3.75 star

A really cute romance that looks at two different cultures.

Ani has been betrothed to Issac since her teenager years and in their culture, her future is planned out for her. Who she will marry, when and what she will become when she leaves college. But when Ani starts at the same college Issac goes to, she finds her betrothed keeps avoiding her. Then she is paired with the boy wearing crocs to do a school project… who then agrees to help be her love coach to help her with Issac…


I would give this 4 stars but the way the book was formatted meant I missed all the footnotes as they were at the end of the book, which became irrelevant by the time I finished reading, would have been better at the bottom of the page. I think there was links in the book but I don’t want to be clicking back and forth constantly on my e-reader to read them. As this was a proof copy I hope this is fixed in the final version

📚 If you’re not the One
🖌️Author: Farah Naz Rishi
🖋️ Publication: @harper360ya
📝Pages: 352
🗂️Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

5/ ⭐️

📌Summary:
Anisa Shirani is…well, perfect. A fact, not an opinion. Of course, it’s all a front to feed her own praise-obsessed ego. Behind closed doors, she is—some might say—a little slobbish and snobbish, and she works obsessively to maintain her God-given talents. Fate has favored her, but Ani knows better than anyone that fate is made by effort.
But she must, especially when all signs point to her being a top-notch lawyer with a top-notch education and being destined to marry Isaac, total heartthrob and eldest son of the richest family in the community. A perfect girl deserves a perfect life, and Ani’s perfect life is going exactly the way it should…
Until Ani’s parents announce they’re getting divorced.
Until Isaac shows all the signs of…cheating. Sort of.
Until she starts catching feelings for Marlow, an overly friendly weirdo she’s hated since the moment she laid eyes on him in class.

📌Review:
This book was quite different from that I expected but in a good way, a very good way.

It showcases the struggle of the struggle a young girl faces in the first year of collage to maintain the perfect image and how much weight is put on her shoulders.

I really loved seeing her being kinder to herself as the book progressed.

📌Thoughts:
It’s a book that stays with you and you think about it for a long time after.

I would like to thank @harper360ya for the copy.

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Thank you HarperCollins children’s book for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. This book was a perfect blend of so many of my favorite rom com tropes, opposites attract, friends to lovers and stepping out on your own. Anisa desires to be the perfect daughter and have the perfect life. However when things start going downhill with her intended, she enlists the help of Marlow as her love coach to help her get back on track. Marlow having his own issue with love wants to help Anisa to prove something to hisself. Watching Anisa fall not only in love with Marlow but begin to love herself is so refreshing. The comedy provided by her antics and high-handedness are grade A. Great young adult read!!

Super adorable story! This is the first book by Farah Naz Rishi that I've read, and I'll be sure to look at her others. I did find the story to be a bit juvenile for a book about college students, but maybe I'm just already forgetting what I was like as a college freshman.

If You're Not the One is just one of those books that finds its way to your heart. I knew I was going to end up loving this book and trust me, I did. This is such a beautiful story, and the kind of book I would have loved to read in high school, as I do now. Not gonna lie, this book hits a little too close to home. Anisa's need to be perfect, to stay in the good graces of her parents (and her future in-laws) felt a little too reflective. And Marlow, his kindness, warmth and humor made him so utterly likeable - I think he and I would be good friends.

Once I started reading this book, I could not put it down and ended up finishing the whole thing in one go. I also really loved the footnotes - they add another layer to the story and you get to love Anisa even more because of them. Some of my favourite parts of the story were Anisa and Marlow's budding friendship. They don't get along at the start, at least in Anisa's case, but once Marlow becomes Anisa's 'love coach', their friendship continues to grow and their banter is even more fun. I loved how, over the course of the story, Anisa learns to lighten the burden she puts on herself and learns to relax and really enjoy things. And if you're a fan of otome games as I am, you will love the scenes where Anisa gets introduced to her first otome game (once you start, you don't stop at all). Throughout the story, you really get to see Anisa's character development, as she starts to question many things in her life, including her relationship with her so-called betrothed Isaac and if she is limiting herself.

