I really enjoyed this Emma retelling. It's cute and so sweet. The main characters father was by far my favorite character. But really the best part of this book is just that it is a Muslim American retelling. How often do we get that?? Almost never. So I really enjoyed that aspect.

I love reading about Pakistani characters so I ran to read this book. I thought Fawad and Humaira were almost there. I just wished they had more of a connection. I felt like their interaction was a sidebar and didn’t make for a rom-com. It was just told through Humaira’s inner that Fawad likes her.

Humaira’s character felt like an archetype of Emma without the necessary character work. Like the Emma character was a copy/paste for Humaira without personalizing Humaira’s lived experience to suit her shallow, judgmental archetype. There wasn’t much to her besides going to dawats and scheming as a matchmaker. Fawad on the other hand felt too much of a mysterious book boyfriend. She’s shallow, annoying, and bratty - so why did Fawad like her? I would’ve preferred more of a grounding that Fawad loves her despite her flaws.

Then the story felt like a genealogy with constantly telling how everyone is related to one another. A majority of conversations are about how her papa is grumpy about his daughter being married off. Repeated mentions of stuff that’s already been mentioned only a few pages earlier: like she speaks proper English because of her mother or how her father’s annoyed by Asif marrying his daughter and taking her away. Or how she’s missing her sister. More than any of those, I wish her loneliness was dug into more. Otherwise the story felt superficial.

A retelling of Austen's Emma, If I Loved you Less has a fresh outlook on the love story and showcases Pakistani culture. I also kept thinking about the 90s Clueless film, when I was reading it, apart from the fact that Humaira is not a teenager like Cher.

I loved Humaira and Fawad from the onset. It was nice seeing a hijabi protagonist who is an engineer and accomplished yet still seeks fun in matchmaking and girly pursuits. Even if she can be quite cheeky and out of touch with the real world it was an entertaining and humorous read.

Fawad and Humaira were the perfect frenemies to loves / neighbours. I also loved the friendship / sister dynamics and Humaira's relationship with her father.

A quote I liked: 'Perhaps all I am is a glossy veneer, shiny and polished, to cover the coarser truths hidden just beneath the surface.'

I must admit that I struggled with this book, especially as I've never read Jane Austin's Emma that it is based upon. The cultural side was also new to me, making some of it difficult for me to follow, but also have me an insight into another culture. The main problem though was that I didn't like the main character Humaira, she came across as very entitled and self-centred. I did persevere and saw how she gradually became more aware of what (or who) she wanted in life and the effect she had on other people. So maybe not for me, but that is more about the type of book that I normally enjoy and others will enjoy it and I gave it 4*accordingly.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

TRULY GORGEOUS!! there were so many times I had to pause, wave my hands around like a maniac, and take a deep breath because there was SO MUCH sweetness. Fawad is the perfect love interest: gruff but still playful and sweet, with the ability to profess his love in the most beautiful, devastating ways. Humaira is perfect, too--charming but a little egotistical but with so much heart. I LOVED this one. Highly, highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly I did like that this was a Desi retelling of Emma, I thought that element of the story lent really well to the story. I also liked elements of the romance throughout and thought it had really great moments.

I did however struggle with aspects of Humaira’s character. She seemed unnecessarily elitist and the way she thought about Shaznay being ‘simple’ because she was middle class was really jarring. The constant naming of brands was also very excessive and I found the dialogue quite jarring at times. It felt like it was trying too hard to emulate the source material and it didn’t quite work with a modern day Long Island.

I thought this was a nice enough read but it wasn’t quite what I wanted or expected.

Emma is one of my very favorite Austen novels, so I was prepared to be very critical of this retelling. I can find very little to critique, though. The writing was beautiful, thoughtful, and engaging, but not flowery. The characters were wonderfully drawn, true to Austen's portrayal and yet unique. The same can be said of the plot itself; true to the original and also true to modern American Muslim culture. There were even nods to the 2020 film adaptation of Emma which the eagle-eyed Janeite will spot and although I wasn't the biggest fan of that film, I enjoyed the reference to it here. The only slightly disappointing thing was that I couldn't find many references to Long Island, as I am very familiar with the area. To an outsider, though, such a lack will not be noticeable. Overall, I highly recommend this retelling to anyone, but especially fans of Emma like myself.

An insight into the world of a wealthy Muslim girl, spoiled, privileged, vain and vaguely annoying, but yet you still see the vulnerability beneath the flash designer clothes. I was interested to read about the different items of clothing and the social lives of Muslim families but the the book was predictable and I felt perhaps aimed at a teenage market, However for a nice easy read it was engaging with well drawn characters and scenes.

