The Exes by Anam Iqbal
Dec. 29th, 2024 01:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Do opposites ever really attract?
When Karim and Zara’s works collide, they have to work out just how far they’re willing to go to give their love a chance.
They’ve got nothing in common: Karim is a globally renowned influencer while Zara is just a normal teen.
With Zara, Karim can finally let his guard down, and his glamorous world offers Zara an escape.
But someone has their eye on them - a secret gossip who’s been spilling truths for years.
As their dates get swooned, the blogger’s posts get more personal - and more threatening.
Can they unmask their tormentor in time to get their happily ever after?
17-year-old Zara Khan lives in Barking, East London with her mum and dad but her home life is strained because her parents are obsessed with tradition, honour and reputation, expecting Zara to be a diligent Muslim who does not bring shame on them. They disowned Zara’s brother Farhan as they do not approve of his marriage to Morowa (a Christian Ghanaian with whom Farhan set up a catering business and who he has a child with). At the same time Zara’s older sister Aisha is trapped with two children in a loveless and unsafe marriage that her parents arranged and which they refuse to intervene to help her with, despite her repeated requests for assistance.
Karim Malik is the lynchpin of The Exes, a group of 5 teenagers who all attend the exclusive St Victor’s private school in West London and run the biggest YouTube channels in the United Kingdom, posting a mix of pranks, fashion and lifestyle content:
- Abeo Okon produces fashion content and wants to be a designer;
- Chloe Clark wants to be an actress;
- Felicity Wong is a dancer who posts choreography; and
- Sanjay Arya is a bad boy prankster with some unfortunate skeletons in his cupboard.
All of the Exes come from wealthy, privileged backgrounds and Karim is no different. His parents are wealthy Pakistani-British entrepreneurs, he lives with them in a Kensington mansion together with his older sister Kiran (also an influencer) and older brother Azad (who works for the family business). But while the Exes are used to being the subject of gossip, things have changed in the last few months. An anonymous gossip blogger called Mr Ex has a website devoted to exposing all of The Exes’ secrets - the things that they’d rather their fans don’t know. Most recently he’s revealed that Chloe and Karim were in a relationship that has led Chloe to get an abortion and it’s beginning to harm their carefully curated brand and lucrative sponsorship deals. Certain that Mr Ex has to be someone they know given the nature of what he’s revealing, neither Karim nor the Exes have made much progress in pinpointing his identity.
Zara follows the Exes are and is a fan of Karim’s. She’s even seen him in person when he came into Selfridges once while she was working in the make-up department with her best friend Saliha. She never thinks she’ll even meet him until Farhan and Morowa are invited to pitch to Karim’s family to help cater the wedding of Karim’s brother Azad to Sana Quereshi. When she and Karim meet properly, it’s clear that there are sparks.
But as the pair get to know each other, it becomes clear that Mr Ex is aware that Karim has a new brewing romance and he’s determined to do whatever it takes to get and publish the information he wants, no matter what the cost …
Anam Iqbal’s thoughtful debut YA romance uses the opposites attract trope to explore issues relevant to the British Muslim community. However, even for me there’s a lot of plot here while the book’s key mystery goes unresolved (albeit there’s scope for a sequel) and the privilege porn wasn’t questioned enough for me. That said, it’s good to see a YA romance with Muslim characters and there’s enough here for me to want to Iqbal’s next book.
I’m going to start with my usual disclaimer that romance fiction isn’t my favourite genre and although I do read it, it’s not my usual sandpit.
I picked this book up because I thought it would be interesting to read a YA romance with 2 British Muslim characters because it is - for me - a fresh perspective and I think the novel works really well from that point of view. Certainly, it’s interesting to read about British Muslims from both aspirational and poor backgrounds and Iqbal has a keen eye for detail in both Karim and Zara’s respective worlds.
For me, Zara was a more interesting character than Karim, who does come across as a poor little rich boy at times. Zara comes across as fully realised - determined to work towards her goal of becoming a dentist, aware of and furious by the double standards at play within her community when it comes to teenage dating but at the same time caught within the expectations placed on her by her parents. In part this works as well because of the contrast between Zara’s family and their views and the life led by her friend Saliha, whose family are more liberal. I believed in Zara as someone experiencing love for the first time and I liked the fact that Iqbal writes her as someone who is aware of the downsides of Karim’s life as much as she is envious of some of the advantages because it means that she is not as overcome by the glitz of Karim’s life as a lesser writer may have been tempted to write.
That said, the Obligatory YA Love Triangle element between Zara, Karim and Zara’s handsome classmate Imran who lives across the road from her was something that I really felt could have been dropped without causing any issues for the story. This is partly because Imran doesn’t have a huge amount of page time and is initially set up to set up the double standards at play for boys and although there are some good scenes in terms of establishing the close bonds within the British Muslim community, it just feels a bit kitchen sink.