What I admired so much about this book is the conversation around South Asian beauty standards and how you often feel like you're not as pretty as your white counterparts and not as desired when it comes to dating. This is also something that feels a little too relatable and again reiterating the same thing, this would have been incredible to read in high school (as it is now). I also enjoyed reading about Anisa's love for makeup which started as a way of meeting certain beauty standards but evolved into something much more as she learned to adapt it for herself and for herself only.

There are so many scenes that are my favourite, but I loved the scene towards the end where Anisa finally realises what she feels towards Marlow and raced to find him. It really showed how far she had come from the first chapter. I was already a fan of Farah Naz Rishi's writing but after reading this book, I am so in love with it and I cannot wait to read more of what she writes.

If You're Not the One is the perfect YA book if you find yourself struggling under the weight of expectations from everyone around you. It is a story of love and friendship and allowing yourself the room to grow to become the person you truly want to be. Highly highly recommend this book!

I went in expecting a fairly straightforward YA romance, but this book does so much more than that. It genuinely is an adorable romance. I think Marlow deserves an award for YA book boyfriend of the year, he is so precious. But it's also a book about learning to respect yourself and learn that you deserve to be treated with respect. Anisa goes through so much growth in this story in the way she relates to her family, friends and community.

Having recently read Rishi's memoir, which also came out this year, really enhanced my reading experience. It quickly became clear to me that this story draws from their own experiences a lot and is very personal, and it was interesting to see the similarities and to also see where this YA romance diverged.

I've seen other reviewers mention that the book has footnotes, but those weren't present in the audiobook, so I'm unsure how these worked.

Rating - 2.5 stars

Sadly, I didn't love this as much as I expected to but I do have some things that I liked about this book. A main theme of this was generational trauma and I think it was executed very well and realistic with the experiences of both Anisa, Zaina and Isaac as the children of south asian parents. There was also some focus of the parents as well and as much as I hated the parents I could understand why they were the way they were and it was very sad to see how they impacted their children's lives.

On a totally different note, Marlow as a character and love interest... forget green flag, he was a whole green forest. I was so touched with everything he did for Anisa. My favourite thing he did in this whole book was that he asked Anisa's little sister for book recs about Islam so he could read them and OMG that moment will forever stay in my mind.

My rating is really low because I didn't love the plot and how Anisa was chasing after Isaac for the majority of the book. And I absolutely detested Isaac, he deserves a good hard slap in the face for everything he did. I found myself skimming through most of the book because I was tired of Anisa constantly chasing after him.

This was such a cute and fast paced ya rom com!! Perfect for fans of “to all the boys I’ve loved before” . I absolutely loved the main characters and they had amazing chemistry together. Definitely recommend to anyone looking for a Ya romance that will have you giggling and hooked from start to finish.

I read this book in one setting, so if that doesn’t convince you, I don’t know what will. I was in a reading slump for the longest time and this may have got me out of it. Anisa & Marlow were so adorable. I found it so funny how she dissed his crocs the first time she saw him, especially being a croc lover. I think a lot of brown girls will relate to this story, especially the pressure of parental expectations being a big aspect of this book. I loved how caring and supportive Marlow was for Isaac. What I especially enjoyed and made me love this book even more was the ski trip as it reminded me of To All The Boys I Loved Before, which had a big impact on my life when I was younger and was a major throwback.

Anisa is excited starting college. She can now finally start being around her bethroted to-be! Her perfect man, Isaac! That means she has to keep her relaxed self a secret because she has to be perfect like him. But when Isaac did not show up to the class they talked about registering together, Anisa is realizing, things are not as perfect as it seems. Good thing Marlow is more than happy to be her love coach.

This was quite adorable. As we go through the story, Anisa is starting to learn more about herself. new interests, new hobbies, new friendships. It honestly feels like we're Anisa's friends as well because we navigate through her thoughts thoroughly. The addition of footnotes just added a way to look what's going on her brain. They're so quirky, funny, and mundane that adds to the reading experience.

The story itself was really good. You can't help but root for Anisa even though you have a clear idea of where the story was heading. This book also made me realize about red flags and green flags with people.

Though this book is romantic comedy, you really get to see so much more about Anisa than the romance part. I also really like how we navigate through friendships, family, culture , and school life.

This book was just really fun to read and heartbreaking at some parts too.

