‘The Mismatch’ by Sara Jafari: Blog Tour Review of A Story of Women Finding Their Paths (+ US Giveaway!)

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Today I’m excited to participate in the Blog Tour for The Mismatch by Sara Jafari hosted by Qamar Blog Tours! The Mismatch is an #ownvoices debut New Adult Romance and it will be published on August 3, 2021 from Penguin Random House.

• Title: The Mismatch
• Author: Sara Jafari
• Publisher: Penguin Random House
• Pub. date: 3 August 2021
• Series: DEBUT NOVEL
• Page count: 368
• Source: Qamar Blog Tours
• Genres: new adult, romance, contemporary, #ownvoices, women’s fiction

For a young woman who just wants to get her first kiss out of the way, a rugby player seems like the perfect mismatch. But a kiss is never just a kiss. . . .

Now that Soraya Nazari has graduated from university, she thinks it’s time she get some of the life experience that she feels she’s still lacking, partly due to her upbringing–and Magnus Evans seems like the perfect way to get it.

Whereas she’s the somewhat timid, artistic daughter of Iranian immigrants, Magnus is the quintessential British lad. Because they have so little in common, Soraya knows there’s no way she could ever fall for him, so what’s the harm in having a little fun as she navigates her postgrad life? Besides, the more she discovers about her mother’s past and the strain between her parents, the less appealing marriage becomes.

Before long, Soraya begins to realize that there’s much more to Magnus than meets the eye. But could she really have a relationship with him? Is she more like her mother than she ever would have thought?

With unforgettable characters at its heart, The Mismatch is a gorgeously written coming-of-age story that shows that love can be found in even the most unexpected places.

Content warning: domestic abuse, emotional abuse, disowning, drug use, drug addiction, racism (slurs, bullying, etc.), one incident of physical assault, sexism/slut shaming, toxic relationship

Reading the blurb of this book, I instantly felt like I could relate to Soraya and her lack of romantic experience post-uni life. Being in literally the same transition phase from university to work life myself, something about Soraya clicked with me straight away and I just needed to read this book! Luckily, I got approved for this wonderful blog tour and here we are!

The Mismatch is a cross-generational story that ping-pongs between Soraya in 2014 and Neda, her mother, in the years leading up to their move to England.

Soraya is newly graduated and desperately looking for jobs to keep herself from having to move back in with her family in Brighton. To make something in her life go right, Soraya decides on fixing her love life by scoring a kiss with the talented rugby player and playboy, Magnus Evans. Magnus seems like the opposite of everything her Muslim family values at first. But, as Soraya gets to know him better, she starts to realise there is more to him and this simple ‘fling’ might not be so easy to pull away from.

Soraya’s story is interspersed with Neda’s own, starting in 1970’s Tehran with her own university life and getting to know Hossein, her future husband. Trying to balance her Islamic values with standing up for herself and gaining some independence, Neda struggles to acclimatise to married life as well as life in England.

Soraya reminded me a lot of myself last year. I related to how she felt like she was stuck in a rut in her life, with no control of her life and literally grasping for anything that gives her some semblance of control in that chaotic phase. Unlike my newfound obsession with working out, she chose to date Magnus Evans (and honestly I don’t mind a go at my own Magnus right now haha!). My favourite thing about Soraya was that I could relate to her beyond her chaotic new adult life to her having to shave her body hair, being insecure in her body, and having to juggle conservative family values with more modern and open ways of life. I loved that and I really need more characters like this in my reading.

I did not think I would relate much to Neda but, surprisingly, I could not help thinking about my mom’s own story while reading Neda’s. I definitely empathised with her a lot more and ended up liking her a lot more than I thought I would when I first saw her through Soraya’s eyes.

Since a majority of the story is told through the perspectives of these two characters, my views are tainted by their experiences and feelings when it comes to the other characters. Beside the main characters, I really like Oliver, Soraya’s best friend who is going through his own personal journey with family and job struggles, and I even liked Magnus, but I really think he deserves more page-time. It felt like we only brushed on Magnus’s true personality.

Lastly, I liked that this book had strong Muslim rep, from Neda’s conservative, traditional approach to Soraya’s modern outlook. It was also great to have a queer character in the cast and I honestly need more Oliver at this point!

The best way I can describe the writing is that it is emotional. The author has a way with words that conveys the characters’ feelings very succinctly and projects these emotions onto the scenes as well. There are many emotionally charged scenes in this book that really got me worked up and I love how Jafari expertly handled these scenes while holding onto the chaos and blur of emotions these moments are composed of. It was a great experience, frankly.

