Sofia Khan is Not Obliged: A heartwarming romantic comedy

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Every good story must have a conflict. The conflict here was contrived. It was like they had to search for a problem to pin on Conall. So it turns out that he had a family, I wish the problem was that he had not divorced the wife which means he was married when he married Sofia. That would have been a problem. I sincerely don’t get how Conall couldn’t just have mentioned that he abandoned his family. But she forgave him and they moved on. But they had to manufacture another problem again. A stupid one at that. 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? And she takes it in her stride when her “makeshift prayer room” at work is suddenly turned into a medical room, complete with huge glass pane in the new door so she’s on show for anyone and everyone to see, “arse in the air”. 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. 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.

Sofia Khan is a Muslim woman working for a publicity company. She was supposed to marry Iman but called it off because she didn’t want to live with his family. In particular, marrying Iman would mean living with a hole in the wall, a hole connecting what would be her home to his parents. The Other Half of Happiness ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, or at least is far too open ended, and there is currently no third book in sight. I was so excited for this sequel, and now I wish Ayisha Malik hadn’t bothered. This was just so completely disappointing.Note for book: Whatever you do- if writing a guide to marriage, don't end up penning your very own marital misery memoir. Muslim women are constantly underestimated but I can attest to the fact that they are some of craziest and funniest people. I thought that Malik does a brilliant job in capturing just how incredible we are. ;)

So, it was difficult to like Sofia because she's really morally inconsistent and yet she's presented as morally superior. Perhaps I could've liked her if she had any other redeeming qualities but she doesn't have any other qualities at all. Her only activities are meeting men, and talking about meeting men. There is a sort of high-school feel to the story: she hides men from her parents; she talks constantly about boys with her friends; she is bitchy and judgemental whenever the boy she likes notices another woman or adds one on facebook. I love how light/funny the book is especially coming from a hijabi. It shows people that they are more than their religion and they have similar problems as others who might not be Muslims. I honestly could relate to her on some things: For instance, a culture obsessed with women getting married as soon as possible (that’s my culture alright). She also talks about things such as not drinking, abstinence from premarital sex and all around being modest (again, my culture/religion) but not in a judgemental way, more as a way of life.The plot twist around Sofia's husband ALSO involved a lot of shitty communication and Not Using Your Words, and GAH. Just stop. While Conall is in the washroom, Sofia is writing in her journal and she reads the following quote from Anaïs Nin: If I were to count the number of times I've seen myself represented in fiction, it would take no more than 60 seconds. You'd say I'm lying considering the fact that Muslims are mentioned so often in media. However, literature that is truly representative of Muslims, are few and far between. 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. Khan isn't judging people who want specifically to help Ukrainians, although she worries about what motivates the distinction between European refugees and those arriving from other parts of the world.

At work one day, she is distressed after having been called a terrorist. She shares some of her experiences as a Muslim woman and her frustrations with dating, and her boss decides she could write an interesting book on Muslim dating. Although she’s never written a book before, Sofia has a blog and gets a sizable advance to write the book. Researching the Dating World 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." i felt like the editing was also rather poor in this book as the book just felt like it was too all over the place...i get it's a diary and sofia's life is a mess but urgh it just annoyed me. Khan, who originally hails from Pakistan, is a Kansas City physician and mother of three. Running KC For Refugees isn't her main career, but rather her passion. That compassion that Kansas Citians feel for Ukrainians enduring unimaginable hardship? It could be put to good use helping Afghan refugees, who've experienced similar tragedies, and who are in our own city, right now.I was absolutely delighted when I got the opportunity to review THE OTHER HALF OF HAPPINESS by Ayisha Malik, even though it was my first encounter with the beloved character of Sofia Khan. Although I had not read the first book in this series, it did not remotely take away from this beautifully emotional and entertaining story as the author effortlessly filled in any gaps I may have had. But when you find an author as good as Ayisha Malik, I would recommend buying all of her books!! In fact, as the character Sakib says, "I think it's better than the dating book.....It's more insightful - [there's] more depth." I totally agree. I think Malik is a great writer because her book feels like a conversation with a friend; it is honest, down to earth, sometimes raw, sometimes emotional and always humorous. But on top of that, her real skill is that although this is relatively lighthearted novel about marriage, families and relationships, it is actually layered with insightful, intelligent observations about people and society. Don't underestimate Malik. She is obviously fiercely intelligent and a great people watcher. There is a sense of unfinished business between Conall and Sofia but neither of them says anything. However, Sofia does not tell Imran that she went to a protest with Conall. She knows that he doesn’t like them spending time together. Another Broken Engagement Plus, you'll die laughing. There's a heartwarming showcase of female friendship, and flawed, but great family. Snort-diet-Coke-out-of-your-nostrils funny . . . will resonate with any woman who's looking for love' Red

I need to start this review by saying that I loved Sofia Khan Is Not Obliged, and fully expected to love this sequel. Sadly, The Other Half of Happiness fell somewhere between disappointing and infuriating. Everything that I loved about Sophia and her story (and her family/friends) was gone in this second book. I didn’t like anyone or their choices, and I realized that I should stay away from marriage novels in the future because I find them boring at best. I did, however, really enjoy Sophia’s mom and her storyline. The Really Popular Book Club is the reading group hosted by Cambridge University Libraries. Everyone is invited to join us and our special guests to discuss a really popular book, one that we all know and perhaps or perhaps not love. SOFIA'S FRIENDS WERE ALSO SUCH A LET DOWN IN THIS BOOK...i felt like their characters were so bland and we didnt even find out about their lives at the end... did hannah adopt a child???? is foz happily married???? why did charles cheat on suj??? So Sofia Khan is now married - great! And this sequel to Sofia Khan is Not Obliged look into the other side of marriage, once you get past the whole fairy-tale idealism of it. That marriage is not just falling in love and living happily after, it is much much more. You will spend the rest of your life living with your heart outside of your body” p64 As a parent constantly worries for their child.

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The writing was fine. I liked the day/month structure of the book; made it really easy to get through (and easy to convince yourself you'll read just one more chapter before bed). I do think it was necessary for Malik to re-introduce Sofia's friends better. It's been a year since I'd read the first book and it was a bit difficult remembering which friend had which personality and which friend ended up with which guy. Strangely, being unable to remember her friends well, their personalities/lives in this book seemed to blend into one, which doesn't say really promising things about the characterisation. I tried! I did! But what normal human being would ask another human being to live with a cohort of mother, father, brother and sister-in-law with two children, complete with a sister and brother-in-law and three children next door, and a hole-in-the-wall joining the two houses? (Just writing that sentence about so many people confused me; imagine living with them.)” Sofia wears the hijab, despite the hassle this brings her from racists, colleagues and even her mother (who desperately wants her to take it off to catch a husband). She calls herself ' a walking, talking sign for religion'. It's clearly very important to her. Yet, her attitude towards it (or more precisely: her attitude towards other people's attitudes towards it) is confusingly variable. Different positions that Sofia holds on the hijab include: