Synopsis: After Kiran Noorani's mom died, Kiran vowed to keep her dad and sister, Amira, close. Then out of the blue, Amira announces that she's dating someone and might move cross-country with him. Kiran is thrown. Deen Malik is thrilled that his older brother, Faisal, has found a great girlfriend, even if it's getting serious quickly. Maybe now their parents' focus will shift off Deen, who feels intense pressure to be the perfect son. When Deen and Kiran come fact to face, they silently agree to keep their past a secret. Four years ago--before Amira and Faisal met--Kiran and Deen dated. But Deen ghosted Kiran with no explanation. Kiran will stop at nothing to find out what happened, and Deen will do anything, even if it means sabotaging his brother's relationship, to keep her from reaching the truth. Though the chemistry between Kiran and Deen is undeniable, can either of them take down their walls? Thank you to TBR and Beyond Tours for including me on the blog tour for It All Comes Back to You! I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Click on the tour banner below to check out the tour schedule and visit the other stops on this tour! Genre: Young Adult Contemporary Publishing Date: September 14, 2021 It All Comes Back to You, Farah Naz Rishi's sophomore novel, was one of my most anticipated releases of this year, and it definitely lived up to to my expectations! The novel is a wonderful coming-of-age story featuring realistic teen characters and desi culture, and as part of this tour, I got to interview the author, Farah Naz Rishi, on it! Q: What were your initial thoughts on the story that you wanted to tell when first drafting It All Comes Back to You? I wanted to write something that read like a combination of You’ve Got Mail and Pride & Prejudice, but modern and geeky and unapologetically desi. I also wanted tons of drama and bad decisions, a big desi wedding, and I wanted it all to read like fanfic. Deen kind of appeared in my head first, pretty much fully formed and raring to go, followed by Kiran (always fashionably late). The rest is history. Q: How much do you think the story changed throughout drafts? Were there any core elements that stayed the same? I had a super detailed outline to write this book, so surprisingly not much changed plot-wise. But Kiran and Deen went through several changes. Kiran, for example, was a lot more passive and well-meaning, and Deen was actually a lot meaner, ha. But the story started to feel too one-sided, and Deen felt too unlikeable. I wanted Kiran and Deen to be equally at fault, but still good at their core. It took a lot of balancing and re-balancing to get their dynamic just the way I wanted! Q: Which main character do you think you’re more like, Kiran or Deen? At first I thought I was more like Deen—learning how to communicate what’s on my mind, especially with my loved ones, has always been hard for me! But I also have a lot in common with Kiran, too. So yeah, this is totally a cheating answer, but I think I’m like both. Both characters shoulder a lot of pain and guilt, and like many humans, don’t really deal with it in the healthiest of ways. This means that when what little happiness they have is threatened, they get extra protective—understandably so. For example, Kiran’s first love completely ghosted her and then she had to watch her mom die a slow and painful death. Yes, it’s been three years, after that much loss, it’s still not enough time to fully recover and bounce back—and in Kiran’s case, she didn’t even get a chance to mourn because she’s been waiting for her sister to move back home. I’m the older sibling (worse, the older sister in a desi family), so I can totally relate to the feeling of having to hold onto my emotions and try to keep it all together for the sake of family. A lot of my characters also suffer from emotional constipation, and Kiran is no exception. She’s a mess. But people tend to make poor decisions when in mourning. When my brother passed away, for example, the first thing I did was go get a giant tattoo (haha). But that’s what I love about Kiran. She’s just so human, and she has suffered a lot, but she’s really doing her best under the circumstances. As for Deen, he’s no different, only instead of dealing with mourning, he’s dealing with guilt towards Faisal, and the unbearable weight of not feeling like he’s been a good enough brother. I think it’s relatable too, this constant fear and guilt of not doing enough for your loved ones and desperately wanting them to understand how much you care about them (especially in the pandemic, when it’s hard to even muster the emotional capacity and energy to send a text). I can also relate to his love of chicken tenders. When they’re good, they are good. Q: Your debut novel, I Hope You Get This Message, was a sci-fi- why did you decide to go the contemporary route for your second book? Do you think there are any similar themes in both books? I think I’d always wanted to write romcoms, or at least stories with romantic elements—it’s my favorite genre, after all, and the one I’ve read the most of—so it was inevitable I’d go there eventually. After I HOPE YOU GET THIS MESSAGE came out, I wanted to try something completely different. A fresh start, if you will. At that point, Kiran and Deen kind of popped into my head and practically demanded to be written. It’s a risk, doing such a big genre shift early in a career. But I’m hoping it pays off! But yes, there are definitely similar themes: like IHYGTM, this book also wrestles with grief and depression and the feeling of loss, and how hope is all we can cling to when we feel like we’ve lost everything. That is why both books have open endings, but ultimately hopeful ones. Q: What was your favorite part of writing IACBTY? I LOVED writing the epilogue, but a close runner up would be the scene with Deen apologizing to Vinny!! Gotta love wholesome bromances, especially when it involves singing Lovefool by The Cardigans. And now for the second part of this post: five reasons to read the wonderful It All Comes Back to You! strong sibling relationships The relationships between Kiran and her older sister Amira, as well as Deen and his older brother Faisal, are some of the most interesting in the novel. Both protagonists are very protective over their siblings, despite being younger. The way that both pairs of siblings care so both much about each other is evident throughout the novel, and which is lovely and gives us a glimpse into their motivations. realistic, messy, teen main characters Both Kiran and Deen make plenty of bad decisions over the course of the novel, and are rightfully called out on them, but are still fundamentally good. They're both such well-written protagonists, and the reader can fully understand their motivations and intentions, making it difficult to dislike them, despite their flaws. lovers to enemies to ??? Though it is a subplot, Kiran and Deen's romance will have you rooting for them through every twist and turn. Their dynamic of exes thrust back into each others lives three years later is so interesting to read, and made even better by... online bffs, real-life rivals The protagonists may be trying to thwart each other's plans in real life, but in their favorite online game, these two have been best friends for years. This is one of my favorite tropes, and the looks into their chat messages did a great job of furthering their development. descriptions of desi culture Last, but certainly not least, one of my favorite parts of IACBTY was the ways that desi culture is woven into the story. The main characters are Pakistani-American, and I loved how the novel describes different desi events, food, and music! Reading about it made me feel so seen. All in all, It All Comes Back to You is a beautiful novel about flawed teenagers, sibling bonds, and so much more. If this interests you, be sure to pick it up!
Farah Naz Rishi is a Pakistani-American Muslim writer and voice actor, but in another life, she’s worked stints as a lawyer, a video game journalist, and an editorial assistant. She received her B.A. in English from Bryn Mawr College, her J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School, and her love of weaving stories from the Odyssey Writing Workshop. When she’s not writing, she’s probably hanging out with video game characters. You can find her at home in Philadelphia, or on Twitter at @farahnazrishi. Website | Goodreads | Instagram | Twitter
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