Skip to main content

The Relationship Between Love and Culture

"Amira has a no-dating rule..."

These are the best six words to draw anyone to a romantic novel, but they are also hard words to live up to. Why does the heroine of The Chai Factor have this rule? Well, she has a project for her Master's degree to finish, a job in industrial engineering to get back to, and a family life to manage...how could she possibly have time to date?

The Stubborn Heroine

I have an interesting relationship with The Chai Factor by Farah Heron, as I read it for the first time before I started this blog and did not enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would. (Part of the reason for this was that I had just read The Matchmaker's List and my expectations were high). A few weeks ago, I was on Goodreads and read some negative reviews regarding this book, and I was shocked...I didn't remember disliking it to the extent of a one-star review. In fact, I thought that some of the reviews were a bit unfair, so I decided to buy a copy and try again. 

This time, I suspended my expectations and cleared my mind, wanting a fresh perspective on Heron's debut novel, and I enjoyed the story so much more than I did the first time. 

Amira Khan has had too much experience with racism and sexism, as she is a Muslim, Indian-Canadian woman working as an engineer. She is not one to back down when confronted by these hurdles, and she speaks her mind. She is stubborn, intelligent, passionate and has a bit of a temper. None of this changes when she meets Duncan Galahad on a train going to Toronto, where he steps in to help her escape from some unwanted attention. Amira immediately gives Duncan a piece of her mind, but something is different about him...he's not afraid to explain his actions or stand up for himself either. 

Amira and Duncan cannot escape each other, not when they realize that Duncan and the rest of his barbershop quartet are renting the rooms in Amira's Nanima's basement for the next two weeks. The question is, can they coexist while the quartet practices and Amira tries to finish her paper, without killing each other?

The Importance of This Novel

I find that this novel is important for several reasons: 
  1. It shows the complexities of living in an immigrant community in Canada, especially one with such a rich culture 
  2. It addresses the difficulties of interracial relationships
  3. Amira has (and admits that she has) flaws. Characters in a book cannot be passive, and I enjoyed the fact that Amira had things to learn as well as things to teach her stubborn love interest.
It is for these reasons that I connected with this novel and the story had power over me, but it was not quite a 4 star novel, so I give it 3.75/5 stars. 

On another note, this bookworm got her job back (which was lost because of COVID)! While I am happy to go back to work, I do not know how this will affect my already infrequent posts. Thank you to all who have been reading my posts so far, and I hope to continue while adapting to my new schedule. As always, please feel free to share your thoughts or recommendations in the comments section below, by email (theopinionatedbookworm@gmail.com) or on Instagram (@theopinionatedbookworm1). 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kamila Knows Best

One of the biggest regrets I had during 2021 was that I let my blog slip through the cracks...which is a pity, because I like to blog. Therefore, I have decided to write once more (hopefully more than once), because I want to talk about Kamila Knows Best  by Farah Heron. You may recognize Heron's name from her previous works: The Chai Factor  and Accidentally Engaged. Both of these novels were well written, humorous, and heartwarming, but I loved them all the more because they are set in Canada and written by a Canadian.  Kamila Knows Best  stays true to all of these points. Set in Toronto, this adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma was faithful to the original while adding twists and turns that are accurate for a modern retelling. Kamila is an accountant who loves her father, friends, dog and career deeply, but all of these things means she is too busy for a serious relationship -- or so she claims. Kamila also fancies herself a matchmaker, and takes pride in the fact th...
Post a Comment
Read more

Arc of a Scythe

The end of a trilogy can either be a very frustrating event, or a very melancholy feeling. If the ending is not what you hoped, it can feel disappointing to have invested so much time. However, if the ending is satisfying, as was the case for The Toll  by Neal Shusterman, then leaving a series behind can be a concoction of emotions. The Toll The Arc of a Scythe trilogy came to a dramatic, thrilling, wonderful close in the final installment, and while I can say that I enjoyed it, I find it interesting how my interests seemed to change from the story of Citra and Rowan, to Greyson's story. I loved how complex the world got, and the ending was perfectly written, even though I still wanted more. 4 stars from this Bookworm! The only reason it was not a five is because I loved the second one. Second books are great because there is still a build up of tension, fantastic characters, and an ending that does not conclude the whole series and make me wish I could start all over again... Oh w...
1 comment
Read more

The End of the Reading Rut

This reading rut I was in was a painful experience that unexpectedly came to an end when I picked up Seven Days in June  by Tia Williams. I was taken on an unexpected journey, torn open while reading about the love story of Eva and Shane. Now that the story is over, I wish it had never ended. 7 days to fall in love, 15 to forget Fifteen years after Eva and Shane first fell in love, they meet again during a writers panel hosted by a mutual friend. Although they had not spoken to each other since their love ended, they were forever in each other's thoughts when writing their respective novels, a fact that only they were aware of. Even after so many years, their feelings are still electrifying, but one question remains, can they overcome the events of the past? Sometimes, reading a romance novel can seem formulaic, but this story broke every formula I have ever experienced in my literary adventures. Each chapter told me something about Eva and Shane that I genuinely did not expect. On...
Post a Comment
Read more