The use of dual POVs with alternate timelines was well-thought-out. It let Jafari explore two different experiences of women pushing against the status quo of their culture and handling the hardships of their time. I loved that it made me research Iranian politics (because I am just absolute rubbish at world politics!).

The best thing about the plot is that it surprised me with its plot twists. There are some secrets that come out into the light and some of these shocked me. I liked that a contemporary novel like this still managed to bring some shock factor into the equation without it seeming like drama.

But what did not work for me plot-wise was that I found some of it predictable. Though I loved Soraya’s journey to discovering her own self, I found the romance arc a little predictable. I actually loved the direction Soraya and Magnus were going in but I expected more. But honestly, that’s just personal preference.

Soraya’s perspective was set in 2014 to 2015 between London and Brighton, whereas Neda’s story moved from Tehran in the 1970s to Liverpool and then Brighton over a span of years.

I liked that Neda’s story spanned over the years because it allowed the reader to understand her journey and her decisions better. Soraya’s story was fine in that slower timeline though since she had more internal conflict, like Muslim guilt, and more family-oriented issues to work through. So, they were really effective timelines.

When it came to Neda’s perspective, I noticed how the author paid careful attention to the political and cultural conflicts at the time. It was interesting because, coming from a non-Iranian, non-Muslim background, some of this was new to me and I liked that it challenged me that way.

First off, Soraya’s Muslim guilt. Personally, I have no experience with this, but I have seen close friends struggle with their Muslim guilt and it was insightful to read about it from an #ownvoices perspective. I found it interesting that, having grown up as a Sri Lankan Buddhist, I could still relate to it and that I could understand a lot of what Soraya was struggling with while trying to liberate herself.

Unsurprisingly, the themes of culture and religion were strong throughout this book. It was comforting to read about Soraya’s struggles to reconcile her conservative upbringing with the present life she’s living. Since this is can be a controversial issue to talk about freely, reading about characters who we can relate to giving us the sense of comfort that we aren’t the only ones struggling with this and there are more of us all over the world.

Another strong theme that I could not help relating to was dysfunctional families. Honestly, most of us would probably relate to this. I loved how Jafari tackled this theme with nothing holding her back. I loved the themes of healing that went along with this too because it leaves the reader with a sense of hope.

It goes without saying that both MCs are strong women but in very different ways and that is something Jafari does a good job of highlighting.

I picked up The Mismatch expecting a relatable sweet romance but instead got the story of two women’s journeys as they tackled religion, culture, dysfunctional families, and finding your place in the world. A great #ownvoices debut novel with strong Muslim rep, The Mismatch by Sara Jafari is a must-read for anyone who loves a good romance with a healthy dose of reality.

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But with more and more time spent away from home, she wondered why sex was so evil. Why disobeying her family was so abhorrent. Why so much focus in her family’s preaching was on controlling her, rather than on her being a good and just person.

Learning from books was safe, risk-free. Talking to boys, men, was not.

In England she was Iranian, and in Iran she was English. Always a foreigner, never belonging.

She knew all about disappointing parents. Knew how even though you expected them to let you down, it still felt like your insides were being shoveled out when they did. You should never let yourself hope when it came to a parent like that, but sometimes it was unavoidable.

It was then that she finally learnt she couldn’t force Maman to appreciate her, to like her, rather than love her out of obligation. Sometimes obligatory love had to be enough.

📣 GIVEAWAY ALERT 📣

Win a copy of THE MISMATCH by Sara Jafari

To enter:
💜RT this tweet
💜Follow @qamarblogtours
💜Follow @sarajafari

~US only
~closes 17th Aug pic.twitter.com/XAujQQXN2A

— Qamar Blog Tours (@qamarblogtours) August 9, 2021

Sara Jafari is a London-based British Iranian writer whose work has been longlisted for Spread the Word’s Life Writing Prize and published in gal-dem and The Good Journal. She is a contributor to I Will Not Be Erased and the romance anthology Who’s Loving You. Jafari works as an editor and runs TOKEN magazine, which showcases writing and artwork by underrepresented writers and artists. The Mismatch is her debut novel.

Have you read The Mismatch or will you be picking it up? Check out the other stops below!

August 10 –Reading At Last
August 11 –@mellasmusings
August 12 – Bibliosini
August 13 –@readingatlast
August 14 –Discover Elysian
August 15 –ramblingmads 
August 16 –Inkhaven