Sofia is thirty years old when she breaks up with her potential husband, Imran, after he asks her to live with his parents and a hole-in-the-wall. Sofia works in publishing, and when she relates this story to her co-workers, her boss becomes very interested in the different aspects of Muslim dating, and proceeds to ask Sofia to write a book about it. What follows is mostly insights into Sofia’s life as she writes the book, though the book itself doesn’t particularly have priority, it is the starting point for a lot of the situations Sofia gets into.
The book is told from Sofia’s perspective in a diary-style format, so naturally much of the book’s success depends upon how much you like Sofia as a character. Personally, I absolutely loved her. I thought she was a very real, very relatable character. She’s by no means perfect, which for my part only made her more likable. She’s stubborn, hardly ever giving in to anyone, and she’s very forthright. She was also incredibly funny, her humour is often very dry and sarcastic, so I really appreciated it. I really liked that Sofia was quick to defend her beliefs in every aspect of her life. If someone said something she disagreed with, or took issue to, she almost always let them know. Even if that someone was a member of her own family.
I adored all of the characters in this book, Sofia’s family especially. She has a close relationship with her dad, which I loved reading about, and I feel like I don’t see this anywhere near often enough. Her dad was very funny, and it was very easy to warm to him. But I really, really loved her mum. She was very quick to criticise her daughters, particularly Sofia. However, she was also fiercely protective of them. Sofia comes under a lot of criticism from members of their extended family and, at some point, the families of people that she’s considering dating, and her mother quickly jumped to Sofia’s defence in these situations. Her mum’s one fierce woman. I liked that Sofia’s family had such a prominent focus in this book, often I think that in other books or films of this genre, the protagonist’s family are background characters at best. I liked that this book differed from that, and they were all such wonderful characters.
As this book is a romantic comedy, obviously I need to mention the romance. Sofia had several potential partners over the course of the book—which you’d expect, given that she’s writing a book on Muslim dating—and I really liked seeing the various successes and failures of these dates that she goes on. It offered some very funny insights into the world of online dating, as Sofia meets more than her fair share of odd ones when she signs up to Shaadi.com (later referred to only as “Shady”). I’m not going to spoil who she ends up with (to clarify, there’s no love triangle or anything like that, just standard almost-relationship drama) but I will say that I loved how the relationship developed. It felt very easy and natural – and though I did have an inkling as to who it might be very early on, that didn’t make it any less satisfying.
Romance aside, female friendship also has an important role in this book. While I’m no expert on romance novels or films, it often feels like the protagonist’s friendships can get brushed aside in favour of the love interest, or they’ll just have one particularly close friend, but that wasn’t the case here. Sofia’s friends are all well-developed, brilliant women, and though the focus is obviously on Sofia’s life, we get to see a fair share of her friends’ lives too.
Sofia Khan is Not Obliged has often been described as a Muslim Bridget Jones, and I can definitely see the comparison. However, there are several points of differences that do get touched on throughout. There are some things that Sofia experiences that a non-Muslim protagonist would not experience. The reaction to her situation with her almost-husband, for one, and the assumption that she’d somehow get into trouble for writing the book. Very early on, a man calls Sofia a terrorist after she accidentally bumps into him while trying to get on the tube, and there’s a very uncomfortable moment wherein Sofia’s editor asks Sofia if she’ll take off her hijab so she can see her hair, and then proceeds to touch her hair without her permission. I really liked that these moments were in the book. Like I said, they were important points of difference. They were all dealt with very lightly, and the book never gets too dark.
I highly, highly recommend this book. I guarantee you’re going to take something away from it. Even if you think you’re not into rom-coms (though, be honest, aren’t we all at least a little into rom-coms?) it’s well worth a read. I really look forward to reading anything else Ayisha Malik writes.
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From the Publisher
Ayisha Malik is a writer and editor, living in South London. She holds a BA in English Literature and a First Class MA in Creative Writing. Her novels Sofia Khan is Not Obliged and The Other Half of Happiness, starring 'the Muslim Bridget Jones', were met with great critical acclaim, and Sofia Khan is Not Obliged was chosen as 2019's Cityread book. Ayisha was a WHSmith Fresh Talent Pick, shortlisted for the Asian Women of Achievement Award and Marie Claire's Future Shapers Awards. Ayisha is also the ghost writer for The Great British Bake Off winner, Nadiya Hussain. This Green and Pleasant Land is her latest novel.
About the author
Damaged book sent
I purchased a brand new book but was not happy with What I got. The book I received did not look new. The back of the book cover was damaged! Returning the book and will stick to buying from a book store.
Top reviews from United Kingdom
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- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 February 2017
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 6 April 2016
Top reviews from other countries
- KevinReviewed in the United States on 14 February 2016
A Consistent and Beguiling Comic Voice
- Lori ZuppingerReviewed in Canada on 10 July 2017
while it's true that anybody who enjoyed Bridget should check this book out
