Farah Heron

Overall, I enjoyed "Remember Me Tomorrow" and thought the concept of time-shifting was mostly well done. Like other readers, I noticed "The Lake House" vibes, especially since it was referenced early in the novel. However, I found the final 20% of the book a bit confusing. The motive behind the attempted murders didn’t quite make sense, and the author didn’t clearly explain how the alternate timelines were meant to work.

That said, I really enjoyed the text exchanges between Jay and show more Aleeza. Their developing relationship was sweet, and the texts allowed me to connect with them more deeply. I liked that they came from different cultures, and I didn’t feel like the author was being racist toward white people, as some other reviewers have suggested. Overall, "Remember Me Tomorrow" was an easy, enjoyable read with a charming romance and just enough suspense to keep me hooked. show less

*Do not read while hungry* You have been warned.
What a delightful book! It hit on all counts with representation, banter (OMG the banter!), and the glorious food. Romance tropes are awesome when done well and this had the “Fake engagement” one which is always quite delightful.

Reena feels so real with all her family- and self- expectations and I just adored seeing her forge new paths, shake off past failings and find her purpose. This might be a small thing, but I appreciated that she show more didn’t think Nadim was hot immediately she saw him (I mean ofc she noticed the buns show less

Recommended: sure
For a sweet story with some actual mystery to it, for a fun integration of nerdy gamer things that you'll be in on the joke for if you're a gamer, for characters who support being their true authentic selves

Thoughts:
This starts off with a premise that could easily fall to the lazy, boring trope where the conflict is driven by people simply not talking to each other. Happily, that lazy boring trope is not where this book draws from. Instead, there's a well-developed sense of show more identity and authenticity, as well as mutual support. Considering this is a fake-dating trope, it's really impressive that it still felt very genuine for the characters!

I loved that they were pretty honest with each other from the start. Even though there's the one obvious lie of pretending this guy is an excellent gamer, they both focus on staying true to themselves and encouraging each other to do the same. Daniel's interactions with Samaya's friends was focused a lot on who he genuinely is, rather than solely on his assumed persona. They even call that out to each other after, which was a heartwarming moment of clarity. This is a critical basis of any relationship, so I was quickly invested in them, regardless of if romance came or it stayed as a strong friendship.

As a sense of identity is a core of this story for both main characters, there's also a side dish of racial commentary. Devin's parents look down on Samaya's family for not being Indian-Indian; Daniel gets all kinds of micro-aggressions about being a great player for a Filipino -- and even that feels like an improvement over the outright racism and violence he'd dealt with previously. It's not the full core of the story, but they each find ways to deal with it and commiserate together to find community and support.

One little aspect of this that niggled at me as a gamer was how some of the gaming things just seemed incorrect. Now, note: this only annoyed me because I have done these things and could see the logic holes, but realistically, they didn't affect the story of the novel (and were usually being used to propel it, in fact). One weird idiosyncrasy was that Discord, an online platform for voice chatting, was acknowledged to exist. Yet somehow their gaming guild was only able to play and talk by being in a room together, instead of using Discord to connect like just about every other gaming guild around???

But to be fair LAN parties can be hella fun so no shade at the end result, the excuse for it just didn't make sense. xD

Anyway, I definitely enjoyed this one and was pleasantly surprised at the depth brought to what's usually a bit of a fluffy trope for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Skyscape for a free advanced copy. This is my honest review. show less

"Art. Culture. Breathtaking beauty. You reminded me that I needed all that in my life, and that little bit of discomfort when something is new is worth it."

Tahira in Bloom by Farah Heron was a sweet surprise. I thought it was going to be just a fluffy read but it was so much more. It was refreshing to see young people make mistakes and take full accountability. I loved how important communication and compromise were in the friendships and romantic relationships. I also loved that it showed show more that art comes in many forms, including flowers. Even though this book was essentially a coming of age romance, it touched on many deeper themes in lighthearted ways and it contained more than one kind of representation that was celebrated equally (Desi, Muslim, Black, Blindian couple, LGBTIA+)

My favorite character wanted to start a page to take pictures of books. Imagine that. 😜 It was also great to see how much of Desi culture the author infused into the book. There were scenes that made me laugh hysterically, lots of fuzzy warm ones that made laugh and some that made me question some of their character. Overall it was a cute and fun read with enjoyable writing. I would definitely read more of Heron's work. If you're into fashion, flowers, sweet romances and social media influencers this one might be perfect for you. Thanks to @amazonpublishing and @tlcdiversity for the gifted copy.

Some of the main points were:

💐 the algorithm favors white creators over others
💐 BIPOC creators are overlooked 8n many spaces & have to work twice as hard to gain visibility
💐 social media fame is not the end goal for everyone
💐 the fashion world can be cutthroat
💐 female influencers are deemed less intelligent
💐 there can be more than one path to the same goal
💐 first impressions aren't always accurate
💐 staying true to yourself and your values keeps you grounded

4.5 🔥 show less