I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

Found myself rather unable to put this book down (more like un-wanting, actually). The story flowed well and I wanted to know what was going to happen, answers to the questions that were raised throughout, what was actually going on. So on that note, it kept me going and was very entertaining.
However, things that put me off (I'm not sure if I'd have picked this one up had I known) - it's very much a YA/NA book, seeing how Zainab is just 20 in there. I had to force myself to remember this many times as she just acted so naive and almost childish in places (yes, you're grown at 20, I know - I thought so too myself at that age...but growing older does show you how little you actually knew back then, if that little was a lot for your age). Second, this is set in 2006. I won't say I consider this 'not present times' but I'm not a fan of 'past' timelines unless they're really historical ones, so pet peeve of mine here, had to remind myself of that time frame many times throughout, too.
And then the thing that really took away the fifth star on this review? There could've been 'more' - the whole book told us/recounted how those three months happened in New York in Zainab's life, but what about what going on inside Zainab, too? The introspection felt fleeting at times, almost shying away from, and I wanted to delve into that, to 'be' this person and not just be reading their POV
Still, it's a good, entertaining tale, very relatable for people who come from conservative cultures and probably eye-opening for those not from such cultures. It's a good book to pass the time, I'll definitely give it that!

I really enjoyed this book. It held my interest the entire time, and I thought the character development from beginning to end was the best part!

Great read, flows perfectly. Well-written and completely engaging. I have devoured this book in one sitting with no regrets. I NEED more. Loved this book!! Definitely recommend this gem.

I really wanted to enjoy this and it had so much potential but in all honesty I couldn't get over how irritating I found our narrator, Zainab. Zainab Takes New York is supposed to be a love letter to the city and I do think it fits that brief now that I have finished it. However the number of times I nearly gave up is the main reason I can't give it more than 2 stars.

I really liked all of our side chracters and how Zainab could have learnt so much from each of them. The setting was good as well., bt I felt like it lacked plot. I look back now and I am still not entirely sure what the overall story arc was. It felt more like a mish-mash of different things happening which could have been fleshed out a bit more to make more of a story. I really liked the concept of the Grannies in Zainab's head and I think that had so much potential to expand the story.

My main issue with this though was Zainab. As a 21 year old just about to finish university I was looking forward to hopefully reading about a character at the same stage in life as me, having similar experiences and feelings. Her desperation to have sex and lose her virginity felt like a teenager who thinks that all there is to life. I think it gave a diservice to young women of that age, because I know although it is a worry, I don't think anyone's entire life revolves around losing their virginity at 21. I found it uncomfortable to read and didn't appreciate that everyone else around her seemed to agree that it was embarrassing for her to not have done that yet. It would have been so nice to hear some words of affirmation from one of the side characters, telling Zainab that she is still valid as a woman despite that.

Overall I think there was so much potential in this idea but in the end I found it difficult to read so it wasn't enjoyable.

I had to DNF. I really loved the concept of the voices of Zainab’s ancestors in her head but this book just didn’t do it for me. There was no flow, no emotion in the writing, it almost sounded robotic. I don’t know if that may be a result of English as a second language, I don’t really know anything about the author. And I didn’t really like how obsessed Zainab was with sex & virginity. I felt like the potential was there but it just wasn’t executed well and I couldn’t get into it.

Gosh I love a good "coming of age" story and this one did not disappoint at all. This is a love story between Zainab and the city of New York as she navigates adjusting to life in the city, while managing relationships, and you cant forget the grandmothers.

While it is a little hard to get into, it definitely pays off.

A fantastic story that will likely appeal to fans of QUEENIE and SUCH A FUN AGE, with a charm all Ayesha Harruna's own. I love coming-of-age-esque stories where people find themselves a tad later than in conventional coming-of-age stories, so this hit all the marks for me!

Unfortunately I couldn't quite connect with this book. I think it has a lot of potential and the overarching storyline is good but Zainab's character is very one-dimensional for me.

"He must have been meeting Stephanie or whatever his girlfriend's name was. Tiffany. Vanessa. One of those names. It wasn't ancestral like mine was. His girlfriend was sure to be two dimensional; she didn't roll deep like I did." This quote is an example of how this book actually was. Mediocre at the most. This should have been a coming-of-age story where the character matures and becomes wise through experience. Instead, it was the exact opposite.

After college, Zainab moves to New York City to intern as an illustrator for a print media company. However, Zainab's basic mission is to lose her virginity and that was all she was obsessed with. There was nothing else to her character. Zainab was selfish and annoying. She got mugged whilst walking but she was more traumatised and upset when she got, "dumped" by a guy she just knew for three weeks and had only seen a couple of times.

There was also the fact that Zainab started to hear voices in her head which belonged to three of her female ancestors. I failed to see the idea behind this actual story line as it was completely pointless.

It was a story that could have had great potential, but instead the author decided to go the frivolous route.

Thanks to NetGalley for an early copy for review. I really could not get into this book. I kept trying but it just didn’t work for me.

Unfortunately this book wasn’t engaging enough for me. I wasn’t a fan of the main character and couldn’t connect with the story. Ver disappointed because I was really excited for this book.

I really enjoyed Zain and her character. And of course I love New York so any book that takes place there is a winner! I really thought this cover art was cool and I’m glad I gave the book a shot.

I featured this book as a Book of the Day spotlight and included it in my weekly roundup and monthly post of new releases on my Black Fiction Addiction platforms.

This just wasn't for me. I just felt like nothing really happened in this book. It's so extremely slice of life that I was bored (and I typically love slice of life stories). I just felt like there was no overarching plot in this. Zainab also just wasn't a great character to follow. She's so immature (and I'm literally a year younger than her) and whiny. I hated the obsession with virginty and sex in this book. It just went to a point that felt uncomfortable to read for me. All the characters were as flat as could be and I did sometimes confuse characters. I think there's some interesting things brought up in this book but I feel like this book never went anywhere. This book could have been so good with some very interesting and relatable talking points but instead this was just super boring and extremely surface level. Also this is advertised as a romcom and the romances in this are absolutely shite and not a single funny thing happened in this book. Oh, and I think the storyline with the ancestors was completely unnececary and wasn't used to its full potential.

This is a painfully relatable coming-of-age story that will speak volumes to women of colour who were raised in conservative households adjusting to life in the big city. Like a bird out of its cage.

The story takes Zainab on a journey of self-discovery as she sheds the mould her parents and culture has shoved her into and slowly grows into her own.

As someone who grew up and is still growing up in an extremely conservative Asian household, I could see myself in Zainab. As much as I hate to admit it, I could see myself making the same mistakes and blunders as Zainab. Her losing herself in the freedom was something I absolutely predict for myself. I could see that yearning to be free of the suffocation of 'ancestral voices', as she puts it, in my own desires to one day live in a big bustling city, where people are too busy and too diverse to be judgemental.

I know some readers were put off by her obsession with losing her virginity, but that in conservative cultures, is a big deal. Your virginity determines your worth, and seeing Zainab desperate to lose it didn't annoy me. I saw it as her first big step to breaking free of that mindset. I saw it as an act of defiance. It is her saying, "My worth does not lie in my 'purity'. I decide my own worth." It was a necessary statement to make to herself, for her to start on the path of true self-discovery.

So I must commend this book on how soulful and real this book is, in depicting the unique experience of a Black, Muslim, conservative woman starting to take charge of her own life and navigating through the daunting complexities of life in THE big city, New York City.

While I think I got the gist and soul of the book, I couldn't help but think I was simply projecting my experiences onto the character instead of actually grasping the story. While we spent a lot of time in Zainab's head, there was not enough reflection. I could only guess how all these scenes were supposed to contribute to Zainab's growth and I only had reaffirmation that my guesses were right at the second-last chapter. What I'm trying to say is that Zainab needed even more depth. I would've loved if her feelings or thoughts were delved into more, so I would've been able to truly capture the essence of who Zainab was and to immerse myself in her perspective.

There was a serious attempt at a character arc but the ending was so rushed, it didn't allow the new and free Zainab to truly settle in my mind's eye. Before I could really grasp her growth and newly-acquired maturity, the book ended. I think we should've given more weight to the ending. It can make or break a book.

While the story was extremely soulful and unique, the writing did leave a lot to be desired. I wished I could say that it came with that liberating, feel-good satisfaction of a good coming-of-age story but it was just shy of that.

Overall, it was a solidly good book I would still recommend to a more limited audience.

Super cute, loved it, particularly our heroine Zainab! Prepare to be charmed. Great book to cozy up with this fall!

Zainab our Ghanaian protagonist has come to NYC to pursue her dream of art and have all the experiences she was sheltered from by her upbringing. She wants to experience the true “starving artist” lifestyle and enjoy many firsts, sex included. Her roommate Mary Grace is a worldly free-spirit and encourages Zainab to do just that.

Meanwhile Zainab has three voices guiding her on what she should or should not be doing. These internal voices turn out to be her great grandmothers and she discovers that her gift is to connect with them and communicate with them.

As Zainab acclimates to NYC she grapples with heartbreak and her own identity until she becomes who she truly wants to be.

A few things I didn’t like were how timid Zainab was for the majority of the story and how she didn’t really accept how great she was until her friend Densua told her she inspired her. At times it felt like Mary Grace should have been the main character because of how much she overshadowed Mary Grace in being so self assured.

Being able to talk to her ancestors took a minute to get used to but in the end it all came together and it was nice to see her blossom into her own identity while still holding on to parts of her heritage.

Thank you @netgalley @headlinebooks for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

I savored this novel like a box of chocolates. It restored my spirit and is an ideal weekend read, full of romance, friendship, and the maze of career/life choices that a twenty-something recent college grad might discover in NYC. Partially a love story to pre-pandemic NYC, and also a cross-cultural coming-of-age story (Zainab was born in Ghana but came to the USA for college) this rom-com is begging to be made into a film.

This book deals with Zainab and her journey in NY. I was a bit surprised to find that the book read more NA than women’s fiction or general fiction, but ultimately my issue with the book was that I found our protagonist to be quite annoying. I know being young and having some (irrelevant) things be utter priority is truthful, but it got really annoying fast. There were sparks of brightness here and there and I enjoyed the ancestors angle but overall this was a book I struggled to read and finish.

Thank you to the Publishers and NetGalley for the ARC.