Book Review :: More Than Just a Pretty Face by Syed M Masood

More Than Just a Pretty Face by Syed M. Masood
ISBN: 1529311330
Published by Hodder & Stoughton
on 2020-08-04
Source: Hachette Publishing NZ
Find at Hachette NZ
Goodreads

Danyal Jilani doesn't lack confidence. He may not be the smartest guy in the room, but he's funny, gorgeous, and going to make a great chef one day. His father doesn't approve of his career choice, but that hardly matters.

What does matter is the opinion of Danyal's longtime crush, the perfect-in-all-ways Kaval, and her family, who consider him a less than ideal arranged marriage prospect.

When Danyal gets selected for Renaissance Man--a school-wide academic championship--it's the perfect opportunity to show everyone he's smarter than they think. He recruits the brilliant, totally-uninterested-in-him Bisma to help with the competition, but the more time Danyal spends with her...the more he learns from her...the more he cooks for her...the more he realizes that happiness may be staring him right in his pretty face.

Last updated on 10 November 2021

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My thoughts on More Than Just a Pretty Face

I have to be honest from the beginning, I struggled with More than Just a Pretty Face.

While I enjoyed the storyline, for the most part, and Danyal being a chef-in-the-making isn’t a character hobby that I read too much of. Danyal takes part in the Renaissance Man project at school, which means he has to write an essay about Winston Churchill and present it. While he’s working on his project he learns that there’s a lot more to Churchill than meets the eye, and Danyal is hesitant to share what he’s discovered with his teacher (and also the school!) as his teacher is a hard-core Churchill fan. The historical aspect of the book was really interesting and I like how Danyal struggled with some of the things he was discovering and felt the need to call it out.

But that’s about where the ‘good stuff’ for me ends.

“Tell me, Daynal Jilani, how exactly are you more than just a pretty face?”

I gave her an adorable, irresistible grin. “I’m an absolutely gorgeous face.”

Danyal’s parents introduced him to a nerdy girl called Bisma, and while Danyal is head over heels for his best friend’s hot sister, Kaval (CLASSIC), and is pretty keen on doing whatever she wants so he can marry her, he asks Bisma to help him with the Rennaissance Man project. You can see with this is going, right? Right.

Bisma was the best character by far, I thought. She was a bit quirky and a bit nerdy, but how she put up with Danyal and his stupid vanity is beyond me. Speaking of which, I did not like Danyal at all, from the very first line of the book. He was basically “I’m hot and I know it” the entire book and it drove me insane. I realise that’s a big part of the story, and that by doing the Renaissance Man project and connecting with Bisma etc he’s proving that he’s ‘more than just a pretty face’ … but I think the author went overboard with the number of lines, especially in the beginning, that were about Danyal’s good looks. Calm down. We get it. You’re hot. Let’s move on.

However, it did pick up at the end and it got very cute just as the book was coming to an end. So that was somewhat redeeming.

If you’re up for a Young Adult romance with a budding chef for the main character then definitely pick up More Than Just a Pretty Face. While it wasn’t for me, that doesn’t mean it won’t be for you!

Have you read More Than Just a Pretty Face? What did you think?

Thank you to Hachette Publishing NZ who sent me a free copy of this book in exchange for a review. This does not influence my opinion and all thoughts are my own.