Aisha Saeed

Naila's vacation to visit relatives in Pakistan turns into a nightmare when she discovers her parents want to force her to marry a man she's never met. Simultaneous eBook.

Written in the Stars

Julie Rubens

Such a heartbreaking but important book. Very well written.

Arooj

The ending was very underwhelming however overall it was a great read. Ive never felt this much anger and hatred while reading anything before, her parents deserve nothing.

Savindi Jinasena

It's between a 3.5 and 4 for me. It's a heartbreaking book, but an important one because Naila's situation happens to so many girls around the world.

"A wonderfully complex love story unlike any you’ve read before. Saeed has given a novel that is both entertaining and important.”—Matt de la Peña, New York Times bestselling author This heart-wrenching novel explores what it is like to be thrust into an unwanted marriage. Has Naila’s fate been written in the stars? Or can she still make her own destiny? Naila’s conservative immigrant parents have always said the same thing: She may choose what to study, how to wear her hair, and what to be when she grows up—but they will choose her husband. Following their cultural tradition, they will plan an arranged marriage for her. And until then, dating—even friendship with a boy—is forbidden. When Naila breaks their rule by falling in love with Saif, her parents are livid. Convinced she has forgotten who she truly is, they travel to Pakistan to visit relatives and explore their roots. But Naila’s vacation turns into a nightmare when she learns that plans have changed—her parents have found her a husband and they want her to marry him, now! Despite her greatest efforts, Naila is aghast to find herself cut off from everything and everyone she once knew. Her only hope of escape is Saif . . . if he can find her before it’s too late.

Written in the Stars truly is a heart-wrenching novel. My eyes are so puffy right now, I can't see properly. 

Note: The better the book is, the harder it is for me to articulate my emotions into a coherent review. I am just a mess of thoughts and feelings and it's difficult for me to align my thoughts. But I'll try to do my best.

“Life is full of sadness. It's part of being a woman. Our lives are lived for the sake of others. Our happiness is never factored in.''

Written in the Stars follows the ideologies within a Pakistani family unit. It talks about arranged marriage and forbidden love from a unique cultural perspective.
It's fair to warn you that you may be somewhat bothered by the graphic content. Our protagonist Naila goes through a lot of painful experiences and disgusting treatment. Seriously, I am freaking reeling from the suspense of it all.  Naila's parents and other relatives are extremely conservative and I guess it's hard for us who live in progressive societies to understand. But note that there is a gigantic difference between an arranged marriage and a forced one. Naila was not even aware she getting married! I mean, who does that? At least in an arranged marriage you sort of have a say in whoever you're marrying. Whichever way you look at it, some of the treatment shown here is very abusive and I think nobody deserves that. No one. Whatever the race, the gender or religion, everyone deserves a shot choosing who to love.

“My mother always says when you fight destiny, destiny fights back. Some things, they're just written in the stars. You can try but you can never escape what's meant to be.”

Aisha Saeed is a very talented writer. It also helps that it's the culture she knows only too well, and from personally knowing people in this situation. She captures the feeling of the character and the moment that as a reader you get so caught up in everything. There is a tremendous amount of depth here, in the plotlines surrounding her family and her obligations as a Muslim Pakistani woman, in the comparison and bridging of the East and West cultures, in the efforts our characters are willing to put in just to be able to choose their own paths and find happiness. 

There may not be a sci-fi or dystopian element in the romance, but reader can still empathize with Naila, because she's only a young 18-year old. I still consider this a YA book. A very compelling YA book that opens our eyes to the real issues that matter. In fact, I think teens like me should pick up this book. Please, GO READ THIS. RIGHT NOW.

Written in the Stars truly is a heart-wrenching novel. My eyes are so puffy right now, I can't see properly. 

Note: The better the book is, the harder it is for me to articulate my emotions into a coherent review. I am just a mess of thoughts and feelings and it's difficult for me to align my thoughts. But I'll try to do my best.


  “Life is full of sadness. It's part of being a woman. Our lives are lived for the sake of others. Our happiness is never factored in.''


Written in the Stars follows the ideologies within a Pakistani family unit. It talks about arranged marriage and forbidden love from a unique cultural perspective.
It's fair to warn you that you may be somewhat bothered by the graphic content. Our protagonist Naila goes through a lot of painful experiences and disgusting treatment. Seriously, I am freaking reeling from the suspense of it all. Naila's parents and other relatives are extremely conservative and I guess it's hard for us who live in progressive societies to understand. But note that there is a gigantic difference between an arranged marriage and a forced one. Naila was not even aware she getting married! I mean, who does that? At least in an arranged marriage you sort of have a say in whoever you're marrying. Whichever way you look at it, some of the treatment shown here is very abusive and I think nobody deserves that. No one. Whatever the race, the gender or religion, everyone deserves a shot choosing who to love.


  “My mother always says when you fight destiny, destiny fights back. Some things, they're just written in the stars. You can try but you can never escape what's meant to be.”


Aisha Saeed is a very talented writer. It also helps that it's the culture she knows only too well, and from personally knowing people in this situation. She captures the feeling of the character and the moment that as a reader you get so caught up in everything. There is a tremendous amount of depth here, in the plotlines surrounding her family and her obligations as a Muslim Pakistani woman, in the comparison and bridging of the East and West cultures, in the efforts our characters are willing to put in just to be able to choose their own paths and find happiness. 

There may not be a sci-fi or dystopian element in the romance, but reader can still empathize with Naila, because she's only a young 18-year old. I still consider this a YA book. A very compelling YA book that opens our eyes to the real issues that matter. In fact, I think teens like me should pick up this book. Please, GO READ THIS. RIGHT NOW.

