Ayesha at Last is such a fabulous Pride and Prejudice retelling, bringing new depth and color to this classic. It discusses how it's hard to turn our backs on our dreams - what we are convinced we don't want in the favor of hazy dreams which we should want. When what we desired should take root in our heart, ,but instead leaves us hollow. What I adored about Ayesha at Last was that we receive Khalid's perspective and it gives the entire book new flavor! Ayesha at Last handles issues of class, religious difference, and racism.

I saw Ayesha At Last described as "a Muslim Pride & Prejudice in Toronto," and immediately wanted to read it. (I guess I've been on an Austen adaptation streak, since I read Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal back in February.)

The good: I felt like most of the characters and their family relationships felt real. They were chaotic and messy and sometimes uncommunicative, but that's what families are like! I loved Nana and Nani, and I thought Ayesha and Khalid were interesting characters with real dilemmas to solve.

The meh: The villains felt almost...too villainous? Sheila the boss, Farzana, Tarek: they just had no redeemable qualities, and I wish they had been addressed with a little more nuance. I also felt like some of the P&P plot points in the second half felt too shoehorned in, because I liked how Jalaluddin riffed on the Austen influences more in the first half.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The editors don’t do this book any favors comparing it to Pride and Prejudice. Other than a similar quote at the beginning and two headstrong characters, there aren’t many similarities until you get to the end. The comparison was actually a distraction, as I kept looking for similarities that weren’t there. If anything, this reminds me more of a Shakespearean comedy with its mistaken identities.

I’m not usually a fan of women’s literature, but I found this book engaged both by head and my heart. I cared for both of the main characters and enjoyed the way the story plays out.

This story is told in third person narrative and swings from Ayesha’s life to Khalid’s.

Jalaluddin does a great job of painting the scene, giving us the rich details to see the rooms, the food, the clothing.

I also appreciated the way she shows us both the casual and direct prejudice that Khalid encounters as a conservative Muslim and his being forced to choose between assimilation and his religious beliefs. Flip side, he initially looks down his nose at Ayesha, who has a more modern viewpoint.

This is a fairly standard romance novel, but it’s done well. It’s a fun, mostly light story. Think more along the lines of Crazy Rich Asians than P&P.

My thanks to netgalley and Berkley Books for an advance copy of this book.

Really 3.5 stars. This is an engaging, modern spin on Pride and Prejudice. It was funny, with (mostly) likable characters and provided an interesting snapshot of an immigrant community. Definitely worth reading. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

A unique Pride & Prejudice retelling. I think 20 something's would really like this story. What made this PP retelling special was that that characters were dealing with pressure from their Muslim families and the prejudices that went along with this. I really liked the main male Khalid and his decision to dress in robes and wear a long beard. I've read a lot about women in hijab but I liked having to consider his choice as well. I will definitely be recommending this to my college age young adult students for spring breaks and summer reads. I hope I see this book along side some beach towels this summer.

Maybe 3.5 stars. I enjoyed the story and the characters but I think the first half was much better than the second. The second half of the book felt rushed, had some continuity issues and unfinished story lines, and then was resolved too quickly. I very much appreciate the diverse perspective and characters and I love to continue learning about different cultures and customs and I thought Ayesha was a wonderful protagonist and I liked her gentle friendship/romance with Khalid, but some of the supporting characters (Amir and Hafsa, I'm looking at you) just didn't work for me.
The Pride and Prejudice association was a bit looser than the last book I read, Unmarriageable, but I actually enjoyed that one more as it felt more fully fleshed out.

This is a very sweet book. It's a take on Pride & Prejudice, but doesn't hew too closely to the source material, so you won't know exactly what's coming. Definite recommend for anyone who enjoys wholesome romance or family dramedy.

Does the literary world really need another take on Pride on Prejudice? When it comes to this charming contemporary retelling, the answer is a resounding yes.
Ayesha and Khalid might be part of the same Muslim community, but that seems to be the only thing they have in common. Their differing approaches to religion, marriage, career, family- basically every aspect of life seem to put them at odds. And yet there arguments and clashes are beginning to be a bit of an addiction...
With nods to Austen and Shakespeare, readers will surely embrace this delightful romantic comedy.

