Book Review: The Matchmaker by Aisha Saeed

“A society matchmaker realizes she’s in danger when her clients’ weddings are sabotaged in increasingly disturbing ways—an utterly original mystery from New York Times bestselling author Aisha Saeed.”

Goodreads blurb for The Matchmaker

Review:

Though single herself, Nura Khan has been a successful matchmaker and is running the family business. That is until one dissatisfied customer starts seeking revenge. Nura’s life is in danger as well as her family’s and friends’. The mystery. 

Nura has been secretly in love with Azar, though he’s not expressed interest in her after years of friendship. These feelings are not helped when Azar masquerades as her fiancé for the sake of the business. The romance. 

I enjoyed the voice of the narration as well as being immersed into a culture I’m only moderately familiar with. As for the overall plot lines, I feel it was too crowded. There was a lot going on and I felt pretty ‘meh’ about it all. I wouldn’t personally categorize this as a full-on thriller. I think I might have enjoyed it more if there was a more solid central focus: mystery or romance. I typically enjoy the pairing, but it felt loud here from both sides. That said, I’m sure there are some people who will love this combination. 

Thanks to Ballentine and NetGalley for providing a free ARC of the book.

Likes & Dislikes:

What I liked:

• The cover pops.
• Interesting plot concept.
• I enjoyed reading about characters from a different culture than myself.

What I didn’t like:

• There are a lot of names to keep track of and the book is fairly fast-paced. Even reading in virtually one sitting I struggled to keep track.
• I could have done without the dual genres.
• The situations here feel super unrealistic.

Afterthoughts:

Please take this review with a grain of salt. I’m very much a mood reader and I guess I wasn’t particularly in the mood for either of these genres. I read this while traveling and reached for whatever was downloaded. However, I do stand by my comment about there being too much going on in the story.

Where to buy the book: