More Than Just A Pretty Face was a charming read with witty writing. Danyal, the main character, was incredibly likable for the purity of his heart and mind, and even though he was meant to be simple, he ended up being very profound. It's rare to read a book in just a few hours, but Masood's storytelling made it easy to fall into this fun read with no effort at all.

Though I cannot speak to the accuracy or representation of the Muslim people, it felt authentic to the characters and the story it was telling. The food was a passion to represent the culture and I loved how it spoke to their history and traditions. Danyal's kindhearted nature was a constant source of light throughout the story, and his genuine care for those he considered friends was impossible to ignore. Bisma was the perfect person to come into his life when she did and I adored the sweetness that effused from her presence—essentially stealing the show every time she was around him. It's so rare to read a coming-of-age story set solely in the male perspective and it took me a bit to get used to it, but Danyal was incredibly easy to like so it really wasn't that difficult to become swept up in his story. This was a sweet story all the way around and I would definitely read another by this author.

4.5⭐ - I loved this book! It's about a Muslim boy and girl who become friends after their parents have them meet for a potential arranged marriage. All the MCs were Muslim, and there was a good level of variance of devoutness amongst them, as well as a lot of discussion of Indian food that all sounded simply amazing. It has the light/fluffy feel and readability you'd expect from YA romance/contemporary, but it covered some really hard hitting topics, and had me highlighting passages throughout the book.

This book was not a good fit for me. I found it be very slow, awkward, and predictable. Most of the characters were stereotypes without any real depth. The plot was contrived, and for me unbelievable. The one point of interest was the history, which I was unfamiliar with, and was the bright spot for me.

Ohhh my God!!! I LOVE THIS BOOK. I LOVED EVERY SINGLE PAGE!!!! This is definitely going to be a top best seller, I just know it. The romance, the drama, the tea on Winston Churchill?! I learned so much about a culture not of my own & ugh I just loved it. 10/10 I hope this author continues to create masterpieces.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

Danyal Jilani is not someone anyone would call smart. He was held back a year, does the bare minimum in class and hasn’t read a whole book since he read picture books as a kid. It’s his senior year and at his school there is a competition called Renaissance Man. Eight teachers in different subjects choose their best student to represent them. Mr. Tippett, the History teacher, has never had a winner and doesn't seem to care much for the competition. So when the students press him for his representative he ends up picking Danyal, who couldn't care less about the competition. Now in order to pass the class he must write a research paper on Winston Churchill and present it to the entire school and their families. Not being book smart, everyone thinks he will fail, even his father. There is one thing Danyal is very good at, and that is cooking. He has a part time job in a French restaurant where the Chef teaches him the art of cooking. Meanwhile Danyal’s mom is setting up on rishta meetings with anyone except the one girl he wants. This new one is a girl named Bisma who is in her first year of college and reveals something that would stop any parent from approving of her as their new daughter in law.

This is the best book I have read published in 2020. I fell in love with Danyal myself, even without seeing his good looks. His sense of humor is infectious and had me laughing nearly the whole book. I never do this, but I actually had to stop reading at one point and post a quote from the book to my social media when Danyal walks into the public library for the first time. The story pulled me in to the point that when Danyal was going up on stage to present his paper I was anxiety ridden myself. I could feel my own heart race and my hands shake. Mr. Masood, you have a big fan in me.

I highly enjoyed this! A love triangle done right. A deep yet readable contemporary that brings some really serious issues to light. It definitely makes you think, but the hard moments are balanced with fun characters and a great romance. Highly recommend!

I received a free e-ARC of this book thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

In this story we are following a high school senior, Danyal Jilani, as he prepares his entry for Renaissance Man. He’s always had a crush on Kaval Sabsvari, the beautiful sister of his friend Sohrab. But when Danyal’s parents try arranging a marriage for him with Bisma Akram and he starts spending more of his time with her, he realizes maybe his heart belongs to someone else.

I really enjoyed this book. I liked Danyal’s character and liked the humor that Masood infused throughout the story. Some parts actually made me laugh out loud. Danyal wants to become a chef, which is considered a less-than-honorable profession in his culture. I liked the descriptions of food that were in the story, but I also liked that Bisma was supportive of Danyal and his dreams.

The inclusion of Churchill and British colonization was interesting and I liked learning about it. I think it was also important for Danyal’s character to do this topic for his project because he was always seen as a slacker and it forced him to decide whether to play it safe or go with his gut and talk about what he felt was important.

The relationship between Danyal and his father was intriguing. In the beginning we see that they have a rocky relationship. His father does not approve of Danyal’s dreams of becoming a chef and feels that he is more or less a failure to him. We see their complex relationship and struggle to communicate throughout the book. By the end, however, it’s clear that the relationship between Danyal and his father has changed. I liked how Masood showed this change at the end of the book.

I didn’t like the fact that people were constantly telling Danyal how dumb he is or how little potential he has and he just agrees with it. I also wanted to know more about Bisma. We find out something important about her past on their first meetup, which has important repercussions for her and her family and plays a role throughout the rest of the book. She seemed like such an interesting character and was good for Danyal, I wanted more about her. She was such an integral part in Danyal’s character growth so a little more about her as a character would have been nice.

I can’t speak to the muslim representation in this book. One thing I did notice was that there was the typical stereotype of the “hardcore” religious worshipper. When one character practiced his religion the majority of his time, he was seen as the killjoy and too serious and multiple characters wanted him to “chill out” and I didn’t really like that aspect.

If you’re into YA contemporary books with more serious topics seamlessly woven in or want a humorous diverse read, definitely check this book out! I’ll be keeping Syed M. Masood on my radar for other books. Publication is set for August.

Thank you to the publisher for sending me an ARC of this book via netgalley in exchange for an honest review!
5/5 stars
This book was so incredibly good and I loved every second of reading it! Syed M. Masood has the kind of writing style that is easy to get swept up in and relate to the characters, even if I didn't have very much in common with them.
Danyal Jilani is our main character and narrator, and he is definitely more than just a pretty face. Danyal knows that he's gorgeous, but his self-esteem is lacking when it comes to his intelligence. When his history teacher picks him for the Renaissance Man contest, Danyal is sure he's being set up to fail. Throughout the story, Danyal tries to rise to the challenge of proving that he can do what everyone seems to think he can't. Even while he's doing this, he still has some moments where he could be a little clueless, but as Danyal would say, he's "staying on brand".
There was a really good cast of characters surrounding Danyal, and not all of them were supportive. Some of the characters were against his actions and choices while others stood beside and behind him. The characters worked well together and all felt realistic. Some of my favourite characters were Danyal's mother, Bisma, Suri, his boss, and his history teacher. They each had different relationships with Danyal that he had to navigate during his Renaissance Man journey.
The romance aspect of the book was really well done, and I really enjoyed seeing the progression of Bisma and Danyal's relationship. One thing I loved was how simple Danyal's world was when it came to Bisma's past. His acceptance of her was amazing to see.
I would highly recommend this book if you like YA contemporaries with a hint of romance, descriptions of awesome-sounding food, and a character who is refreshingly honest, and that I was cheering for the entire time.

Look out for my review on my bookstagram page (alli_the_bookaholic13) in the next week!

Awwwwwww. This book was so sweet and funny. Danyal is a great main character, and I was totally rooting for him and Bisma. I also loved the Renaissance Man storyline, and Danyal’s presentation about Churchill was awesome. My only complaint is that it seemed like the main conflict of this book was wrapped up a little too easily, but it was so sweet I’m willing to let it go.

This was SUCH a joy! I rarely laugh out loud when reading a book, but this totally got me. There was so much heart and really great character development. While I can't speak on the Muslim representation, I am always excited to read more #OwnVoices stories. 

