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A review by charliauthor
The Exes by Anam Iqbal
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I really enjoyed this one.
Even while taking a peek behind the curtain of Gen Z teens and wealth and influencers that is totally not my day to day, i found myself really invested in Zara and Karim and how they would navigate their respective worlds in order to be together.
I’m actually giving this book a 3.75. The reason it doesn’t get the full four marks to me was that it was left entirely too unfinished.
What was going to happen between Zara and Imran?
What was going to happen between Zara and Karim?
What was going to happen about Felicity, Chloe, Sanjay and Abeo’s secrets and most importantly who was Mr. Ex?
I can accept that leaving Mr X in mystery adds to the excitement of the book, but for actual major plot points to not be concluded, didn’t make enough sense.
Zara in and of herself, i really liked. Despite her upbringing and her strict family values and negative home environment she was still able to be a strong ethnic woman despite all the trials against her. I loved how the author touched on some serious issues in these communities about woman and girls and how society treats them over men.
Having such a strong point about abortion in the story was also great to be included in this context but by not wrapping things up all the way, it felt quite transient by the end. What did we go through and mention all of that for it not to make a point of it, if not to grow?
I dont think how that was shown was good enough especially after the quite violent show down with Zara’s family.
Despite liking Zara though, i was really confused about she and Imran’s relationship and how she kept being “tempted” by him when Karim was right there!? Call me shallow but if the choices are a wealthy influencer, over an East London road man, i know who im picking ffs 😒 i dunno, the whole encounter just pissed me off.
I liked/enjoyed the supporting characters but almost felt like they needed their own books for us to really get to know them as much aa Karim. I liked the writing style, it was easy to digest and i lapped it up because it felt authentically London ( the bits i know anyway lol)
A really good teen drama that seemingly displays Asian cultures in a realistic way with true commentary on gender injustices, racism, sexism and the pressures of social media.
Even while taking a peek behind the curtain of Gen Z teens and wealth and influencers that is totally not my day to day, i found myself really invested in Zara and Karim and how they would navigate their respective worlds in order to be together.
I’m actually giving this book a 3.75. The reason it doesn’t get the full four marks to me was that it was left entirely too unfinished.
What was going to happen between Zara and Imran?
What was going to happen between Zara and Karim?
What was going to happen about Felicity, Chloe, Sanjay and Abeo’s secrets and most importantly who was Mr. Ex?
I can accept that leaving Mr X in mystery adds to the excitement of the book, but for actual major plot points to not be concluded, didn’t make enough sense.
Zara in and of herself, i really liked. Despite her upbringing and her strict family values and negative home environment she was still able to be a strong ethnic woman despite all the trials against her. I loved how the author touched on some serious issues in these communities about woman and girls and how society treats them over men.
Having such a strong point about abortion in the story was also great to be included in this context but by not wrapping things up all the way, it felt quite transient by the end. What did we go through and mention all of that for it not to make a point of it, if not to grow?
I dont think how that was shown was good enough especially after the quite violent show down with Zara’s family.
Despite liking Zara though, i was really confused about she and Imran’s relationship and how she kept being “tempted” by him when Karim was right there!? Call me shallow but if the choices are a wealthy influencer, over an East London road man, i know who im picking ffs 😒 i dunno, the whole encounter just pissed me off.
I liked/enjoyed the supporting characters but almost felt like they needed their own books for us to really get to know them as much aa Karim. I liked the writing style, it was easy to digest and i lapped it up because it felt authentically London ( the bits i know anyway lol)
A really good teen drama that seemingly displays Asian cultures in a realistic way with true commentary on gender injustices, racism, sexism and the pressures of social media.