don't have the right to think about the moral side of the event. Since I am Irish Catholic and an American, I am incredibly removed from this situation and I don't know much about it at all and I don't know what it's like to grow up just accepting and expecting that my parents will choose my husband. I feel like I don't have the right to state my opinion on it so I won't in this review, but I did think about the whole thing a great deal. I struggled with it because I could see the parents' side of the argument and Naila's side as well. I thought (of course, me, being the feminist warrior I am) about the sexism in arraigned marriages, like whether they are sexist or not. Whether that's ever talked about. Whether females who go through this think it's sexist or believe it to just be part of their culture (this really intrigues me because so many white people claim that wearing garments that cover women's hair is sexist but I've heard plenty of girls who cover their hair to say they like it or it's just purely cultural). Anyway, Aisha Saeed wrote Written in the Stars beautifully and it teaches young people (or any audience of this book because, really, someone of any age can read it) to have empathy and tolerance towards the sorts of situations Naila goes through. The most important part of this book, I think, is what it teaches the reader. It definitely taught me a lot.

Arranged marriages remain a worldwide concern, not only in less developed countries. As the author has put it, this problem presents itself as a silent epidemic.

You can choose what you want to be when you grow up, the types of shoes you want to buy, how long you want your hair to be. But your husband, that’s different. We choose your husband for you. You understand that, right?” I’ve heard this more times than I can count. The first time we had this conversation was seven years ago, when I was ten. Quit trying to marry me off like I’m some Regency spinster in one of your favorite Austen novels.” “Your name is Darcy.” “And I might be a single woman in possession of a good fortune, but I’m not in want of a wife.” Nonetheless, I recommend this book to everybody particularly the readers who appreciate a good book on a social vice. The book carries a strong message that needs to find its way to everybody's shelf. I was so nervous to read this book because I had heard that it was “steamy”. You know I have a love hate relationship with romance books. Well, I am happy to report I liked it! This was my first female/female romance book and I really enjoyed it.First off, this was a very interesting story about a subject matter I had never read about before. It introduces the reader to the culture slowly, and I found a lot about it very fascinating.