Despite the expensive, academic private school, Danyal Jilani isn't very bright—just ask him or anyone around him. What he is good at is cooking, so good that he is an apprentice at a small but upscale French restaurant. To him, school doesn't matter when you're going to a chef. When Danyal's final history grade comes down to a huge paper and presentation in front of a team of judges, he needs to exceed literally everyone's expectations in order to graduate. 

Anything that comes his way, you are just constantly rooting for Danyal to come out on top. Easy for a confident and self-assured character like him to come off arrogant, but he was so captivating and charming that you immediately liked him. There was such an openness about him as a character, one of the best male character's I've read in a long time.

He was really left on his own when it came to this assignment because no one will take him seriously.  The author did a great job at relating the history Danyal was studying and researching to what was going on in his own life—everything circling back to food. 

Highly recommend this debut!

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I’m wishing the author @syed.m.masood good luck for his debut book, trust me you seriously did a great great job sir! Can't wait to read your next book!

Now about the book:

Well the book is about a 19 years old muslim boy Danyal Jilani who lives in San fransisco with his parents and wants to ba a Chef.His parents are from Pakistan. He has two best friends and one secret crush!!! Everybody loves him and his charm, yeah he definitely has a pretty face! Sounds very simple right?

Nope, this story is full of drama, comedy, huge climax and more comedy! This book focuses on many things, like typical arranged marriages, an always disappointed father, how a guy is fighting with everybody's expectation to be a chef which he really wants to do, how mean and cruel or i can say unforgiving our society is, how some people can make a girl’s life measurable just because she made a mistake ,author also pointed the current politics also! 

Now these points really sound serious, not comedy! Well this is the magic our author actually did. He showed us these serious or sad facts through a total hilarious comedy story. 

My thoughts:

I loved this book. Being an Indian i totally get every inch of this story, like how these arranged marriages work, how these uncles and aunties spy on us,how our parent’s network work like FBI, the society, the struggle boys and girls actually face to break the stereotype and of course the “bengal famine, 1943” because i am from Bengal and i know the history of my place!

Personally i consider this book as a full on Rom-Com movie with more intellectual things and stuff..haha!!

I am personally recommending this book to my followers, believe me you won't regret reading , we need to laugh guys, this is such a shitty year. The book is releasing on 4th August, 2020. Good luck.

Thank you @hachetteus , @hachetteuk , @littlebrown for giving me the opportunity to read this. Looking forward to reading more books from you guys! Loads of love….

I LOVED THIS BOOK!! Before I start my review, I want to say that I'm going to try not to spoil anything, because my review comes out on July 31st on my blog.
Now back to the book. This book met all my expectations. Now that might not sound like the book was great, but my expectations are always ridiculously high, so having a book meet them is no easy feat.
What I most enjoyed about this novel was the characters, their relationships with each other and how they really pushed the storyline to go above and beyond. This novel wouldn't be what it was without its characters.
Overall, if I had to pick between plot development and characters, I would choose characters ANY day. The writing flows very smoothly, and I didn't want to put this book down. I would recommend this book to the ages of 14-19.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this ebook.

High school senior Danyal Jilani is more than just a pretty face. While he sometimes struggles in school, Danyal is a gifted young chef with charm to spare—even if the culinary arts is definitely not his father’s preferred career path. And that’s not the only thing on his plate. Danyal is also smitten with his best friend’s sister, the gorgeous Kaval, who seems totally out of his league. So, when Danyal is suddenly in the running for Renaissance Man—a schoolwide academic competition in which one student is chosen to represent each subject—he finally has the chance to prove himself. But things get a little complicated when Danyal asks Bisma, the microbiology student his parents set him up with, for help preparing. As Dunyal and Bisma grow closer, he’ll have to ask himself: Is Kaval really the girl of his dreams?

