This book is about Sofia, a 30-year old Pakistani Muslim who is writing a book about Muslim dating. She uses herself, her family members and friends’ lives as inspiration for the book. From her POV, we get a glimpse into her world as a hijabi. The central conflict in this novel was frustrating, because every character I fell in love with in the first book continued to make completely out of character choices and NO ONE USES THEIR WORDS. Throw in some unnecessarily new characters as potential romantic interests and I was done. The constant conversations about whether a certain character was becoming a “fundo” were relentless and irritating, since it made no sense. So much of this book, for that matter, made no sense.

It makes me so uncomfortable, because punching people is wrong. Racist insults are also obviously wrong, but it's not ok to escalate insults into violence. But more than that, Sofia has been against violence through-out the book, and this moment of hypocrisy is neither comedic nor regrettable. It's a moment of gratifying victory. It seems that violence is only wrong unless it happens to be emotionally satisfying for Sofia Khan. Malik gives us several instances of racisms in the text. What did you make of the different kinds of prejudice Sofia faces (at work, in public)? How does she deal with it?KCUR 89.3 Sofia Khan looks over the many life necessities collected and distributed by KC for Refugees. Love blossoms between Connall and Sofia and they are ready to re-marry. Sofia also becomes an arbitrator between her Mother and Mehoob, who left the marital home after an arguement about Sofia getting married again. For your first appointment it is often helpful to bring your bed partner or someone else who may have additional information on your sleep and events during sleep. You will be seen by Dr Eriksson, Dr Khan, Prof Walker or one of the registrars in the team. Please bring a list of your medications and completed questionnaire or sleep diary that you may have been sent. Following your appointment you may be referred for an inpatient sleep study but people are usually not admitted on the day of their outpatient appointment but will return for this at a later date. After your sleep study you will be seen for a follow up appointment to go through the results.

Yes, as a reader, I'm upset that things didn't turn out differently, that somehow Conall could be with his son, Sofia could start her new publishing house, and they could be together. Of course I wanted that happy ever after for them both. But this ending is more realistic. Things don't always work out in real life. Life isn't a fairy tale. And I'm actually happy that Sofia put herself first, her happiness first. I'm proud of her. Subtle feminism has run throughout both these two novels, but I feel it really plays its part here; love isn't necessarily everything, finding a partner isn't the only dream a woman has, and women should fight for and go for their dreams. I'm not sure that's necessarily the message of the book, but it's what I felt about Sofia's choice. A woman chose herself over a man. And I absolutely bloody love that. I’m not even sure where to start with this book because I just feel so disappointed in it and I’m still working through my feelings and trying to accept how flat and downright depressed I was after finishing this book. an entertaining debut with laugh-out-loud moments – a contemporary love story you won't want to miss' – CANDIS MAGAZINEAbout the book, Amy says: ‘it’s probably one of the most well-known recent publications by a British Muslim genre writer. The novel – and its sequel The Other Half of Happiness (2017) – blend genre motifs with themes of Islamophobia and cultural integration: the ending may not be what you expect…’.

After things have settled somewhat, Sofia is at Waterloo station when she spots the man who originally called her a terrorist on the tube, she follows the man she terms 'the Racist' onto the tube and sits in a seat she could see him making a beeline for. The man responds to this by calling her a 'Paki bitch'. An older lady and a man both come to her defence and make him grudgingly apologise. Sofia then chases him down and calls him a 'cunt' and proceeds to punch him in the face. As someone who once sat in front of an editor and pitched an ‘Asian Bridget Jones saves publishing industry’* feature idea I was thrilled to hear about the publication of Ayisha Malik’s debut novel, Sofia Khan’s Not Obliged. Was my wishful thinking finally coming true? Could this be a thing? Side note: Would have liked to have had some kind of detail about how Sofia’s first book did in sales? It was published and then we literally heard nothing about it. Men shouldn't make assumptions about her based on the hijab. Sofia resents men assuming that her conservative clothing choices imply conservative morals: ' Thanks, strange person, for your opinion, but who said I'm conservative. Talk about judging a person by their scarf.' Don't think about what you've lost. Think of the things you still have. And what, if you look for it, you might find."

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This book started to feel off to me from the very start when we find out that Sofia is staying around a dingy apartment all day while Conall is off doing humanitarian work. At the end of the first book, Sofia left to get involved in this and I couldn’t figure out why she no longer helped out, or had she ever helped out with this or when she reconnected with Conall, all those plans fell to the wayside. It's actually wrong to get together with a man when his already existing family don't want you too! Where's the solidarity with other women? There's a different feel to the characters, which might be due to it being a second volume, or maybe it's a result of new circumstances. It's easy to be annoyed at characters not communicating with each other properly, but let's be real, this happens all the time IRL. I feel cheated having read the book. My rational self was telling me to steer clear of a sequel, they usually end badly but Sofia Khan was so nice and funny I thought this one couldn’t go wrong. How wrong I was.

Anyways, the main character Sofia Khan is extremely witty, funny and relatable. I love her lines and her strong personality. I love the representation of a brown character in her 40s. Her relationship and dynamic with her mum is extremely relatable (especially when they argue) and moving. This dismissal is so frustrating, because she's hypocritically practising exactly the kind of prejudice she criticises in everyone who disagrees with her. First she's conflating 'brown' and 'Muslim', assuming that because he's in one group he must be in the other. And secondly for assuming he's having an identity crisis – as if there couldn't be any other reason for a man to be against the hijab! The opportunity for comedy is lost, because Sofia has to be in the right. I absolutely adored Sofia Khan is Not Obliged by Ayisha Malik - so much so that I bought the sequel, The Other Half of Happiness before I was even half way through the first. I opened the second book looking forward to visiting these incredible characters again, and the humour that is a huge part of Sofia's personality. And although there is some humour, The Other Half of Happiness is a very different book. Where the first was a romcom, The Other Half is more of a drama. And it was absolutely incredible. However, this doesn't take away my enjoyment. I loved this book. Inhaled it and would still recommend it to everyone. Just don't get attached.

Consultants

The Other Half of Happiness is the second book in the Sofia Khan series and starts off with Sofia in Karachi, Pakistan, and dealing with a whole load of new changes in her life. One of the things I love about Sofia is her no-BS, no lovey-dovey attitude. It's one of the same reasons I love Lizzie Bennet. They're not pining for a man or seeking validation through one, and their resolution to follow their heart (eventually) against mainstream expectations is a model of woman that should be much more present. Because even with a partner, what's right for you and your growth?