* I received an eARC of this book

A teen struggling with realizing that her "perfect" life isn't so perfect when the wrong guys sees straight through her and the fact that her boyfriend has been distancing himself for her. Anisa is perfect or so she wants everyone to think she is. When the truth is she is a bit snobby and messy and has a praise-obsessed ego. She's determined to make everything go her way yet when a new student begins in her class and sees right through her... she begins to re-evaluate herself. Another issue is that her own boyfriend has been acting distant and suspicious and Anisa has to question whether or not she actually loves him or was going along with the relationship to appease her family. Can she finally stop her facade and embrace her true self and discover her own feelings or is perfection too good to give up? This was a coming of age story about a teen girl who is dealing with striving to be perfect and to make her parents happy while also fighting with herself with trying to keep the true her inside. It's a okay story and Anisa does a bit of growing by the end of the book. Marlow was a sweet love interest who just felt too good for Anisa. Marlow was really caring and he was just so adorable. It's a fun read for YA readers I think and its a fun opposites attracts, help me win back my ex while I also begin to fall for you, mixed in with family drama story.

Release Date: October 8,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books | Quill Tree Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This book really has my heart.

The novel follows Ani who seems perfect - perfect grades, perfect family and a perfect fiancé. Only things start to unravel when news of her parents divorce hits and she finds herself worrying about said fiancé actually dating someone else. And then there's the guy she's been paired up with for class - Marlow - who is the complete opposite of her. These components all make a perfect storm...

This was a really fun and easy read and I really enjoyed the footnotes (though I suspect it will be easier to read the footnotes in a physical copy rather than on the Kindle which can be disruptive). I really enjoyed the way in which the book was written, which was easy despite the fact that the characters are in college.

I would definitely recommend this to any rom-com lover.

to everyone else, anisa shirani is perfect. her makeup, outfits, and personality all stay impeccable. she even has the perfect fiancé-to-be, isaac. behind closed doors, though, she’s a bit of a slob. her designer outfits become tracksuits, and she has hobbies she’d be mortified for anyone to find out about. she has no trouble keeping these two sides of her separate…until her life begins falling apart. her parents are getting a divorce, isaac seems interested in someone else, and she finds herself falling for someone she never would have pictured herself with.

overall, this was a nice story. i liked seeing ani become more comfortable with herself and giving herself grace for not always being perfect. with this, she also became more accepting of others, which was great to see. i also enjoyed her friendship with marlow grow!

something i really didn’t like were the footnotes. i’m sure these would be less disruptive in a physical format, or if there had been far less of them, but they were just a pain in the digital format, which is how i read this book. they also didn’t feel necessary because the contents of the footnotes could have easily been woven into the narrative. i honestly just stopped reading them about 1/3 through, and i don’t feel like i missed out on much.

I had such high hopes for If You're Not the One -- look at that cover!

For some reason, I could not connect with Anisa, the main character. It felt like there was a lot of "tell" in this book (she's the smartest person with a huge Instagram following, but she is also awkward around people in real life) and a large emphasis on her life on campus -- at least for the first two-thirds. I wish we had been able to spend more time with her at home, seeing her with friends and her religious community.

Isaac should have communicated better, but I don't like the way that he was painted as a villain for being interested in someone else. If anything, Ani should have understood what it was like to have to live up to the unrealistic expectations of their parents!

I wonder who the intended audience of this book really is -- it seems like the writing style and main character would appeal to younger readers, but there's also a lot of swearing and references to p0rn...so, I was really confused.

Bumping up my rating an extra star for the confrontation scene at the end that felt a lot like Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Pride and Prejudice.

This was a really cute book that had me swooning. Watching Anisa grow was wonderful, truly the heart of this story. As someone who struggles with keeping my walls too high and letting others in, I found her to be very relatable. There was a line in the acknowledgements about how joyful and optimistic this story is, and that really stuck out to me. This really is a love story that shines so much light on optimism and letting yourself just be in the moment, not freaking out about the future. It will all be handled, it will all be okay.

I was definitely swooning at multiple times during this book. Dare I say I was even kicking my feet and giggling. Marlow and Anisa had such a fun dynamic, I love how playful they were with each other. My favorite part is how genuine Marlow was too. He just wanted Anisa to be happy, even if he was falling in love with her, he still had her happiness as a priority. The college setting being split between two campuses was really cool as well, I've never heard of the joint campus situation they have going on.

