Happy super Bowl Sunday booklovers! All I have to say is GO RAMS!🏈

Delighted to share with you today my review for this beautiful book! This was a book that really caught me by surprise, I had no idea it would captured my heart so completely!💕

Unmarriageable

My Thoughts

A beautifully told story full of character charm and culture! This was such a magical story, a modern retelling of “Pride and Prejudice“ set in modern day Pakistan… Full disclosure I have never read P&P ( don’t tell anybody) and this book still was pure magic! Soniah Kamal has crafted a wonderfully told tale that really brought the people and the culture of Pakistan to life…

Alys is a modern self-sufficient woman living in a not so modern or forward thinking Pakistan… there is a definite tug-of-war between what Alys wants and what her mother and society believe she needs… Alys is the second daughter in a family of five girls, and her mother is determined to get them all married off well… Alys Who works as a English literature teacher feels as though it is more important to educate girls and teach them that they can be more than just somebody’s wife…

The Pakistani culture absolutely fascinated me and I loved learning about a different culture… The characters in the story were so well developed and likable… I was seriously ready to hop on a plane to Pakistan and visit Alys and sisters… any similarities to P&P were completely lost on me, but as I mentioned previously that definitely did not hinder my enjoyment of this book… The story was captivating, the characters were charming, and the romance was sweet… yes there is a Mr. Darcy and even I know that is from the original…

This is an exquisite story that will make you proud to be a woman and grateful that there are wonderful books like this to read! Absolutely recommend!

🎵🎵🎵 song running through my head! I could see this being Alys’s anthem!

Question, tell me what you think about me
I buy my own diamonds and I buy my own rings
Only ring your celly when I’m feelin’ lonely
When it’s all over please get up and leave
Question, tell me how you feel about this
Try to control me, boy, you get dismissed
Pay my own fun, oh, and I pay my own bills
Always fifty fifty in relationships
The shoes on my feet, I’ve bought it
The clothes I’m wearing, I’ve bought it
The rock I’m rockin’, I’ve bought it
‘Cause I depend on me if I want it
The watch I’m wearin’, I’ve bought it
The house I live in, I’ve bought it
The car I’m driving, I’ve bought it
I depend on me, I depend on me
All the women, who are independent
Throw your…
Destinys Child 2000

*** A huge thank you to Random House Valentine for my copy of this book ***

About the Book

In this one-of-a-kind retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in modern-day Pakistan, Alys Binat has sworn never to marry—until an encounter with one Mr. Darsee at a wedding makes her reconsider.

A scandal and vicious rumor concerning the Binat family have destroyed their fortune and prospects for desirable marriages, but Alys, the second and most practical of the five Binat daughters, has found happiness teaching English literature to schoolgirls. Knowing that many of her students won’t make it to graduation before dropping out to marry and have children, Alys teaches them about Jane Austen and her other literary heroes and hopes to inspire the girls to dream of more.

When an invitation arrives to the biggest wedding their small town has seen in years, Mrs. Binat, certain that their luck is about to change, excitedly sets to work preparing her daughters to fish for rich, eligible bachelors. On the first night of the festivities, Alys’s lovely older sister, Jena, catches the eye of Fahad “Bungles” Bingla, the wildly successful—and single—entrepreneur. But Bungles’s friend Valentine Darsee is clearly unimpressed by the Binat family. Alys accidentally overhears his unflattering assessment of her and quickly dismisses him and his snobbish ways. As the days of lavish wedding parties unfold, the Binats wait breathlessly to see if Jena will land a proposal—and Alys begins to realize that Darsee’s brusque manner may be hiding a very different man from the one she saw at first glance.

Told with wry wit and colorful prose, Unmarriageable is a charming update on Jane Austen’s beloved novel and an exhilarating exploration of love, marriage, class, and sisterhood.

Advance praise for Unmarriageable

“[A] funny, sometimes romantic, often thought-provoking glimpse into Pakistani culture, one which adroitly illustrates the double standards women face when navigating sex, love, and marriage. This is a must-read for devout Austenites.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) 

“Unmarriageable is a joy to read! It transforms a familiar story into something new and fresh and different, but keeps all of the warmth and intelligence of the original. I loved everything about these characters and spending time in their world.”—Jasmine Guillory, author of The Wedding Date 

“Unmarriageable raises an eyebrow at a society that views marriage as the ultimate prize for women. Crackling with witty dialogue, family tensions, humor, and rich details of life in contemporary Pakistan, it tells an entirely new story about love, luck, and literature.”—Balli Kaur Jaswal