A bisexual teen’s panicked lie about dating the girl her friends despise turns into a fake relationship neither of them expected to want to make real.

If you love hate-to-love-turned-fake-dating setups, grumpy x sunshine energy, and a YA rom-com that takes queerness, culture, and faith seriously, Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar is worth a look.

Our take: this is a sweet, big-hearted YA romance that tackles biphobia, racism, and family pressure with real weight, even though the central relationship and its resolution move faster than the emotional groundwork can fully support.

Quick Facts

Author	Adiba Jaigirdar
Publisher	Page Street Kids
Publication date	May 25, 2021
Genre	Fake Dating, Young Adult, Contemporary Romance
Format	Kindle, Paperback, Hardcover, Audiobook
ISBN	978-1645677543
ASIN	1645677540 (Paperback) / B08FGVSRY8 (Kindle)

Reader Match

Perfect for readers who…

• ✓ Love a fake-dating premise between two girls who start out as enemies
• ✓ Want grumpy x sunshine chemistry with sharp banter
• ✓ Appreciate YA that centers Bengali and Muslim identity alongside immigrant family dynamics
• ✓ Like a sweet, kissing-only romance with no on-page sexual content
• ✓ Enjoy stories about queer teens finding better friendships along the way

Avoid If

Skip this if you want…

• A slow burn with lots of on-page romantic development (the central relationship resolves quickly in the final stretch)
• No on-page biphobia or racism from peers (Hani’s friend group is a recurring source of both)
• Adult characters and settings rather than a high-school-level story
• Every subplot, including the head-girl election, fully wrapped up

Book Synopsis

Humaira “Hani” Khan is well-liked and easygoing, but when she comes out to her two best friends as bisexual, they dismiss her identity because she’s only ever dated boys. Panicked, Hani blurts out that she’s actually dating a girl, and lands on the one name guaranteed to make her friends recoil: Ishita “Ishu” Dey.

Ishu is Hani’s opposite in almost every way, an intensely focused overachiever aiming to become head girl to prove herself to her parents after her older sister’s choices left them disappointed. She agrees to go along with the ruse on one condition: Hani has to help her become more likeable to her classmates so she has a real shot at winning.

As the two Bengali girls play along in public, their fake arrangement starts turning into something neither of them planned on feeling. But between Hani’s toxic friend group and the pressure Ishu is under at home, staying together for real is more complicated than either of them expected.

My Review

Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating leans hardest into its grumpy-sunshine dynamic, and it works: Hani’s eagerness to please plays well against Ishu’s clipped, no-nonsense energy from their very first fake-dating planning session.

Jaigirdar doesn’t shy away from the harder material either. Hani’s friends invalidate her bisexuality outright, and the racism and Islamophobia woven through her friend group feel specific and lived-in rather than added for shock value. Ishu’s storyline, caught between her parents’ expectations and her sister’s more complicated path, adds a second layer of pressure that never feels like filler.

Where the book struggles is pacing. Ishu’s decision to step back from the head-girl race arrives abruptly and gets little follow-up, and Hani’s reckoning with her friend group resolves in just a few pages after nearly the entire novel building toward it. The central romance suffers a bit for it too: readers spend more time in each girl’s internal monologue than in scenes of the two of them together.

Even so, the sweetness at the book’s core holds up. Hani’s parents offer one of the more quietly moving portrayals of unconditional support in YA, and watching two brown, queer girls choose each other and their own families over a crowd that never deserved them is worth it, even when the plot machinery creaks.

Romance Profile

Relationship	Fake Dating, Hate-to-Love, Grumpy/Sunshine
Age Gap	None, both leads are the same age and school year
Slow Burn	Mixed: slow internal build, fast external resolution
Forced Proximity	Yes (fake relationship requires public appearances together)
Heat	Sweet — kissing only, no on-page sexual content (YA)
Ending	HEA, age-appropriate
Representation	Sapphic (bisexual and questioning/queer leads), Bengali/Bangladeshi, Muslim and Hindu family backgrounds
Dual POV	Yes, alternating between Hani and Ishu
Steam	None (YA — no on-page sexual content)

Emotional Profile

• Sweet
• Angsty
• Hopeful
• Frustrating (in a good way)

Content Warnings

Not officially published by the author or publisher beyond the book’s own front-matter notice.

• Biphobia, including a character’s sexuality being invalidated by her friends
• Islamophobia and racism from peers
• Emotional manipulation, gaslighting, and toxic friendships
• Family pressure and parental disappointment themes
• No on-page sexual content (YA; kissing only)

Book DNA

Main Tropes	Fake Dating, Hate-to-Love, Grumpy/Sunshine, School Setting
Relationship Dynamics	Fake relationship born from a panicked lie, built on a mutually beneficial pact
Emotional Journey	Guarded self-protection to reluctant trust to earned, age-appropriate happiness
Reader Moods	Sweet, Angsty, Hopeful, Frustrated (with the friend group)
Themes	Bisexual identity and validation, immigrant family expectations, cultural and religious pride, toxic friendship
Tone	Warm and earnest, with real weight given to the bigotry the leads face
Heat	Sweet (YA, no sexual content)
Ending	HEA
Representation	Sapphic, Bengali/Bangladeshi, Muslim and Hindu family backgrounds, Irish-immigrant setting

Similar Books

• She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen
• Not My Problem by Ciara Smyth
• She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick
• Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli
• The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

For more similar books visit: Sapphic fake dating romance books

About the Author

Adiba Jaigirdar is a Bangladeshi/Irish writer and former teacher, born in Dhaka and based in Dublin since the age of ten. She holds a BA in English and History from UCD and an MA in Postcolonial Studies from the University of Kent, and her work has won the YA Book Prize and the KPMG Children’s Books Ireland Award, alongside a Lambda Literary Award nomination. Her other books include The Henna Wars, A Million to One, and Rani Choudhury Must Die.

Read more Adiba Jaigirdar reviews →

FAQ

Is Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating spicy?

No. This is a YA novel with no on-page sexual content; the romance stays at kissing.

Does it have a happy ending?

Yes, though it’s an age-appropriate HEA rather than an explicit, epilogue-style wrap-up.

Can it be read as a standalone?

Yes. It is a standalone novel and not part of a series.

Is it slow burn?

It’s mixed: the girls’ feelings build gradually, but the external relationship and its obstacles resolve quickly near the end.

Is there an age gap?

No, both leads are the same age and in the same school year.

What age range is this book written for?

It’s published as YA, with a publisher-listed reading age of roughly 14 to 17.

Is it a fake dating romance?

Yes. The premise centers on a panicked lie that turns into a fake relationship between two girls.

Does it use dual POV?

Yes, the story alternates between Hani’s and Ishu’s perspectives.

Final Verdict

Who should read it: fans of YA fake-dating rom-coms, grumpy/sunshine pairings, and stories that take queerness, culture, and faith seriously.

Who shouldn’t: readers who want a fully adult setting, a slow-burn romance with lots of on-page development, or every subplot neatly resolved.

Final score: [Add score]

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