The biggest issues I had with the book was that it did take me a little bit to get into the story, and that I thought the ending kinda dragged. It makes sense in context because there were so many subplots to wrap up, but at the same time I wish there was less of a gap between the ending of the main conflict and the ending of the book. At the end of the day, this was a book with so much heart. Having Anisa discover herself, what she actually wants, and grappling with family problems and expectations culminated in a book that was definitely a love story, but is so much more than that at the same time.
Thank you NetGalley and the publishers, HarperCollins, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book works because there are cultural expectations that the characters must work through. So the story line makes sense and helps drive the story. But it goes above that with the several characters hanging on to relationships even when they are not working anymore. It was really insightful, at times hopeful, and at times just sad. But at all times, really meaningful and real.
I appreciated that the author didn't make things to easy. I appreciated the work and the growth of the characters. It made the story more interesting.
Enjoy!

I love the characters in this story. Anisa's character showed real "coming of age" skill when she moved on from outward perfection to honing her inward self. I love that she learned (from Marlow) how healthy relationships should be reciprocal. Parts of the story seemed too outlandish to be practical for me. Isaac was clearly weird from day one, which makes Anisa delusional from day one. Her obsession with the idea of an arranged marriage vs. love marriage seemed trite to the storyline. Her intended betrothed was someone she'd known throughout her life. On another note, I understand that the book is YA but I had a hard time reconciling their true age with their maturity age. It seemed totally irrational to me that a college student made an elementary-aged care package: painted pastel blue and covered with glitter...? Overall, an entertaining read with arguable faults. 3.5 stars rounded up. Thanks netgalley and publisher for this ARC.

Cute! This was a decent ya romance. I liked this one better than It All Comes Back to You. The main character was fine, the love interest was fine (if a little boring) and the ending was great, so what's not to like?

If You’re Not the One by Farah Naz Rishi is a heartfelt exploration of love, identity, and the pressure of societal expectations. The story follows two protagonists navigating the complexities of their feelings for each other amid familial obligations and cultural norms. Rishi’s writing is both witty and poignant, making the characters relatable and their struggles authentic. The book beautifully balances romance and self-discovery, making it a compelling read for anyone seeking a thoughtful, contemporary love story.

“What a waste it would have been to live by the standards of other people for the rest of my life. I could’ve missed out on this.”

Anisa Shirani is on track to have the perfect life. She’s destined to become a successful lawyer, marry Isaac, the son of the neighborhood’s most influential family, and be the perfect eldest daughter for her parents. Putting up a front with a carefully cultivated image is essential if she wants the life of her dreams. However, at home she’s a completely different person, and Anisa refuses to let anyone, even Isaac, see her when she’s not looking her best. But, the perfect life she’s worked so hard for is put in danger as her parents teeter on the verge of divorce and Isaac avoids her to spend time with another girl. When she starts catching feelings for Marlow, the guy she’s begrudgingly let help her win Isaac back, Anisa doesn’t know what to think. Everything is changing, and her once set-in-stone future is now uncertain.

If You’re Not the One was a fun, entertaining romcom that also tackled the heavy weight of a parent’s expectations on a young college student. As a young Pakistani-American woman, Anisa had her life mapped out for her, right down to the man she would one day marry. As the novel progressed however, she learned that she might not want everything that perfect life has to offer her. Anisa found herself paired up with an infuriating guy in her class named Marlow to work on a paper, and I loved the dynamic between them. While he committed himself to helping her reconnect with Isaac, he was also honest about his feelings for her from the start. As they spent more time together, she was able to open up to Marlow and feel content with herself around him. I love when two characters help each other grow, and that was exactly what Marlow and Anisa did for each other. They were perfectly imperfect together. The situation between Isaac and Anisa was quite complicated, but I thought that Rishi handled it beautifully. While Isaac was still at fault for what he put Anisa through, she also acknowledged the pressure he was drowning under to follow his parent’s plans for his future. This book was made for all of the first-born daughters stuck under the weight of external and internal expectations. Sometimes it’s okay if things don’t go to plan because you just might find love where you least expect it.