The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali

Apparently, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single Bengali girl of marrying age must be in want of a husband.

content warnings: on page rape, domestic abuse, violence, homophobia, racism, death of gay character

My god, this book was beyond depressing.

Rukhsana has her life all figured out, but her super conservative parents have other ideas for her and during the course of the book we are treated to a semi exorcism, an arranged marriage, her parents hitting her and of course the standard denial and shame surrounding her sexuality. I fully understand that this is a reality for Bengali people/Muslims, but for some reason I was expecting this book to be a little bit more upbeat than it actually was. Rukhsana was a likeable enough protagonist though. I just wish we could have stories that aren't quite as sad.