As I said earlier, Karim is something of a poor little rich boy and in contrast to Zara’s Obligatory YA Love Triangle element, I actually wanted more about his relationship with Chloe. In part it’s because it goes to the heart of a revelation that Mr Ex makes in the book but also because it would have been interesting to get his parents’ reaction to his dating white girl as a contrast to Zara’s parents reaction to dating and marrying Morowa. I should confess that although Iqbal makes some valid points about the compromises that Karim has made for his career as an influencer and the wealth that it’s brought him, there is still a strong element of wealth porn at play here with the descriptions of his lifestyle being very much in the CRAZY RICH ASIANS vein.
My biggest issue with the book though is that in Karim’s storyline much is made of the need to find out who Mr Ex is and this gets ramped up as he starts to blackmail people throughout the book, including Zara and Karim. However the book finishes without the reader finding out who Mr Ex is and I found that to be a big let down. To be fair, the story does end with scope for a sequel or companion novel (which I would be interested to read) and it’s possible that Iqbal intends to come back to it then.
My other issue with the book is that there is a lot of story going on here. I am very much a plot person and normally the more story the better but there are so many elements going on here - the Karim/Zara romance, the identity of Mr Ex, the Chloe/Karim/Sanjay love triangle, the Zara/Imran/Karim love triangle, and what’s going on in Zara’s family - that at times it’s all a bit too much. I needed things to be a bit slower and percolate more and, as I said above, I think removing a couple of plot lines could have helped that.
All of this sounds very negative but I do think that this is a very solid debut YA novel. Iqbal clearly cares about her characters and there is a lot of thought put into this story. I suspect that any British Muslim teen reader who picks up this book will find a lot in here that they can relate to. On that basis, I am very keen to read what Iqbal writes next as I suspect she’s going to be a big name in the British YA scene.
The Verdict:
Anam Iqbal’s thoughtful debut YA romance uses the opposites attract trope to explore issues relevant to the British Muslim community. However, even for me there’s a lot of plot here while the book’s key mystery goes unresolved (albeit there’s scope for a sequel) and the privilege porn wasn’t questioned enough for me. That said, it’s good to see a YA romance with Muslim characters and there’s enough here for me to want to Iqbal’s next book.
THE EXES was released in the United Kingdom on 2nd May 2024. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
When Karim and Zara’s works collide, they have to work out just how far they’re willing to go to give their love a chance.
They’ve got nothing in common: Karim is a globally renowned influencer while Zara is just a normal teen.
With Zara, Karim can finally let his guard down, and his glamorous world offers Zara an escape.
But someone has their eye on them - a secret gossip who’s been spilling truths for years.
As their dates get swooned, the blogger’s posts get more personal - and more threatening.
Can they unmask their tormentor in time to get their happily ever after?
17-year-old Zara Khan lives in Barking, East London with her mum and dad but her home life is strained because her parents are obsessed with tradition, honour and reputation, expecting Zara to be a diligent Muslim who does not bring shame on them. They disowned Zara’s brother Farhan as they do not approve of his marriage to Morowa (a Christian Ghanaian with whom Farhan set up a catering business and who he has a child with). At the same time Zara’s older sister Aisha is trapped with two children in a loveless and unsafe marriage that her parents arranged and which they refuse to intervene to help her with, despite her repeated requests for assistance.
Karim Malik is the lynchpin of The Exes, a group of 5 teenagers who all attend the exclusive St Victor’s private school in West London and run the biggest YouTube channels in the United Kingdom, posting a mix of pranks, fashion and lifestyle content:
- Abeo Okon produces fashion content and wants to be a designer;
- Chloe Clark wants to be an actress;
- Felicity Wong is a dancer who posts choreography; and
- Sanjay Arya is a bad boy prankster with some unfortunate skeletons in his cupboard.
All of the Exes come from wealthy, privileged backgrounds and Karim is no different. His parents are wealthy Pakistani-British entrepreneurs, he lives with them in a Kensington mansion together with his older sister Kiran (also an influencer) and older brother Azad (who works for the family business). But while the Exes are used to being the subject of gossip, things have changed in the last few months. An anonymous gossip blogger called Mr Ex has a website devoted to exposing all of The Exes’ secrets - the things that they’d rather their fans don’t know. Most recently he’s revealed that Chloe and Karim were in a relationship that has led Chloe to get an abortion and it’s beginning to harm their carefully curated brand and lucrative sponsorship deals. Certain that Mr Ex has to be someone they know given the nature of what he’s revealing, neither Karim nor the Exes have made much progress in pinpointing his identity.