From debut author Syed M. Masood, MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE is a new YA rom-com about familial expectations, the complexities of young love, and exposing the villainous pasts of supposed historical “heroes.” Danyal’s voice is delightfully witty and sarcastic, but also surprisingly vulnerable. Some of the novel’s most touching moments peel back his armor of charm and humor to reveal hidden insecurities, like his deep-seated fear of never being good enough for anyone. When his blossoming bond with Bisma suddenly complicates his long-standing adoration of Kaval, readers witness an adorable slow-burn romance unfold alongside an examination of how we can sometimes idealize other people as something—or rather someone—they’re not.

After Dunyal is chosen by his history teacher for Renaissance Man, the story explores the whitewashed legacy of the often revered, though unequivocally catastrophic, Winston Churchill — opening up a crucial conversation surrounding the Bengal Famine, colonialism, and the continued heroization of white colonizers in Western culture. On that note, I’m always excited to see more Muslim representation (both author- and character-wise) in young adult literature, especially in such Muslim-led romantic comedies as MORE THAN JUST A PRETTY FACE. However, I personally cannot speak to the novel’s representation of Islam, not being Muslim myself, and would therefore highly encourage reading some OwnVoices reviews for an analysis of this aspect of the story.

(Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing us with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change upon final publication.)

Fairly standard romcom from a desi POV. The biggest difference between this and the Dimple and Rishi series is that here we're looking at Muslims, not Hindus. It's a little problematic that there are times when things that are important to followers of Islam are trivialized or turned into jokes. Beyond that, though, Danyal and Kaval and Bisma are definite types and the friendships Danyal has with his BFFs (again, types) were pretty real. And the food! The food! Oh, and it was a little on-the-nose to have Alighieri High have a Renaissance Man contest. Really??

The best, most elevating part of this was the discussion about Churchill and the paper Danyal is writing. Having said that, those passages didn't feel as though they belonged in this book - they were a completely different tone than the surrounding material. Why?

eARC provided by publisher.

Disclaimer: I recommend reading some OwnVoices reviews for More Than Just a Pretty Face before picking up this book, as they have better insight into the representation in the story.

Danyal has ambitions and dreams, the only problem is that no one else seems to see his potential. He dreams of becoming a professional chef, but his father disapproves of any career that doesn’t require a traditional college degree. What matters to Danyal more than his father’s opinions are those of his long-time crush, Kaval, who happens to be his best friend’s sister. Kaval doesn’t seem to share his interest in a relationship, but he hopes that if he can impress her, she’ll change her mind. When Danyal gets selected for the schools prestigious “Renaissance Man” competition, everyone in his life is shocked. Most of them assume Danyal will blow this opportunity, but Danyal is determined to prove them wrong. With the help of Bisma, a friend he met through an attempted arranged marriage, Danyal just might have a shot at showing everyone once and for all that he is more than just a pretty face!

You can get your copy of More Than Just a Pretty Face on August 4th from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers!

I had mixed feelings about this book, but for the most part I liked it! Overall, I enjoyed the story and thought the romance was sweet! I appreciated Danyal’s passion for food and his willingness to try and better himself. I thought it was a little over-the-top how often Danyal gets called an idiot by his friends and family, and I heard from other reviewers that the Muslim rep in the story is rather poor (again, please read some OwnVoices reviews before making any decisions on reading this book). Those were my main issues with the story, but, other than that, I thought it was a cute contemporary romance.

My Recommendation-
If you are a fan of sweet romances and characters proving themselves, you should check out More Than Just A Pretty Face! This book was a quick read for me, and would be a good pick for someone who likes “opposites-attract” romances!

First off, I almost DNF'ed this book due to an excess of language at the beginning. However, I plowed on and am so glad that I did. Honestly, this book has the potential to be one of my favorites of 2020.
Much like my history class this past school year, this book talked about things that politicians did that are a 'no-no' subject to discuss. Unlike my class which discussed only Americans, this one talked about Churchill. I learned more about him, both his successes and his mistakes that I did not know before.
The character growth in this novel was phenomenal and I enjoyed that it was told from a male POV, which is severely lacking in YA.
The #1 reason that I liked this book was because it made me think. There were things I agreed with and other things that I did not but it was handled well for the most part. Some parts were a bit preachy but the majority of the novel was not this way.
And that ending *heart eyes*. I almost melted.

