BOOK REVIEW/Sofia Khan is Not Obliged/ A million things in my mind// accurate representation//we need more books like these

Rating: 4.7/5

So this book. I LOVED IT!

The book follows thirty year old Sofia, a brown hijabi Muslim woman living in London,  as she breaks off her engagement to long-term boyfriend/fiancé Imran, because he wanted them to live with his parents. Her mother is distraught, but Sofia herself is adamant and in true womanly fashion, declares celibacy and decides not to get married at all.

But here’s the thing. Sofia works in the publishing industry and gets offered a chance of a lifetime; to write a book. About Muslim dating. And she takes it.

 Cue online dating on a website called ‘shaadi.com’ (literally translates to marriage.com) and hilarious dates/non-dates as she tries to maintain her job, her sister’s wedding preparations, her typical-brown-mom’s demands for her to FIND someone, and her feminist and diverse group of friends and their own love lives and struggles.

The book is written in the form diary entries, and starts off in a really light tone, though some pretty serious and important stuff comes up.

Now, I don’t read contemporary very often, because to be honest, I kind of hate it.

But I really loved the way this book as written.

 It had unfiltered thoughts by a feminist and religious Muslim woman (which is very much accurate) and felt real and relatable on so many levels. I especially loved the way her dad was portrayed in this book. Many of the aunties and uncles, family members whose judgment none could escape, all of that was stuff that I have experienced, seen, or heard of in my life.

The whole book felt so personal. It felt like Sofia was my friend and every time I opened the book, I was actually going to hang out with her, instead of reading it. Her friends, family and everyone else in this book, basically—including Naim, the attractive happenstance friend, Suj, the Sikh supermodel friend, her mom, her dad, Conall, and even her boss seemed to jump out of the pages of the book.

I tend to hate characters in a lot of books, but honestly, except for stupid ex Imran, I really liked all the characters. Sofia herself felt so real.

This book mainly follows hers and her friends’ love lives, and gives an inside view of the lives of some Muslim families (a lot of stuff about how they go about the process of marriage/meeting you intended, etc, is very different from what I’ve seen in my family, because every family has their own lifestyle, even amongst brown nations).

There was also the mention of being seen as ‘different’ and dealing with racism. A scene occurs while boarding the train where Sofia gets called a terrorist by an old man, and that bothers her a lot. She thinks about it well into the book.

I love how she’s shown as a flawed character; she tries to be religious/stay devout and clean, but often sneaks cigarettes, and even helps her dad hide his stash from her mom.

Her meetings/ interactions with the supposedly racist neighbor are hilarious. He is a white guy who is very antisocial and unsmiling and in the beginning doesn’t even utter a word—for that reason, and his unsmiling demeanor in the face of her wide grins, Sofia thinks he’s racist and that he sees her as a terrorist, which only drives her to assault him with more smiles and kindness and general awkward conversational word vomit. It’s all very fun.

The!!!! Book!!! Was!!!! So!!!! Character!!!! Driven!!!!

The book really felt like a coming of age sort of novel in a way. Sofia is lost in many ways in her life in the beginning of the book, and through her experiences, the twists and turns of the book, (which often left me laughing) she learns a lot. But I still feel like she was too confused. I know it was part of her character development, but come on, how any times do you call a wedding on and off? Her mistakes felt real and honest.  And Imran. Ugh. Get him out of my face, please. That idiot.

Ultimately, in the end Sofia is faced with an unexpected (the plot twist was real) choice, and she has to take a leap of faith. While many characters in the book itself may disagree with her decision, she makes it, and then acts on it, and I think that part really showed how strong and independent of a woman she had come to be.

As an avid fantasy, sci-fi, and adventure reader, I’m used to plots that are much more faster and intense... but, truth be told, I was so eager when reading this book, I was always flipping pages (faster than I read my current favorite fantasy series!)

So in all, Y’ALL SHOULD READ THIS BOOK!

AND THE SEQUEL!

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Book Character Names We've Mispronounced (doesn't actually include Hermione can you believe it)

Let's be real here. We've all done it.

Between endless authors trying to make sure THEIR book characters stay 'unique' and 'unforgettable', I've come across many different, odd character names. This is especially true of fantasy novels. So today, friends, I will share with you a list of the character names that I've mispronounced.

1. Lucien
From The Mortal Instruments series as well as A Court of Thorns and Roses.
You wanna know how I said his name inside my head? Well, this is how:
Loo-she-en.
The real pronunciation is this:
LOO-sian (with a weird, silent-but-not-really sort of n at the end)

So. Um. Moving on.


2. Feyre
From ACOTAR.
alright, so I pronounced her name like :Fire-h
cool, I know.
But the actual pronunciation is 'Fay-Ruh' but whatevs

3. Next we have
Rhysand from ACOTAR. Jeez. I know, too many from just thus one book, but what can I say,  fantasy novels just have allllll the weird names.