I’m still working on my review, but I loved this book and will be recommending it frequently. It is such a great P&P reimagining, with well-drawn characters and great plot turns.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the third Pride and Prejudice retelling I've read this year; all of them have their own merits and their own drawbacks. With this one, I really admired the quality of the writing, especially for a first-time author. I also appreciated how Uzma Jalalauddin brought some original details and perspectives into the story, so it felt really fresh and innovative. While I enjoyed meeting all the new characters (especially Ayesha's charming, likeable grandparents), there were a lot of threads to keep track of. I also felt like some of the villain (or villain-adjacent) characters were a bit overwrought. Overall, though, I really enjoyed this take on the story.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

First off, I have to start with a complaint: why is this being billed as a modern Muslim spin on Pride and Prejudice? I feel like that comparison does a disservice to this fantastic novel because while, yes there's a little tiny bit of homage paid, it's not a retelling and you have to really search for the similarities. It distracts from enjoying the story as it is. So publishers - forget about the comparison! Let this wonderful little gem shine on its own!

Ayesha is a 20-something Muslim woman living in Toronto, CA. She has just started working as a teacher, but moonlights as a poet - her real dream. Ayesha is complex: she wants to pursue her dreams, but feels responsible for her extended family due to a past trauma, and wants little or nothing to do with romance. Khalid is a fellow 20-something Muslim who lives catty corner to Ayesha. Every day he watches her race to her car, red mug of chai in hand, and dreams about what she must be like. What's stopping him from finding out? Likewise, a deep-rooted family trauma that has tied him to his controlling mother, and shaped a rigid black-and-white understanding of the world. Can these two people find one another and forge a healing path?

I really enjoyed this book. I greatly appreciate Jalaluddin's effort to write a respectful and sweet modern romance with main characters of color who are something other than Christian. I am SO FLIPPING EXCITED about the wonderful stories being written in the last few years with ethnic characters who are fully fleshed out and with richly written stories. It's about time publishers take the chance because readers like ME are sick of white people getting all the best roles - no more!

Wonderful writing, characters I wish lived in my neighborhood, and food descriptions that make my stomach rumble throughout. My only criticism is that recipes were NOT provided! I can't wait to read more from Jalaluddin in future.

This was a sweet, simple story with overtones of Pride and Prejudice. Ayesha and Khalid are easy to relate to and their journey towards love and emotional maturity was rewarding. Khalid, especially, was a fascinating parallel to Mr. Darcy. I cared a lot about this character and his fight to be true to himself while remaining deeply connected to his faith and struggling with his autonomy. Like Mr. Darcy, Khalid is a really good guy who is deeply misunderstood by strangers and so shy that he makes it hard to connect. I've always had a difficult time relating to Mr. Darcy and Khalid made it a little easier to appreciate his internal struggles and the growth his character experiences over the course of the story.
I really liked this story that transformed Austen's beautiful love story and reimagined it for a 21st century audience.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I enjoyed reading this. An interesting story with fun characters. Well written.

“Because while it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single Muslim man must be in want of a wife, there's an even greater truth: To his Indian mother, his own inclinations are of secondary importance.”

For the April Birmingham Public Library Diversity Reading Challenge, I picked a few books to read that I thought would be fun – the first one being Ayesha At Last by Uzma Jalaluddin. And while it’s described as a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, the reader won’t be bored with a repeat of the original. There are definitely some unexpected twists and, more importantly, since Ayesha is a person of color with a Muslim heritage living in Canada (like the author herself!), we get a P&P retelling from a different perspective. Ayesha is a poet, teacher, and as her family likes to point out, a spinster, struggling with the expectations she has for herself and the ones that her family has for her. Many of the conflicts in this book touch on matters that women feel conflicted about in our modern world, which is why this retelling connects with me in a new way. While Khalid may not have surpassed the beloved Mr. Darcy, in my opinion, the characters are wonderfully created, and the story of love and growth in this novel is beautiful.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review of #AyeshaAtLast

I've read a couple of Pride and Prejudice retellings in my day, but I'll be honest and say I haven't actually made it through the original (don't hate me - it's one of those books I always mean to read and then just...don't. But I've seen all versions of the movie!). The great thing about Ayesha at Last is that your relationship to Pride and Prejudice really doesn't matter. You can see the connections if you're looking for them, but more than that it's just a great story.

