Two exes must revisit their past after their siblings start dating in this rom-com perfect for fans of Sandhya Menon and Morgan Matson.
Let me start by saying that It All Comes Back to You by Farah Naz Rishi is the kind of book that will put a smile on your face. That’s probably the best review I can give it – and the review you want right now, if you’re coming here to try to decide if this should be your next read. You want something light and fun and just heartwarming; this is the book for you.
And it’s not even because the “they hate each other in real life, but they’re actually bffs online” trope is one of the best tropes there is, though there is that. I will try anything with this trope.
It’s mostly because as I was reading, I felt like I was reading fanfic – and I say that as the highest compliment. Sometimes I read fanfic because it makes me happy, in a way not all books manage. Fanfic is comfort. Fanfic is joy. Fanfic is, often, the best parts of a book, just conveniently cut together for me. It All Comes Back to You gave me that same feeling, of a book that instinctively knew not just what I wanted, but what I needed.
This book is a romance, yes, but I think goes a little beyond a romance. Not that I think any book in the romance section is just a romance, that’s one of those misconceptions of people who don’t read the genre. Every romance book is about more than romance, because romance is just a part of our lives, and even if a book focuses on that part, well, the romance still requires …people.
When I say this book is something other than a romance, however, I’m merely referring to the fact that the book doesn’t spend as much time on romance, at least in present time, as it spends on Deen and Kiran just …figuring stuff out about themselves. I particularly enjoyed Kiran’s storyline revolving around grief, because I found it absolutely relatable, but there’s something really great about Deen’s story revolving around his own self-worth.
You do get the cute flashbacks, though! The flashbacks are adorable, and they help inform the personalities and the decisions of the characters as they exist in the present tense.
In the end, Kiran and Deen are messy teens who don’t always make the right decisions, and who keep secrets they shouldn’t be keeping, and try to deal with things alone that they absolutely shouldn’t be dealing with, but that feels very in line with what being a teenager is. The book takes them on a journey of self-discovery, as people and also as part of a whole, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see where they end up.
Also, as I said at the beginning, this book is gonna make you happy. It’s gonna make you smile. And, if you’re like me – I make little noises when I get excited, and sometimes, I even stop and do a little dance, what can I say? – it might make you stand up from your chair and cheer on these characters, this story.
It All Comes Back to You is available today wherever books are sold.
