She Loves Me, He Loves Me Not by Zeenat Mahal
Romance Contemporary
Ebook, 260 pages
February 14, 2015
Indireads

Reviewed by Tori

 Zoella has had a crush on Fardeen Malik for years. Engaged to a gorgeous socialite with the same high ranking social status, Zoelle knows she has no hope of him ever seeing her for more than his little sister’s best friend.

When Fardeen is horribly disfigured in an auto accident, his fiancée leaves him, breaking their engagement and leaves him a bitter shell of the man he used to be. Family and circumstances push Zoella to the forefront and her dreams finally come true-she gets her prince.

Or did she?

Fardeen is not the man Zoella has loved for so long. Her prince has become a beast. Zoella soon learns the hard way that fairy tales are for the innocent and naive, but she’s not willing to give up just yet. Using her innate strength and wit, Zoella fights for her fairy tale and learns something about herself and the world she lives in on her journey to her happily ever after.

She Loves Me, He Loves Me Not is a modern day retelling of Beauty and the Beast with a few twists. Set in Pakistan, Mahal views centuries old Indian culture and societal conventions through modern eyes. Well written with a smooth steady storyline. A formulaic romance in that the heroine is a princess in need of rescuing and the hero is damaged, grumpy, and emotionally closed off prince, however Mahal takes and molds the romance into her own by taking a couple who would have never married if not for a tragic set of circumstances, and attempting to create a bond of love, trust, and magic. Unfortunately, the magic didn’t blossom so well for me because I never grew to like the couple.

Zoella is a people pleaser. She has spent her life doing everything she can to make her family’s lives easier only to be shown time and time again that she doesn’t measure up. A beautiful young woman whose lack of social status and family love makes her feel less than nothing.

Fardeen is the family scion. Gorgeous, talented, and rich, his life has been perfect. He has never known what it’s like to on the other side of the social spectrum where the not so perfect exist. A terrible accident scars him, changing not only his looks but his personality. He honestly feels as if his life is over and he strikes out at anyone who comes near him.

When Zoella’s family accuses her of acting inappropriately with Fardeen and his brother, she is placed in the position where she has to either marry one of the brothers or sacrifice herself for the shame she supposedly brought her family.

Fardeen’s family comes to the rescue, thinking they can save Zoella and help Fardeen at the same time by offering marriage. Zoella agrees to marry Fardeen but the pedestal she placed him on shatters when she realises just how much he has changed.

This was a hard romance. Zoella and Fardeen both go into the marriage with certain prejudices; each feeling like a charity case nobody else wants to deal with. Fardeen doesn’t want to marry Zoella which causes a great deal of conflict and negativity. Mahal does well in giving both points of view, allowing the reader to understand where Zoella and Fardeen get their ideas from and how they each choose to deal with them, though at times I felt both were rather immature and their communication skills were almost non-existent.

I enjoyed watching Zoella morph from a scared unsure woman to a strong woman who knew what she wanted and was willing to fight for it. I only wish she could have sat down and told Fardeen what she was feeling. Made him listen to her. She chooses instead to stop trying and bottles everything up inside.

So this was what it felt like. Heartbreak. This was how it happened. Quick. Sudden. Final. She’d always thought it was something slow and torturous. It was unadulterated vicious pain. Immediate and intense, blocking out everything else, all other emotion, all thought. Like a fool she’d only seen what she’d wanted to see in him. She’d focused on his vulnerability, rather than the complete disdain he always showed for her.

Fardeen was a jerk. A huge wallowing ball of self pity. He acted like a spoiled child with his ugly comments, hurtful sarcasm, and then blames her for acting “unreasonable.” His scars aren’t only on the outside and he throws all his hate, anger, and lack of self-esteem at Zoella. When he finally realizes all the harm he has caused, he attempts to apologise but even that seems to come with conditions. He seems to feel that she should have understood his feelings and accepted everything he has done. When Zoella can’t forgive and forget (and I REALLY don’t blame her) he resorts to even more asinine comments and actions.

He’d wanted to make himself feel better by pulling her down with him. Maybe now he had shown her. He’d succeeded. He’d brought her to the point where she understood that she couldn’t be happy, that he was indeed not her knight.

He’d won.

Why then, did he feel as if he’d lost everything?

Fardeen’s final stunt towards the end in a desperate attempt to get Zoella back was unbelievably cruel and yes, childish. I was shocked by his ignorance and stupidity. He hadn’t learned a single thing.

What made Zoella’s and Fardeen’s relationship conflicts a little more bearable for me to endure was the setting and Fardeen’s family. I loved seeing Pakistan through Mahal’s eyes. She brings the country and customs to life in lush descriptions and scenes. The Malik’s were a treat as this lovely group of exuberant and  personable characters who do their best to help this couple through their time of need. I love that they held Zoella in as high of regards as they did Fardeen. They provide plenty of humor and advice; allowing us a reprieve from Fardeen and Zoella.

Fardeen, words are easy to say. What you did tonight is unacceptable.”
“Ami…”
“Right now, I’m Zoella’s Ami. My daughter-in-law deserves better. How do we know you mean what you say?”

The ending is a forced confrontation that resolves all the external conflicts and makes the couple sit down and finally tell each other what needed to be said for most of the book.

An interesting spin on an old classic that was engaging in some areas but the couple’s childish and vindictive actions wore me down till I just didn’t care anymore.

RATING: D+

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