this is how you fall in love

'This is How You Fall in Love' by Anika Hussain was a delightful read. Adnan and Zara have been best friends since forever. Their families spend Sunday dinners, holidays to Bangladesh and every other major life event together. When Adnan falls for new girl Cami, he stumbles across a big problem - they need to keep their relationship a secret due to Cami's overprotective family. Enter a classic fake dating scenario which challenges the boundaries of Adnan and Zara's relationship. Is the love they feel for each other actually like siblings or something more?

I loved lots about this novel. Zara and Sadie's friendship and obsession with romcoms was great. I enjoyed the self-aware labelling of every trope going, with Hussain purposely trying to disrupt and subvert our expectations of what it means to be in love. I am also hugely into Pokemon Go so Zara's quest for legendary pokemon, raiding, and checking Leek Duck had my nerdy soul singing. Such a niche nerd area of life but I felt very seen! (ha)

Overall, Hussain avoids predictability and I enjoyed the plotline. I did sometimes have anger towards how Adnan and Cami treat Zara but everything is addressed with refreshing candid honesty. 4.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher who provided an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.