Zara follows the Exes are and is a fan of Karim’s. She’s even seen him in person when he came into Selfridges once while she was working in the make-up department with her best friend Saliha. She never thinks she’ll even meet him until Farhan and Morowa are invited to pitch to Karim’s family to help cater the wedding of Karim’s brother Azad to Sana Quereshi. When she and Karim meet properly, it’s clear that there are sparks.
But as the pair get to know each other, it becomes clear that Mr Ex is aware that Karim has a new brewing romance and he’s determined to do whatever it takes to get and publish the information he wants, no matter what the cost …
Anam Iqbal’s thoughtful debut YA romance uses the opposites attract trope to explore issues relevant to the British Muslim community. However, even for me there’s a lot of plot here while the book’s key mystery goes unresolved (albeit there’s scope for a sequel) and the privilege porn wasn’t questioned enough for me. That said, it’s good to see a YA romance with Muslim characters and there’s enough here for me to want to Iqbal’s next book.
I’m going to start with my usual disclaimer that romance fiction isn’t my favourite genre and although I do read it, it’s not my usual sandpit.
I picked this book up because I thought it would be interesting to read a YA romance with 2 British Muslim characters because it is - for me - a fresh perspective and I think the novel works really well from that point of view. Certainly, it’s interesting to read about British Muslims from both aspirational and poor backgrounds and Iqbal has a keen eye for detail in both Karim and Zara’s respective worlds.
For me, Zara was a more interesting character than Karim, who does come across as a poor little rich boy at times. Zara comes across as fully realised - determined to work towards her goal of becoming a dentist, aware of and furious by the double standards at play within her community when it comes to teenage dating but at the same time caught within the expectations placed on her by her parents. In part this works as well because of the contrast between Zara’s family and their views and the life led by her friend Saliha, whose family are more liberal. I believed in Zara as someone experiencing love for the first time and I liked the fact that Iqbal writes her as someone who is aware of the downsides of Karim’s life as much as she is envious of some of the advantages because it means that she is not as overcome by the glitz of Karim’s life as a lesser writer may have been tempted to write.
That said, the Obligatory YA Love Triangle element between Zara, Karim and Zara’s handsome classmate Imran who lives across the road from her was something that I really felt could have been dropped without causing any issues for the story. This is partly because Imran doesn’t have a huge amount of page time and is initially set up to set up the double standards at play for boys and although there are some good scenes in terms of establishing the close bonds within the British Muslim community, it just feels a bit kitchen sink.
As I said earlier, Karim is something of a poor little rich boy and in contrast to Zara’s Obligatory YA Love Triangle element, I actually wanted more about his relationship with Chloe. In part it’s because it goes to the heart of a revelation that Mr Ex makes in the book but also because it would have been interesting to get his parents’ reaction to his dating white girl as a contrast to Zara’s parents reaction to dating and marrying Morowa. I should confess that although Iqbal makes some valid points about the compromises that Karim has made for his career as an influencer and the wealth that it’s brought him, there is still a strong element of wealth porn at play here with the descriptions of his lifestyle being very much in the CRAZY RICH ASIANS vein.
My biggest issue with the book though is that in Karim’s storyline much is made of the need to find out who Mr Ex is and this gets ramped up as he starts to blackmail people throughout the book, including Zara and Karim. However the book finishes without the reader finding out who Mr Ex is and I found that to be a big let down. To be fair, the story does end with scope for a sequel or companion novel (which I would be interested to read) and it’s possible that Iqbal intends to come back to it then.
My other issue with the book is that there is a lot of story going on here. I am very much a plot person and normally the more story the better but there are so many elements going on here - the Karim/Zara romance, the identity of Mr Ex, the Chloe/Karim/Sanjay love triangle, the Zara/Imran/Karim love triangle, and what’s going on in Zara’s family - that at times it’s all a bit too much. I needed things to be a bit slower and percolate more and, as I said above, I think removing a couple of plot lines could have helped that.
All of this sounds very negative but I do think that this is a very solid debut YA novel. Iqbal clearly cares about her characters and there is a lot of thought put into this story. I suspect that any British Muslim teen reader who picks up this book will find a lot in here that they can relate to. On that basis, I am very keen to read what Iqbal writes next as I suspect she’s going to be a big name in the British YA scene.
The Verdict:
Anam Iqbal’s thoughtful debut YA romance uses the opposites attract trope to explore issues relevant to the British Muslim community. However, even for me there’s a lot of plot here while the book’s key mystery goes unresolved (albeit there’s scope for a sequel) and the privilege porn wasn’t questioned enough for me. That said, it’s good to see a YA romance with Muslim characters and there’s enough here for me to want to Iqbal’s next book.
THE EXES was released in the United Kingdom on 2nd May 2024. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.
