Who Doesn't Love a Good Romance?

As well as Fantasy, Romance is always a big favourite with me (even better when you put them together). As we decide on each book, my friend seems to head towards the more romantic, rom-com type and I always seem to go for the more fantasy driven books. But that is what makes the book club great - we both get our turn to choose what to read next and we don't spend a few books in a row in the same genre.

This time, it was my friend's turn to pick the next book: The Thirty Before Thirty List by Tasneem Abdur-Rashid. I put this in the list of possible reads, partly because I thought we'd both enjoy it as just from the blurb the concept seemed right up both our streets, but also because the main character is Muslim - I thought it would be good to read something that centres around a different culture/religion, one for myself as white person, but also for my friend as it would be relatable to her.

Our meeting place this time took us to Coffee #1 in our hometown of Poole.

So, let's get into the stats and my thoughts!

Stats

Title: The Thirty Before Thirty List

Author: Tasneem Abdur-Rashid

Rating (in books not stars): 5/5

Book in three words: fun, emotional, relatable

Book in one sentence: A fun, relatable tale that makes you think about your own life and inspires you to make some changes (if you want to) and shows you when you want to make changes you can do anything even if you are an introvert like Maya.

Thoughts

Right from the first chapter I was hooked!

In the first chapter, we meet Maya who is on the Tube doing her make-up as she makes her way to work. She meets Noah and they instantly connect. After he leaves, Maya finds a book he has left behind which contains thirty things he wants to do before he is thirty (but as he left no contact information with her she can't return it to him unless they have a chance meeting. While waiting she decides to do everything on the list.

This pretty much sets the story and I won't say much more so as not to spoil it, but I loved this first interaction between Maya and Noah - I love that it started so immediately and I was then forever wishing she would meet Noah again.

The other thing I loved was that Maya is so relatable, especially if you are an introvert (like me), or you are part of the same religion (like my friend), for example, when she allows her parents to start the arrange marriage process - through this she meets Zakariya.

I won't say too much more because it would spoil it for any of you who haven't read it yet, but I LOVED it! I almost felt a little inspired myself to go out there and do things, as I am very much a homebird. And I was really happy with how the book ended (I can't say why because spoilers!)

Would I Recommend the Book?

Absolutely! It was great to read a book that focused on a different culture/religion as well as it fitting the typical rom-com genre.

Would I reread it?

I definitely would!

Over to You

Have you read The Thirty Before Thirty List? What were your thoughts?

***

In the next book club post, I will be discussing the book Recruitment by K. A. Riley.