Sofia Khan is Not Obliged: A heartwarming romantic comedy

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The few things I did like in this book: Her mom’s storyline was great and I loved how she shrugged off people’s opinions and finally focused on her own happiness. Sofia’s interactions with Conall’s dad, particularly when he walked in on her ablutions and was very concerned that she dry her feet properly. I also like that Sofia helped create a publishing company that was focused on publishing Muslim authors. Sofia finished her book. Her bosses liked it except they wanted her to make it more exciting and sellable by adding sex. Sofia made the edits but then she realized that she did not want to write a stereotypical book about Muslim dating and convinced her boss to let her write a new book. She also gave in her notice at work even though she wasn’t sure what she’d do next. Conall Shows Up Love blossoms between Connall and Sofia and they are ready to re-marry. Sofia also becomes an arbitrator between her Mother and Mehoob, who left the marital home after an arguement about Sofia getting married again.

And I also did not appreciate her extreme awareness of Sakib when she was still married and heartbroken. That didn’t seem like the behaviour of someone who was heartbroken. So Sofia Khan is now married - great! And this sequel to Sofia Khan is Not Obliged look into the other side of marriage, once you get past the whole fairy-tale idealism of it. That marriage is not just falling in love and living happily after, it is much much more.

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But Sofia says nothing because: ' it's not PC to judge – we are all autonomous beings, blah blah blah'. Her friends at work are horrified: i felt like the editing was also rather poor in this book as the book just felt like it was too all over the place...i get it's a diary and sofia's life is a mess but urgh it just annoyed me. This fictional diary of the dating travails of one righteous romantic is snort-diet-Coke-out-of-your-nostrils funny and will resonate with any woman who’s looking for love' – RED MAGAZINE Her living situation is in dire straits, her husband Conall is distant, and his annoyingly attractive colleague is ringing all sorts of alarm bells.

Widely celebrated here in town, the family's successful resettlement made Kansas City a destination for 35 additional Syrian families. I tried! I did! But what normal human being would ask another human being to live with a cohort of mother, father, brother and sister-in-law with two children, complete with a sister and brother-in-law and three children next door, and a hole-in-the-wall joining the two houses? (Just writing that sentence about so many people confused me; imagine living with them.)” But rather than becoming focal points of the like used in a previous array of novels dealing with the subject of second-generation immigrants struggling to make sense of their own identities, torn between their cultural heritage and that which they have grown up in, instead Malik uses such moments of confusion as comic devices. It pretty soon becomes apparent that Hannah is living like a Victorian kept women: Zulfi buys her a house and he visits her when he's not spending time with his real family. She becomes consumed with jealousy.Don't think about what you've lost. Think of the things you still have. And what, if you look for it, you might find." The tone of the book, whilst it was a lighthearted read, was serious as well, touching upon issues such a racism, immigration and the dangers of stereotyping.

Honestly, I found this book difficult to rate and see-sawed between 3 and 4 stars for a long time before I finally compromised and settled on 3.5. I loved the relationship between Sofia and Conall in the first book - the end of Sofia Khan is Not Obliged definitely gave me the warm fuzzies - and I'm still not sure how I feel about what happens to their relationship in this book. As the blurb suggests, Sofia discovers that Conall has a pretty big secret and that secret turned Conall into someone I wasn't sure I liked anymore. I appreciated that Conall became more complex, that he's definitely not perfect despite Sofia's idolisation of him in the first book, but the secret he keeps from Sofia is not okay (the keeping it from her that is, not the secret itself) and I got a little frustrated by the way he seemed to look down on Sofia's writing career in this book while expecting her to put up with his own passion project. This was especially confusing considering he was so supportive of her in the first book. Sofia Khan is Not Obliged ends with Conall and Sofia on their flight to Pakistan. Conall tells Sophia that he’s become Muslim. She’s stunned and agrees to explore a future with him. Conall jokes that they’re going to go to the mosque to teach her some disciple and he tells her that they will take cooking classes since she is a disaster in the kitchen. One of the things I love about Sofia is her no-BS, no lovey-dovey attitude. It's one of the same reasons I love Lizzie Bennet. They're not pining for a man or seeking validation through one, and their resolution to follow their heart (eventually) against mainstream expectations is a model of woman that should be much more present. Because even with a partner, what's right for you and your growth? A few days before Conall leaves, Sofia calls off her wedding with Imran. She realized that it’s a big deal for him to leave home and she would be forever indebted to him. Scholars from the University of Malaysia have recognised Sofia Khan is Not Obliged for its attention to the Islamic principle of 'haya', relating to one's modesty and how such modesty is enacted through the protagonist's decision to wear hijab. Rashedun Nahar, Zalina Mohd Lazim, Noraini Md. Yusof have also claimed that the story of romantic Muslim relationships in Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged, has become representative of all 'diasporic Muslim women'. [1]I was absolutely delighted when I got the opportunity to review THE OTHER HALF OF HAPPINESS by Ayisha Malik, even though it was my first encounter with the beloved character of Sofia Khan. Although I had not read the first book in this series, it did not remotely take away from this beautifully emotional and entertaining story as the author effortlessly filled in any gaps I may have had. But when you find an author as good as Ayisha Malik, I would recommend buying all of her books!!

This is a book I don’t think I would have come across or been interested in but my friend who was reading it suggested I do too because of how funny it is and she was kind enough to borrow me her copy. She did not lie!! I laughed so hard while reading this and sometimes too much that it led to crying.

Sofia Khan has just rejected her boyfriend Imran on account of a “hole-in-the-wall”. Unfortunately she’s not referring to an ever-handy cash point, but rather an improvised doorway between adjoining houses.