H. Kamran

Naila loves Saif. One night, her friend Carla convices Naila's mother to let Naila stay at Carla's house. Guess what night it is. It's prom night. Her mother quickly finds out she's been dating Saif, and heartly disapproves. They immediately "take a family trip" to Pakistan, except it is really to arrange a forced marriage for Naila. Can Naila get out of the forced marriage?

Samantha Milfort

This book is horrifying and focuses on such a prevalent issue happening all around the world. 

This book follows a high school senior named Nalia who is from a conservative Pakistani family. Her family allows her choice in everything except who she marries, as that is seen as a form of respect from child to parent. One problem is she is deeply in love with her secret boyfriend, Saif. 

This book truly showcased the detrimental effect of abuse and family generational upbringing. Nalia’s parents while I understood their thoughts and why they retained their beliefs- they ultimately destroyed their daughter and any semblance of remorse in the process. What Nalia endured was horrific and no one deserves to go through any of what she went through but sadly, so many survivors and people are in forced marriages every day. 

Saeed’s writing style was simplistic but truly engaging showing the vulnerability and suspense of the situation. I truly felt like I was right beside Nadia and wondered and truly doubted if she would ever return home and make it out alive 

I am glad I read this book and for anyone thinking of reading this I strongly encourage you do if you are in the right headspace and feel like you can handle some of the heavy topics. 

TW: Forced Marriage, Emotional/Physical Abuse, Rape, Drugged, Forced Abduction, Mention of Miscarriage, Brutal Attack and imprisonment,

Flavia Louise

Not really unexpectedly this book was super heart-wretching to read. The author wrote in a way where you felt just as trapped as Naila. The issue I take with this book and some others I have read is that it paints the worst case scenario. I know Aisha Saeed talks about the fact that this is the case in her author's note. But as sad as it is this one book will sometimes be the only media a person consumes on this theme and there is sadly a chance it will instill a lot of prejudice in that person.

Libby G

I really liked this book. It was hard to finish though. I had to constantly had to set it down because I got so angry, which is more of a me problem than the books.

Sheila

ok so it's probably a good thing I'm pretty drunk right now because this book FUCKED. ME. UP. it moves fast, but tension mounted like the best horror novels as you grasp what's happening to Naila more quickly than she does, but when the reality of her situation hits it will destroy you. omfg this book was all of my worst nightmares wrapped in a few pages & no traditional horror story will ever freak me out more than this will, because a lot of this hit too close to home for me. just damnnnnn

Jennifer

Written in the Stars is a story about a Pakistani American girl whose marriage was arranged by her family, against her will. In this raw and emotional piece, Aisha Saeed authentically fleshes out the difficulties in Naila's marriage - so as the result Naila's internal struggle with her heart vs the will of her family felt really heartwrenching. At the same time, the Pakistani culture described in the novel also feels really organic. So I found the authenticity of Written in the Stars really touching.

On the flipside, I have some issues with the pacing & the plots. I think this is quite a personal take as I'm not normally big with romance heavy books. I personally found the plots a bit overly dramatic (e.g. family drama and romance was a bit quick) and predictable, for example I kind of guessed where things would go quite early on in the novel. This is because the secondary characters are not sufficiently developed. So while I appreciated the authenticity & cultural aspects in the book, I'm not the intended audience.

Despite my concerns, I nevertheless enjoyed Written in the Stars (as I finished this within a day). It's a heartwrenching and emotionally intimate book. I would certainly recommend this to readers who are into the YA contemporary genre.

N.B. this book contains the following content triggers: abuse, violence, and vomit

Anna Agarwal

Aliyah Manji

This book was such a touching an emotional story, and it was a really short and quick read as well, I finished it in like 1.5 hours. 

Plot: 4.9/5
The plot was EXTREMELY fast paced, which I personally loved, but I'm taking 0.1 off because I feel the ending was a little too rushed. Everything else was immaculate.

Writing: 5/5
The writing was so impactful and I was crying throughout the last half of the book.

Characters: 5/5
Naila, our MC, was very easy to sympathize was and I was rooting for her throughout the whole book.

Dialogue: 5/5
All the dialogue was so impactful

Overall: 5/5

Jessica 

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  Life is full of sadness. It's part of being a woman. Our lives are lived for the sake of others. Our happiness is never factored in. 


As a note, a printed copy of this novel was sent to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not effect my opinions in any way.

Every now and again a reader will pick up a book and just know that it’ll be special. Powerful. Somehow, they just sense it. And in Written in the Stars, in spite of that little voice that says “
  this will be a gift
” you never know quite how important it will be until you finish it. Beautifully crafted and easy to devour (and drown in emotion), this is the sort of novel one can start and finish in a night.

Because firstly: Aisha Saeed’s prose is incredible–this much you should know. I’m confident to say that Written in the Stars is the best contemporary release of the year. And it tackles many topics that are often shied away from in literature and it does so with grace, in spite of its horrifying nature.

Saeed pens a tale of love, loss, betrayal and mistreatment in the form of an arranged marriage. It tells the story of one young girl–who’s future is right in her grasp–and one nightmare of a trip to her family’s home country follows. Although it is a tale of fiction, this isn’t an uncommon occurrence and that’s ultimately what makes it all the more upsetting. 

Continued @ BOOKEDJ.

Kate

I love it when I finish a book feeling like I've learnt something new and that's exactly how I felt after finishing Written in the Stars.

This book was insightful, shocking, educational and heartbreaking. I highly recommend this to anyone wanting to expand their knowledge of different cultures and learn something new, whilst also reading a fantastic book!

Check out my full review for Written in the Stars on my blog ~ http://girlreading.co.uk/bookreviews/...

reeha

"Naila's vacation to visit relatives in Pakistan turns into a nightmare when she discovers her parents want to force her to marry a man she's never met"--

Written in the Stars

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