Ayesha Shamsi lives in Canada and is working as teacher even though she has dreams of being a poet. Then there's Khalid, who Ayesha hates pretty much immediately, despite his manly shoulders and hard-to-not-look-at-face. Or wait...does she like him? No, he's too judgemental....Or is he? Either way, it turns out he's marrying Hafsa - Ayesha's cousin, so Ayesha needs to just get over it. Hafsa is younger than Ayesha - something Ayesha and us readers are constantly reminded of - but she's already had marriage proposals aplenty. Khalid's is just a drop in the bucket until his mother decides to intervene...

This story provides a great window into the inner workings of Muslim communities and the author skillfully explores the complexities of family relationships and how to deal with staying true to your personal beliefs while you're being pushed and pulled from all sides. She portrayed the many challenges faced by immigrants today in a way that keeps you engaged and also enraged. Khalid's discrimination at work was particularly rage-inducing, but I'm sure situations like it happen all too often.

Around 75% into the book, things started to drag a little. It was still enjoyable, but I was starting to become impatient to have all the drama end already. It almost seemed as if there were too many points of drama - Hafsa, Tarek, Farzana, Zareena - it was a lot! But the ending wrapped everything up perfectly. I have faith that Khalid and Ayesha are happily abroad writing poems and cooking together. And that their wedding was drama-free!

OMG this book was everything. and it will be featured in my summer guide next month.

Even though I was expecting a retelling of Pride and Prejudice this story transported me to a different world. I loved Khalid's journey as he finds love in Ayesha and discover new things about himself. I loved how religion was so prominent in this story. I felt like I learned more about things that I didn't know about.

One thing that I found unique about this book is that we got Claire's POV when it comes to Khalid workplace situation. It added a layer of depth to the story.

I loved that the romance was a slow burn and it was a tone of hate to lovers. Those are some of my favorite romances.

Thank you Berkeley for letting me read this book. I will post an in depth review and will feature this book in the Summer Guide next month on What to Read Next Blog.

I thought this book was an interesting take on Pride and Prejudice (more or less) - enjoyable and unique insight into the Muslim community.

Any time something is described as a modern-day Pride and Prejudice I'm in! This will not disappoint, just read it!

Ayesha at Last is likely one of the better Pride and Prejudice retellings I’ve read. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE Pride and Prejudice. But it’s been retold so many times that often retellings can be super predictable. And a little boring. However, with this infusion of traditional South Asian Muslim culture into Austen’s classic, this reimagining felt very original and new.

I was thoroughly charmed by Uzma Jalaluddin’s debut but it’s certainly much more than a light and fluffy Pride and Prejducie story. Uzma doesn’t shy a way from pulling the curtain back on the discrimination many Muslims face living in Western cultures. She does a great job revealing how anti-Muslim attitudes are so harmful to so many undeserving people.

Ayesha at Last is set to release this June and you can pre-order it now. It’s sweet and timely and you should absolutely give this a read! Thank you, Netgalley, for the opportunity to read an advanced copy.

A lot of things about this book were over the top for me. Khalid is a devote Muslim. So devote that he does not believe in even touching a woman, even shaking her hand. His mother is manipulative and would rather see her son marry someone he does not love than someone beneath his status. His boss lived in Saudi Arabia and has preconceived bias against all Muslims so is out to get him. Each situation by itself is believable but they just kept piling on top of each other. I had had enough when Khalid attends an AA meeting in support of a coworker. Khalid is approached by someone at the meeting assuming he is there for himself. The person asks him "Do you drink because you're angry at the United States and their foreign policy?" Khalid doesn't take offense at the question he just tries to explain that he is not an alcoholic. It was just too much for me.