I loved the tone, voice, and characters in this fun and entertaining Pakistani “Emma” retelling. The plot stays very close to the original. While the overall mood is lighthearted, there are poignant moments as well.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

To start with, I loved the beautiful Muslim rep and halaal romance rep in If I Loved You Less. This reminded me so much of Pakistani tv shows that I watch from time to time. To clarify, I am Muslim, but not Asian, so I could relate to much of it, in one way or another.
I loved that much of the story takes place around dinner/tea parties. People are always gathering to share moments and food, and love, and that's truly the base and essence of desi households.
I liked Fawad (this name - the author knows what she did there) more than I liked Humaira. I could relate to him more personality-wise. He was more mature and sensible. Humaira was a bit of a brat, although it seems to me that that was the purpose of her whole character. That she has flaws, and is still lovable, and however wrong she might be, it always comes from a kind and loving place (I haven't read the classics so I don't know what the retelling is based on).
One thing I didn't like was the many, many brand name-dropping. It gave serious wannabe vibes instead of the wealthy. Yeah, I don't think loaded people actually pay attention to the brands they use, bc that's all they know so it's all the same to them. Not like the rest of us, povvos.
This is a halaal romance, so ofc expect closed-door. However, the tension and developing feelings will give you butterflies for sure!
Overall, IILYL was an entertaining read, and it was a nice story to escape into for a few hours.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for sending me this arc! When I saw the beautiful cover and read the blurb, I was so excited to read this book! I rate this a 3/5! This book had a great blend of dialogue, diversity, and representation! I loved how the MMC called the FMC out on her shit! I haven’t read the classic version of Emma, but this book makes me want to give it a read!

sighhhhhhhh

I really thought I would like this. I loved the little of Humaira we saw in When a Brown Girl Flees, and when this book was announced I got so excited to see more of the side characters.

I've never read Emma, but I did watch the movie that came out a few years ago. I knew Emma as a character would be annoying, but I wanted to give a halal Muslim romance a chance–there's so few of these books as it is, and I really wanted to read another one that would make me feel as happy as Love From A to Z did.

I think my main issue with this book was the writing style. The dialogue didn't always fit the time and setting. The characters spoke like they were literally in Emma which didn't make much sense to me, and took me out of the story so many times when they used words I would never hear in conversation.

I also don't know how likeable the characters were, which makes sense because Emma-retelling, but I don't know if Humaira grew on me as a character. Rizwan was awful, mainly because he pouts waay too much. And Farad was okay, but I did eventually get annoyed with him too.

I read this book faster than I normally would have, despite wanting to dnf like 25% of the way in, only because Gretal told me it gets better, and I can't say if it really did. The moments between Humaira and Fawad started to annoy me because there was so much sexual tension, yet Humaira was entirely clueless or in denial for most of it. I always say I'm not a romantic, yet I do enjoy romantic subplots in some of the books I've read over the years. But for some reason, this didn't work for me. It was a bit too much: the constant staring into each other's eyes, standing so close to each other while arguing, Fawad constantly noticing her lips. It was still mostly a "halal" romance, but it didn't work for me the way I wanted it to.

That being said, I do think most people would enjoy this book. I've never seen Bridgerton, but this book is what I would imagine modern day Bridgerton to be like featuring Muslim characters.

3/5 stars

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley, Aamna Qureshi and One More Chapter for this ARC.

If I Loved You Less is a loose Muslim retelling of Emma.

Humaira Mirza is looking for the love of her life after her successful track record in matchmaking her aunt and her sister. And she's found him: Rizwan Ali. But her close family friend, Fawad Sheikh, is not happy with her new matches and her constantly lets her know that, but he's also the only one who brings out the real Humaira and her raw emotions.

I found Humaira to be annoying, condescending, unlikeable and flat out rude. The way she treated her so-called friend, Shanzay, was not very nice; I'm surprised that by the end of the book they're still friends. The constant brand naming and describing them throughout the book was a bit much for me too. I really liked Fawad's character as he knew what Humaira was doing was not right and constantly telling her.

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

If I Loved You Less by Aamna Qureshi is a first person-POV contemporary romance retelling of Emma from a Muslim Pakistani-American lens. Humaira is the second daughter of the widower Mirza and a civil engineer who considers herself an accomplished matchmaker. When she decides to help her new friend, Shanzay, to find love as she pursues a potential match of her own, Humaira has to come to terms with her own shortcomings and that she was looking for love in the wrong places.

My favorite part was how Humaira is a fan of Romance genre novels, Regency and period dramas, fashion, and Jane Austen while also preferring to wear clothes from SWANA cultures, speaking Urdu, wearing a hijab, and on top of all of that is a civil engineer who loves baking and cooking. Humaira has a lot of interests that show her intersecting identities as Muslim Pakistani-American woman who likes feminine things and fancies herself to be someone who would do well in the Regency period. She’s complex and reflects the immigrant experience without being disparaging to Muslim Americans who are less conservative or Pakistanis who are more conservative.