Rating: 5/5
Language: the whole spectrum
Romance: one character has a past, nothing is described in detail
Spiritual: The characters are all Muslim.
Violence: discusses events in history that resulted in death

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required.

Review will be published to the blog on 7/23/2020.

I revived this as an ARC from Netgalley and am leaving my honest opinion

I did enjoy this book. We follow Danyal who is a Muslim boy dealing with his final year of high school. With everything going on in his life his parents are also setting up meetings with potential marriage material girls.

In this story I managed to learn a bit more about the Muslim culture that I feel was information that I benefited from. I always am willing to learn more about different cultures that are different from my own and I feel like this book helped.

I cannot say in any way if this book does pertain anything accurately correct about Muslim culture though since that is not my culture.

I enjoyed Danyal as a character because he is faced with difficult tasks that he manages to overcome and is setting his own path that he wants to take the is not following exactly what his parents (specifically his father) wants. Danyal is a very well written main character. Overall I did enjoy this book and I don’t have much more to say

Thank you for sending me an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review, unfortunately, I couldn’t finish this book.
I was really loving it until I read something that really upset me. ‘Sturdy Greeks’. I think the author should do his research before he writes and publishes something. In 1943 Greeks were dying on the streets because they didn’t have food to eat. As a Greek, I am really offended and I won’t be continuing this book. DO YOUR RESEARCH PLEASE.

I had mixed feelings about this book at first. I wasn't sure about Danyal - he was a bit obnoxious and his humor was a little bit offensive. So, actually pretty realistic for a 19-year-old boy. XD Anyway, I seriously considered DNFing at about 15% but opted to try a little longer because aside from its flaws it was a ridiculously compelling read. I couldn't stop. I ended up reading the first 60% in one sitting.

Now that I've finished it, I'm so glad I didn't give up on it because I really loved it. The offensive jokes calmed down as Danyal came into his own and grew as a character, and the book tackles colonialism and white supremacy head-on. Danyal is bumbling and endearing and really shines when he's cooking or thinking about food. And later, when he's thinking about Bisma. Their love story was one I could definitely cheer for. The characters that seemed one-dimensional at first changed over the story as well.

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Danyal's lack of scholastic prowess was always a source of disappointment for many people in his life. Therefore, when he was selected for the annual Renaissance Man competition, it was his opportunity to show he was more than just a pretty face. He was determined to dazzle both his father and his crush, but as he began his thesis he started to question who and what really mattered to him.

This book was a mixed bag for me, but overall, I enjoyed it.

I genuinely liked Danyal and found myself easily empathizing with him. People were constantly underestimating his intelligence because he wasn't "book smart", and I was afraid to see he bought into this narrative. After spending time with him, it was easy to see that he was intelligent. He just used his intelligence in different ways. How could a person not be impressed by his talent with food? He had a lot of skill in that realm, and I thought it was rather beautiful the way he used food to express himself and his feelings, as well as a way to connect with other people. He was also a very compassionate person, who showed a lot of grace when it came to others, especially Bisma.

Bisma made a decision which made her an undesirable match in her community, but Danyal saw past that. He saw an intelligent and interesting woman, and I guess one reason their friendship really worked was because they accepted each other, as-is. Their friendship formed quickly, but the romance was more of a slow burn. I loved watching that relationship grow, and was absolutely cheering them on.

Though I appreciated the author incorporating social issues into the story, it sometimes seemed forced. This sort of disrupted the flow of the story for me at times. However, I do think the Masood made an effort to address the issues thoughtfully and from multiple perspectives as well.

Overall: I am happy I had a chance to root for Danyal as he attempted to prove that he was more than just a pretty face.