Finding Mr Perfectly Fine: 'I loved it. Utterly charming' Jenny Colgan, the freshest and funniest romcom of 2022

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I mean her sister put on a hijab as a disguise which was meant to make her look ugly? and she was immediately uncomfortable after putting it on? and their first thought was about getting hate crimed? like what??? I totally understand as the eldest there’s certain rules and regulations to adhere to but I feel like things just happened to her and she just went along with it.

If Adam was a spice, he would be paprika. A little smoky, a little spicy, the perfect spice to give a curry a depth of colour. Hamza, on the other hand, is more like turmeric. Plain but dependable. You need it in every curry, but you don’t really know why.’ I really appreciated that the book was authentic to our culture and did not try to portray Muslims as being ‘perfect’ in our deen but at the same time did not try to whitewash our religion to suit the non-Muslim narratives. Crone, Madeline (April 7, 2021). "Taylor Swift Pulls Number Two 'From the Vault', "Mr.Perfectly Fine" ". American Songwriter. Archived from the original on May 22, 2021 . Retrieved May 22, 2021. It's the same for all of us. Throughout the novel there are so many moments, scenes and chapters where exactly that happens. Sometimes I had to laugh because one of Zara’s dates turned so awkward (we have all been there), other times I desperately wanted to know how it continues because it felt so exciting (we have all been there too) and sometimes I almost cried because some dates, some break ups were so sad or humiliating ( we have all been there too unfortunately). Bailey, Alyssa (April 7, 2021). "Taylor Swift's 'Mr. Perfectly Fine' Lyrics Seem to be Her Most Brutal Joe Jonas Breakup Song". Elle. Archived from the original on June 2, 2021 . Retrieved May 31, 2021.I know it takes a lot to write a book and how hard it is to satisfy everyone’s version of Muslim representation in women of their culture so I have to applaud the author for rooting this novel in a sense of place and with a character which has her feet planted in both her British and Bengali culture. Iasimone, Ashley (June 18, 2023). "All the Surprise Songs Taylor Swift Has Performed on The Eras Tour (So Far)". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 19, 2023 . Retrieved June 19, 2023. In Billboard's ranking of the 50 best songs of 2021 so far, "Mr. Perfectly Fine" placed 46th, with critics from the magazine applauding its lyrics and describing the song as "vintage Taylor Swift that still feels fresh in 2021." [27] Accolade [ edit ] Awards and nominations for "Mr. Perfectly Fine" With just a year to go, time is of the essence, so Zara joins a dating app and signs up for speed dating. This book was my companion whilst I was in hospital with a serious virus that infected my knee. As I went through a roller-coaster of emotions, Tasneem asked me, ‘What can I do? How can I help you?’ The hours dragged on in the hospital and I wished out loud, if only her book was published. She then generously sent me a digital copy of her book with her final edit notes on it, weeks before release! Boy, was I excited! What a privilege!

Zara is the 29yo daughter of a Bangladeshi British family (North London, not Tower Hamlets: this is a book extremely grounded in its place). She's a moderately observant Muslim, and takes her religion and culture seriously, while also holding modern British attitudes about eg feminism that make for uneasy bedfellows. There's a lot here about the difficulty of reconciling cultures and fitting different expectations together, and a lot of people with wildly divergent views on how to live and indeed how other people should. Very like reality in fact, and I hugely liked that almost nobody is an outright villain and absolutely nobody is entirely in the right. It does bring up the question though, is being married to anybody better than being single and happy? How does the latter sit in today’s culture and society? Whilst it’s more common now to remain single or marry much later, first-generation parents are often conflicted and find this hard to accept. I get Zara is supposed to be desperate to find a husband, but her desperation in this book came off in a bad way. Especially since she is supposed to be a muslim women and the author wanted that to be apart of her identity.

Summary

As Zara juggles messaging men, going on dates with Hamza who seems a nice guy and shared her values but she sadly doesn’t fancy and then she starts feeling sparks with Adam the graphics designer at work suddenly the waters are very muddy! With every decision, every choice we make, no matter who you are, we make mistakes, fall, stand up, grow and thrive. Zara is making a lot of decisions and a lot of mistakes but grows from them and finds herself. The complex, multi-layered main character Tasneem has created here, gives the reader an unforgettable reading experience, one to learn from, one to feel compassion, but above all, one to escape the real and crazy world, to dive into the also crazy but wonderful world of Zara, her dating life and be able to laugh and relate with her experiences. Horton, Ross (April 9, 2021). "Taylor Swift reclaims her pivotal moment by breathing new life into Fearless". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on April 9, 2021 . Retrieved April 9, 2021.

I have so much to say about Zara’s love interests and other twists and turns in the book but I really don’t want to give anything more away at this early stage where people are still reading it. I found myself getting frustrated with Zara sometimes as I kept willing her to…

Taylor Swift". Billboard. Archived from the original on February 7, 2020 . Retrieved April 14, 2021. As Zara’s parents compile the equivalent of a dating CV to be distributed within the community and ramp up the suitor search efforts she starts to feel disillusioned and exhausted by it all. See the promo video at the book launch here which shows the heart of this book: www.facebook.com/tasneem.abdurrashid/videos/3205925779625722 The plot of the book was quite good and relatable. As a south Asian woman coming up to my 30s I understand the pressure of society to get married so I was actually interested in Zara's story of choosing Mr. perfectly fine or someone who she might love. This is why I was torn over my annoyance for Zara leading the men on in the book but also I understood why she did it. Ultimately as south Asian's we want to choose the person our parents would approve of and I felt like that is what Zara ultimately was trying to find rather than her own happiness. It did confuse me though how Zara's Mr. perfectly fine (Hamza) was everything she wanted yet she felt no attractiveness to him. Just personally, if someone matches all my criteria then I would for sure feel somewhat attracted to them but maybe it isn't for everyone. In addition, Hamza had his faults but it was like Zara didn't realise the flaws and if his flaws had been used to justify her unattractiveness I would have been on her side but she never comments on his controllingness, how he put her in awkward situations without her consent or knowledge and how he basically ghosted her for ages. If the author has made Zara not like him for that I could understand but she didn't and that was a let down. I enjoyed Adam in the book and found his relationship with Zara to be cute but it felt more like crush/lust rather than I want to be and marry this man. So personally I couldn't root for any of the two men.