I pronounced his name like 'rhice-and' (how you say 'rice but with a little but of an 'h' after r.)
But the real pronunciation is this:
Rhees-sand

Easy, right? *rolls eyes*







4. Greek names. Allll the Greek god names. Ufff.

Okay so Hades.
I kind of just pronounced it like 'haids'( think braids with an h'

But the actual way, I've come to know, is actually this: 'haid-eez'
Like??? I don't??


Then we have another Greek god, Poseidon. Apparently the god of the sea. That's kind of how I pronounced his name too.
'Po-sea- done'
Jeez.
And the real right way to pronounce it is actually
'Po-sigh-done'
Jeez.


6. Now, Hera.
I just kind of do it like this: Hera.

Lol. But you're apparently supposed to say it like 'hai-rah' or something, I don't really care because I don't like her at all from the Percy Jackson books, so.


7. Next we have Zues.





How. Does. One. Pronounce. Greek. Names. If. They. All. Just. Are. So. Different. From. Their. Spellings.


I just kinda went like 'zee-usss'
But its actually 'zoos' hahaha no.

how do u even Greek

8. There was also Hades' wife, Persephone, right?
Watch me as I ruin this name right in front of your eyes.
'Purse-seh-phone' is how I said it. As in, a purse, a say, and a phone. Genius, truly.
And the real way is actually this: 'pur-se-fuh-nay'




Next we have Achilles. Who is. A hero? I think?
I pronounced the name like 'A-Chaialz'
Which is so different from the actual pronunciation I can't. It's 'A-chillies.'
Just. How.



10. Number ten we have Valentine from TMI. You're supposed to say his name like you say Valentine's Day, but of course I had to be me and do something different. So. Ehem.
'Valenteen'  ladies and gentlemen. Valenteen.

That's all I've really been able to recall. There's more, I'm sure, to come, so keep your eyes open, and if you have any unpronounceable fantasy name then please, feel free to share.

Now I must make my leave. Goodbye, frens.

*much drop*
*bows*
*exits*

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Flash Fiction!

PROMPT:
 every so often a dream catcher must be 'emptied' of all the nightmares it has caught. Who does it, and what do they see?  



Fridays were good days, she told herself. Again and again, trying to make herself believe. But they weren't, was the thing, and she didn't. See, Fridays were the days Blue Price would line up all the dream-catchers her customers gave her, and sort them out, make them usable again. She told herself that she was being useful to the world, at least she got paid, and she was helping other people. But the truth remained; it hurt.
But it had to be done. So Blue stopped standing in front of her bathroom mirror and stalling for time, got up  and left for her little musty room where she would do the emptying.
Already there were two waiting customers. It was seven in the morning. Seven. Bloody. a.m.
They looked extremely uncertain on the overstuffed, worn red couch that was the waiting space a man and a woman, not touching but leaning into each other in the way that whose who were in love usually did, and they looked up as Blue entered the candle lit room, her dark green hooded robe covering most of her face and hiding her body.
“The catcher.” Her arm was extended out towards the both of them, waiting.
 The man shifted closer to the woman, and then he was placing the dream-catcher in Blue's hands.
She stepped behind the table, and then closed her eyes. The only sounds in the room were of its occupants' breathing. Something knotted in Blue's stomach, her heart pounded faster, and she willed herself to ignore it all, willed her whirring mind to silence as she held the white dream-catcher over an empty bowl. She called upon the spirits of the land, the energy of all that was around her. Help me, empty these burdens, free the nightmares…
There was a snap sound in her mind, and then the feeling of something seizing her body in a vice-like grip. Dread in her stomach, her heart beating faster, every nerve on end and she knew what was coming, she knew it, calm down, breathe in, breathe out, breathe in—

a sharp pain in her chest, and then she was hurtling through a million pictures at lightning-speed. A dark alley, creatures crawling all over her body. The body of a boy, lying on the ground in a pool of his blood, his face pale, his chest un-moving. A blonde haired girl, sitting up with a knife sticking out of her chest.  A dark cave, wretched hags following after her with broomsticks and fire. A giant cockroach and endless screaming in her ears. Being held at gunpoint. A dark, endless tunnel, and a girl trying to run, trying to get out, asphyxiating, can't breathe, can't think, end this, end it, please let me out—
and then the feeling of being set lose, her body becoming hers again, finally. She opened her eyes, gasping, and realized that the sirens inside her head were actually her own heartbeats, her own blood rushing through her ears, fast and wailing.
 It took her a few moments, but Blue was finally able to focus, and then she looked at the couple, staring at her, then at the bowl. She looked wrung out, and she felt it too. Her own face reflected in a shallow pool of blood, and her hands holding the dream-catcher, red and moist. They were trembling, just like the rest of her and Blue was relieved when finally the dream-catcher was taken out of her hands by the woman, who muttered a thank you. The couple went outside to pay, leaving Blue and her empty thoughts and empty body, ready to retch.

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