Heartbreaker Review

A heartwarming, thoughtful and funny revenge & fake-dating romcom by Anika Hussain who is so good at this. Read my 4-star review.

Out: Now

Saachi would do anything for her best friend. So when the unlikeable (at least to her) Fahim breaks Mona's heart, she plots revenge. She will make him fall for her and then gift him some of his own medicine. But she starts to have true feelings for him. Will Saachi still become the heartbreaker she set out to be, even if she ends up breaking her own?

When the book starts with the act of petty revenge on the 'bad guy's' clothes, I knew I was in for a treat. The 1st person POV is witty & funny, an endearing narrative full of her caustic remarks about anything and everything, and gut-wrenching but tender when dealing with her abandonment issues, her familial hurt. Seeing the South Asian culture in England through Saachi's eyes is engaging, enlightening and evolves the character.

Clever, proud to be stubborn and short-fused, I loved reading her verbal smartass war with Fahim, which was all the money. It seems that they've met each other's match. There are outrageous displays and unexpected actions that just warm the enemies-to-lovers & romcom parts of your heart. Even if you — begrudgingly at first — end up liking Fahim like our protagonist does, you still root for our girl and her mission. Or do you? Her aversion not only to him but to romance in general makes it all the more entertaining. How they constantly surprise one another while exhibiting genuineness is wonderful to read. And how incredible it is to really be seen.

I loved the group chat and DM pages; they felt like actual chats. They further the story and expand our knowledge of the characters in one artful move. The interactions are truthful and often sweet. Also, certain DMs make you want to hug the pages as you are chuckling and the writing out of emojis is my new favorite thing. This author always gives us remarkably down-to-earth, either sincere or quite humorous dialogue.

There needs to be a special mention of Abbu and Dev. I just adored them.

Saachi symbolizes how women are or should be fed up with certain male behavior and Fahim how clueless men today can be about how their masculinity and interest or disinterest should be exhibited. Dating etiquette and what it should be is a slippery slope. This book is about being honest with ourselves and what is actually bothering us.

Saachi shouldering all the blame was wrong in my opinion, but I do respect the author's choice and it is true that teenagers, heck, even a substantial amount of adults, do seem to make everything life or death. But a certain someone's hypocrisy was not dealt with. Additionally, for all the buildup, some story threads were resolved too easily. But I did like the apology letter wink

Don't judge a book by i's cover or in this case a boy by his sometimes assine behavior. We can learn. We can evolve. We can become better.