Lipshutz, Jason (February 11, 2021). "Taylor Swift Announces Re-Recorded 'Fearless' Album, 'Love Story' Single Drop". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 14, 2021 . Retrieved April 7, 2021. Crone, Madeline (April 7, 2021). "Taylor Swift Pulls Number Two 'From the Vault', "Mr.Perfectly Fine" ". American Songwriter. Archived from the original on May 22, 2021 . Retrieved May 22, 2021. The first one is all about dating life. The reader follows Zara, how she puts herself out there, wants to date, find love with all the excitement that goes with it. At the same time, she is vulnerable for showing the world who she is and what she wants. No matter who you are, straight, queer, male, female, non-binary, etc. putting yourself out there, into the dating world, always comes with risks of being hurt, heartbroken and rejected as Zara and other characters in the novel experience. The scenes where Humza unexpectedly surprised her. Her friends thought he was being a narcissist or controlling.

Zara’s story, getting to know her and her culture, was captivating and I felt like the author portrayed her emotions beautifully; but damn, some of the scenes in later chapters were brutally painful to read. Still, even though it was painful, I am glad about what happened in chapter 30, and think it was for the best. The ending (epilogue) was too abrupt for me though. I am generally not a fan of open endings, so the last scene was just not enough closure for me, but that’s only my opinion. At least the ending leaves us hopeful that there might be a happy ending in the near future for her and her Mr Perfectly Fine. Share this event Save this event: Cover cropping: a valuable option for soil health and resource protection

This is exclusive content.

Mr Perfectly Fine reminded me a lot of Bridget Jones, minus the partying and booze. Zara Chowdhury a British-Bangladeshi 29-year-old from North London. Like most South-Asian parents, Zara’s parents are concerned that she’s almost 30 and unmarried. With her homemade Victoria Sponge cake, Zara’s mum gives her a threat: if she’s not engaged by her 30th birthday, she will be sent to Bangladesh to find a ‘fresh-from-the-desh’ husband. Exhausted by her mum’s archaic marriage resources, Zara takes matters into her own hands. She joins a dating app and signs up for speed dating. Zara meets Hamza - a kind British Egyptian who shares her values, but the spark isn’t there, especially when she cannot stop thinking about a certain Turkish man who works with her. Dodson, P. Claire (April 7, 2021). "Taylor Swift's "Mr. Perfectly Fine" Lyrics Use a Line From "All Too Well" ". Teen Vogue. Archived from the original on June 2, 2021 . Retrieved May 31, 2021– via MSN. Horton, Ross (April 9, 2021). "Taylor Swift reclaims her pivotal moment by breathing new life into Fearless". The Line of Best Fit. Archived from the original on April 9, 2021 . Retrieved April 9, 2021. Zara dives head first into online dating and soon has two suitors on the go. A third suitor from an unexpected place also joins the line up, all Zara needs to do is not mess up... The plot is decent albeit slow and I think it does a decent representation of modern south asian culture with a slight bit of whitewashing which makes sense as it is set in modern British south asian society and that is being integrated into our culture.

I get Zara is supposed to be desperate to find a husband, but her desperation in this book came off in a bad way. Especially since she is supposed to be a muslim women and the author wanted that to be apart of her identity. I think my main issue is that Zara learns about herself but doesn’t seem able to apply that knowledge to herself or her relationships or those she interacts with. This is frustrating to read. So I really enjoyed the beginning of the book, some parts I actually laughed out loud. I liked that religion and culture was woven in. As a 31 years old, single Bangladeshi, Muslim woman, I could relate to Zara in certain areas like people making you feel old and mum asking you to agree to get married (although my mum really does this on occasion). This was, for the most part a fun read, while still dealing with more serious topics like the family pressure to marry and expectations of Asian women, as well as the double standards in how the community treats young women and men.I know it takes a lot to write a book and how hard it is to satisfy everyone’s version of Muslim representation in women of their culture so I have to applaud the author for rooting this novel in a sense of place and with a character which has her feet planted in both her British and Bengali culture. a b c Cohen, Jess (April 7, 2021). "Taylor Swift's Vault Song "Mr. Perfectly Fine" Is Here and We're So Not Fine". E! Online. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021 . Retrieved April 7, 2021. This took me a while to get into but I ended up zooming through the last two thirds. For a lot of this book I felt concerned for Zara. She has people around her who love her and say their concerns but she doesn’t seem to pay them *any* attention at all. There are some big warning flags in one of Zara’s relationships, and it is outright explained to her what the concerns are and then it’s not mentioned again. Billboard Canadian Hot 100 Chart - April 17, 2021". Billboard. April 17, 2021 . Retrieved July 11, 2021.