For fans of Becky Albertalli and Jenny Han, a sweetly funny YA rom-com debut about falling in love, familial expectations, and being a Renaissance Man.
Danyal Jilani doesn’t lack confidence. He may not be the smartest guy in the room, but he’s funny, gorgeous, and going to make a great chef one day. His father doesn’t approve of his career choice, but that hardly matters. What does matter is the opinion of Danyal’s longtime crush, the perfect-in-all-ways Kaval, and her family, who consider him a less than ideal arranged marriage prospect.
When Danyal gets selected for Renaissance Man–a school-wide academic championship–it’s the perfect opportunity to show everyone he’s smarter than they think. He recruits the brilliant, totally-uninterested-in-him Bisma to help with the competition, but the more time Danyal spends with her…the more he learns from her…the more he cooks for her…the more he realizes that happiness may be staring him right in his pretty face.
*Before I jump in I want to thank the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.*
Danyal is used to getting by for his looks. He prides himself on his looks and knows he’s not very smart. He’s hoping his looks help him land the girl of his dreams, Kaval, who happens to his best friends twin sister. His parents decide its time for him to get married, so they set him up with Bisma. But when Danyal gets nominated to be the Renaissance Man, everything changes.
I loved this book so much! Danyal is a talented chef and I loved getting to know him better. All of the relationships in this novel are deep and complex.
Danyal’s dad who doesn’t understand that being a chef can be a respectable job. His mom who does nothing but intervene between the two of them. I found that the relationship between the three of them was tense, tender and felt so real.
Danyal gets Bisma to help him get ready for the Renaissance Man competition and we get to know Bisma better and I loved that so much.
I loved getting to know the characters in this novel! I loved the conversations about Islam and how serving your god is different for each person. This was so good and I highly recommend it!