I really appreciated that the book was authentic to our culture and did not try to portray Muslims as being ‘perfect’ in our practice but at the same time did not try to whitewash our religion to suit the non-Muslim narratives.

I really enjoyed all the different cultural aspects described, discussed and included in this book. I learnt things about Islam that I hadn’t previously known as well as about Bengali, Egyptian and Turkish culture which was something I enjoyed reading about. This book did also focus a lot on self-love and discovery which was really nice and Zara did noticeable change throughout the narrative to reflect this. As a British Bengali myself and living in North London, having also gone through the myriad of candidates imposed on me by my elders, I completely felt at home at the familiarity of Zara’s mum and grandmother. The sibling relationship was also very relatable and entertaining. Zara’s quest to find Mr Perfectly Fine was not easy and having a time-pressure on top meant that she had to move fast and try out all ‘desperate’ measures.

Dragged on a bit hence 4 stars overall. The ending was a let down to be honest. Felt it was geared towards a being acceptable for a white audience. The dating/courtship scenes was more white than muslim asian courting. The muslim representation had a lot of white liberal feminist undertones which I don't personally agree with.

Mr Perfectly Fine reminded me a lot of Bridget Jones, minus the partying and booze. Zara Chowdhury a British-Bangladeshi 29-year-old from North London. Like most South-Asian parents, Zara’s parents are concerned that she’s almost 30 and unmarried. With her homemade Victoria Sponge cake, Zara’s mum gives her a threat: if she’s not engaged by her 30th birthday, she will be sent to Bangladesh to find a ‘fresh-from-the-desh’ husband. Exhausted by her mum’s archaic marriage resources, Zara takes matters into her own hands. She joins a dating app and signs up for speed dating. Zara meets Hamza - a kind British Egyptian who shares her values, but the spark isn’t there, especially when she cannot stop thinking about a certain Turkish man who works with her. Even though it’s fiction it’s kind not really highlighting the right way and I feel like it takes away from how inspiring it could’ve been had the author played it right the religious aspect is a big part of marriage in the Bengali community and others as well and so it just felt like the author was taking the piss and whitewashing the culture. Like there are modern day approaches to marriage that don’t include things that go against the religion. I feel like the constant issues in the book were a bit too over exaggerated and I just genuinely think this book was unrealistic. And even if it’s fiction I feel like it can influence the youth a lot and make them think that the way the main character approached marriage and finding a partner in this book is okay but it’s not. It literally felt like someone who wasn’t a Bengali Muslim was trying to have a go at writing about how they thought a Bengali muslim went about marriageZara is a bit Bridget Jones without the booze: chaotic life, series of terrible decisions. She does a lot of romcom heroine things (including bumping into people and spilling things, my kingdom for one single romcom heroine with basic spatial awareness) and, more to the point, pursuing her goal of getting married before she's 30 with more enthusiasm than sense. The online dating is wonderfully done and the traditional matchmaking equally painful, and the sense of a desperate hope and willingness to ignore red flags is very well done and relatable. It does bring up the question though, is being married to anybody better than being single and happy? I think my main issue is that Zara learns about herself but doesn’t seem able to apply that knowledge to herself or her relationships or those she interacts with. This is frustrating to read. 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.

Last week I turned 29. Along with the usual homemade Victoria sponge, helium balloon and Selfridges gift vouchers, my Mum's birthday present to me was the threat that if I'm not engaged by my 30th birthday, she's sending me off to the Motherland to find a fresh-from-the-Desh husbandMylrea, Hannah (April 9, 2021). "Taylor Swift – 'Fearless (Taylor's Version)' review: a celebration of self". NME. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023 . Retrieved May 22, 2021. If Zara doesn’t find a husband by 30th birthday her mother will send her on a flight to Bangladesh straight to Shahjala airport, with an arranged marriage, to find a fresh from the Desh husband.