I liked Humaira’s friendships with Shanzay, her sister, Naadia, and her love interest Fawad. Each one plays to different parts of her personality: Shantay to her need to help and be useful, Naadia to her playfulness and feminine qualities, and Fawad to her love of reading and being intellectually challenged. Out of all of them, I absolutely did prefer her interactions with Fawad with Shanzay and Naadia being a close second. Fawad was also my favorite side character.

As a retelling of Emma, I thought If I Loved You Less absolutely accomplished that. The biggest thing that we remember about Emma, besides the romance, is that Emma does genuinely want to help others but her self-centered nature gets in her way and causes her to hurt people even if she thinks she’s doing the right thing. Humaira tries to set up Shanzay with a cousin even though Shanzay already has a potential match that she is genuinely interested in. Humaira also tries to push a different interest towards Shantay even after she had been pursuing him herself.

Fawad and Humaira are a very cute childhood friends-to-lovers who are very easy to root for. Fawad is very aware of Humaira and her needs while Humaira is annoyed by him but slowly starts to see his better qualities.

I would recommend this to fans of Emma, readers looking for a Muslim SWANA retelling of a classic, and those looking to try a contemporary romance from a Muslim POV.

3.5 stars overall. I enjoyed this story and it was a fast paced, fun reimagining of Emma which hit all of the main story points in a modern twist.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I enjoyed this fresh take on Emma and reading from the perspective of a culture different from my own. It really worked.

The one criticism I have is that the descriptions of the family’s wealth were a bit overdone- we get it after just a little, we don’t need constant designer references and the like. I got rather bored of that after not too long.

If I Loved You Less is a retelling of Emma set in a rich Muslim household in Long Island. Humaira is waiting for the love of her life, while she's waiting, she is helping others out by matchmaking.
As with all Emma retellings, Humaira isn't particularly self aware and meddles a lot.
I loved the interaction between the two sisters (and the aunt). The dad character was very believable too. There are a lot of parallels between regency society rules and Asian family rules, and this book picks up on those wonderfully.
There's a lot of name dropping of designers. I'm not sure why this is, perhaps it's a rich Long Island girl thing. I skimmed over them after the first couple. The other thing was that Humaira's internal monologue tended towards regency speech - no contractions and old-fashioned phrasing - and since the book is in her point of view, it sometimes feels stilted. Other people have more regular styles of dialogue though, and you soon get used to Humaira's voice.
Fawad is an adorable grump. The chemistry between them is delightful. This is a Halal romance - so, no spice, not even kissing - but the longing was palpable. I loved that one of the things that brough them closer was discussing books.
I enjoyed this book.

I was very excited for this book. I love Emma cause of clueless. And I have never read Emma but watched a BBC series and the film that came out a few years ago so I understand the major plot points. This book had a real tone issue for me. I was pretty confused some of the words used were things nobody would say in America like keen. The main character is aged up in this story and it just did her no favors, she felt so immature for someone 23 years old. I did like the reference to clueless, cause duhhhhhh. I'm left just unsure how I feel overall.

I was shocked for a story that did not include a kiss that there were swear words. The references to the designers did get a little bit old And the multiple references to how rich they are.

I have read everything available by this author so far and I have loved every single book! Aamna can write fantasy. She can write coming of age. And she can write romance. Everything about this book was perfect and I cannot wait to get my hands on a physical copy!!

‘If I Loved You Less’ by Aamna Qureshi is a wonderfully warm and funny re-telling of Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’ where our bubbly and kind (if sometimes misguided) heroine Humaira remarks that “it is amusing how Pakistani culture is so similar to Regency-era England, with all the rules and courting”. The result is a fresh take on the well-loved classic novel which captures the tone of the source material perfectly.

I really loved Humaira and Shanzay’s friendship and the way Humaira was portrayed so realistically - with her privilege contrasted with her grief and loneliness. Fawad was a perfect hero and the culmination of the book was beautiful. There were many smiles and a few belly laughs scattered across the chapters.

I did feel like the narrative matched the original so faithfully that there was little surprise (unlike in ‘Emma of 83rd Street’ which played with events a little bit more), but this made the book more of a comfortable cosy hug!

I was OBSESSED with the way the two romantic leads recommended books to each other (Fawad was really after my heart and soul choosing ‘A Little Life’) and really enjoyed the lists included at the back of the book - with both reading lists being joined by a playlist, Humaira’s “absolute must-watch period dramas”* and her sister Naadia’s list of the “very best rom-coms”.

Overall, it was a really entertaining quick read that gave some insight into Pakistani culture, introduced a fabulous heroine and her family, and made this Austen fan grin from ear to ear. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who loves modernisations. Giving this four fab stars!

I received an advance Digital Review Copy of this book from the publisher Harper Collins, One More Chapter via NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

* PS - the period drama list was great but is absolutely wrong to recommend 2005 ‘Pride and Prejudice’ rather than the 1995 mini-series! Bonus points for recommending the pitch perfect 2020 ‘Emma’ movie though…