As a desi, I think it’s so important for us to see representation, and as a desi from an upper middle class family, I can tell it’s important to talk about the kind of horrors that some arranged marriages can cause in small villages in Pakistan. But as a reader of international fiction, I worry about what the non-Pakistani reader takes away about our country from this novel: do they believe all Pakistanis are intolerant of love marriages and willing to drug girls into saying yes? And in continuing this conversation, isn’t it upon the reader to not expect a book to represent everything about a country, in all of its complexities and contradictions? Is the author to blame if our country is not publishing enough fiction to represent all the different ways of living in Pakistan there are? This book, I devoured it in only a little more than three hours. I didn’t do anything else once I started reading it.

When Darcy begs Elle to play along, she agrees to pretend they’re dating to save face. But with a few conditions: Darcy must help Elle navigate her own overbearing family over the holidays and their arrangement expires on New Year’s Eve. The last thing they expect is to develop real feelings during a fake relationship. stars. Review to come once I've collected my thoughts - all I can say is that this has officially been deemed one of my personal favorites in a long time.Now Elle and Darcy find themselves in a “fauxmance” just to make a few social events more palatable, up until New Year’s Eve. Life hasn’t been easy, but it gets less painful every day, and as I look at Saif, I know that love—in its essence, at its core—is the most bittersweet thing there is. I've read quite a few books on Pakistani - American immigrant parents and culture, and this was no different. I understand it's not only about culture and we also see forced marriages happening across cultures and countries. I hate keeping secrets from her. But how can I explain that I see the world a little differently and my way of looking at the world isn’t bad, not if it means their daughter has found someone she loves, someone who makes her completely and unbelievably happy?

A life of loneliness is an awful punishment for one bad decision. We don’t want that for you. Trust us. Promise you won’t disappoint us.” elle and darcy themselves have amazing chemistry, although i think elle's character is more developed than darcy's? or perhaps elle is just more relatable to me. her growth is phenomenal; her deep loneliness and desire to be seen and wanted, and her gradual realization that she deserves better than the bare minimum. so inspiring to see elle struggle to know her worth, and finally commit to believing in herself. You can choose what you want to be when you grow up, the types of shoes you want to buy, how long you want your hair to be. But your husband, that’s different. We choose your husband for you.” Boyfriend?” he yells. “My daughter has a boyfriend?” His words reverberate through the house. They shake the walls. I shudder. Boyfriend is a dirty, shameful word.Overall: Very refreshing to see LGBTQ+ characters who are 1) sure of their sexualities 2) don’t have an identity based solely on their sexuality and 3) do not have to “overcome” some aspect of their sexuality. This was a cute story that I enjoyed, there were just some elements of the way it was written that bothered me. For Naila’s parents, the idea that Naila could conceivably have a boyfriend is beyond the realms of possibility. This particular aspect of the story felt very true to life, because most Pakistani parents are like this. I say most, because there is great variation amongst the types, of course. Some might not care at all, or might actually encourage their children to find their potential partners, while others are ready to kill their own children who dare to fall in love without parental permission. Eventually, when those massive stars reach the end of their lives, they go out with a bang, a supernova so bright, so beautiful it drowns out all the other stars. And when they do, they throw out all those elements they created. That’s what we’re made of. We’ve got calcium in our bones and iron in our blood and nitrogen in our DNA . . . and all of that? It comes from those stars.” Elle’s eyes glistened, sparkling as bright as the stars she spoke of as she blinked and pointed up at the sky. “We are literally made of stardust.” Written In The Stars by Aisha Saeed, first published in 2015 and is author's debut novel I guess, which focuses on diversity, Pakistani - American culture, forced marriage, love, etc. It’s also sad to think that there are people out there whose most personal decision in life (to choose the person they will love) is dictated by culture, by parents who blindly uphold their culture to the point of cruelty and disregard of their children’s feelings. For me, that’s when it becomes wrong.