SYNOPSIS

After hooking up with an ex, Aaliyah talks to her friends about putting herself out there and dating again. She’s unsure if it’s worth it when her family attempts to set her up at a family bbq in remembrance of her late sister. After an aggravating conversation led by her uncle, Aaliyah decides that maybe it is time to take dating seriously, so when a coworker sets her up on a blind date, she agrees in the hopes of finding a boyfriend in time for her thirtieth birthday party.

What could happen?

RECAP AND REVIEW

This is the first book in a standalone contemporary romance series told in the first person of Aaliyah. The second one hasn’t been released yet.

Aaliyah is now dating intentionally, and chooses the new bar across the street from her apartment to have her first date with her coworker’s friend. Being stood up began her journey with a dating app.

The bartender, Ahmad, and she fall into conversation where he roasts her and gives her tips about her dating profile. He offers to keep an eye out for her while she’s on these dates, since one of her fears about dating is her safety.

Their banter had me laughing out loud and cheesing the whole time. Even going back to quotes I’ve screenshotted had me smiling. I read this book in three days, which is fast for me. I enjoyed every part of the story from Aaliyah’s dates, her conversations with her family especially at the end, and her friendships, even with Ahmad.

Ahmad was not slick. I was like why is he this invested. The way their relationship develops, the way they slowly get more comfortable opening up, was *chefs kiss.*

This book also discusses fatphobia. It shows how supposedly well meaning sentiments are actually fatphobic talking points. It touches on the fetishization of fat women and “BBWs” and discusses the misconception people have that being fat automatically means undesirable and lesser than in some people’s mind.

This book triggered me with the conversations about fatness but also with the way Aaliyah’s family discusses matters regarding her without her. They didn’t ask her what she wanted and made uneducated inferences about what she wanted or what her life would be like because of what they wanted (grandchildren, not seeing her alone, etc). Her uncle was on some bullshit pretty much the entire time.

I was worried that at the end of the book, some of the conversations would be irrelevant because of how situations would resolve, but I was happily surprised that it ended how it did without taking away the messages from previous conversations.

OVERALL

Overall, I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars. I don’t have much to say about it except that it’s one my favorites from this year. Reading this put me in a slump I haven’t come back from.