A combination of pop-culture references, classic rom-com elements, and fun banter makes for an engaging read.

A highly entertaining and readable romcom featuring all your favourite tropes: fake dating, friends to lovers, love triangles and plenty of pining. Rich, warm and humourous, with realistic teen characters and friendships at its heart.

About Anika Hussain

While both Zara and Adnan insist that will never happen — they’re close friends, that’s it — the tide turns when Adnan needs to cover-up his real girlfriend and begs Zara to pretend they’re an item. How hard can it be? Very, as things turn out. First up, there’s a whole lot of practical issues around how they behave towards each other, and around Adnan’s actual girlfriend. Then there’s jealousy, and the problem of Zara falling for someone for real. With a fun meta-fiction vibe (a romcom about romcom with entertaining romcom twists), the besties-to-couple trope is thrust to the fore from the off: “that’s literally how every YA romcom starts. Boy and girl are besties, they get involved in a fake dating scheme and then BAM they get together for real.” One of my favorite things about This is How You Fall in Love was the characters. The main character of this story, Zara, is a Desi teenager, a bookworm, a romantic at heart and a huge fan of rom-coms. I found the way she was depicted realistic as a whole: she makes mistakes, she’s sometimes angry and impulsive, she’s certainly a teenager in all of her glory and, well, that’s a young adult book and I expected it. Most of it all, I loved it. I immediately found myself caring for her and wanting her to have her own happy ending. Zara loves love in all forms: 90s romcoms and romance novels and grand sw eeping gestures. And she's desperate to have her own great love story. Crucially, a real one. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Bestselling author Alexandra Christo, author of TikTok sensation To Kill a Kingdom, introduces her new book, The Night Hunt (Hot Key Books), a dark... However, the characters annoyed the HELL out of me. Every single one of them. Especially Adnan and Cami, who, despite asking Zara to do this massive favour for them so they could be together in secret, had the audacity to be mad at her for not doing that quite right. There were parts where I was pretty confused about - like, why couldn't they just hang out without Zara there, especially somewhere not in public? I didn't quite understand all of that. It felt like Cami and Zara were just being pitted against each other for drama's sake and I think it would've been a better message for that not to happen.

Multibuys

The Desi culture described in this book was interesting to learn about and although I cannot comment on the authenticity of it, I will comment on the enjoyment I found in finding out more about their culture. I did really enjoy the family aspect in this book, and the way Zara navigates her relationship with her parents; it was really sweet and lovely, and I wish we'd had even more scenes with her parents in. I also really loved the representation of Desi culture - while I can't comment on the accuracy of the book as I am not South Asian myself, it did feel really authentic and I loved reading about it. True love is never an easy ride, but for Zara, her story has more twists and turns than the average. Mixing this fantastically written romcom with traditional Desi families creates an exciting read that really will have you longing for the next chapter. This novel also covers a wide range of topics including romance, friends to lovers, Desi families, jealousy, secrets and best friends. I would highly recommend this book to those who love a good romcom story mixed with friendship and the life of a teenager.

All of which leaves readers expecting that very thing to happen to Zara and Adnan. Cue much confusion and soul-searching realisations on the path to heart-stirring happiness. I feel like the best books have to include at least one character that is a book lover and I think that is what sold this book for me.

Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Libra Goodreads Librarians are volunteers who help ensure the accuracy of information about books and authors in the Goodreads' catalog. The Goodreads Librarians Group is the official group for requesting additions or updates to the catalog, including: Extra brownie points for the female friendship in this story, between Zara and Sadie. They’re both huge fans of rom-coms and Sadie’s an incredible friend all along. Loved them! I will start by saying the story for this didn't go how I expected. The friendship between Zara and Adnan was cute. I didn't see why there was such a focus from the other main characters for them getting together. While the premise of fake dating was good, I feel like some of it fell flat. Some of the reasoning for her being on the dates with Cami and Adnan made no sense. And I really didn't like how Cami treated Zara after she was doing her a big favor. That being said, the premise for this book was a little too messy. While I did think the ending was unexpected and a bit refreshing. It became a bit confusing at times to keep up with all the lies. Zara is a big romance fan and reading and discussing films with her friends, but she and her best friend Adnan are getting heat from their parents who are desperate for them to get together. Then suddenly they have to pretend to to protect Adnan’s new girlfriend from family issues. As Zara and Adnan grow closer, is there a point at which they should try to give love an actual chance? overall, i feel this book is a really fun contemporary YA novel that has really relatable and enjoyable/ likeable characters. it’s a great story and i would definitely recommend!