Quite liked it ( )

Amira Khan is nearly finished her Masters in Engineering, with one final project she needs to write and turn in. Deeming dorm life not conducive to the kind of work she needs to do, she returns home to the house she shares with her grandmother, mother, and younger sister. The only problem: her grandmother has rented out rooms in the basement Amira normally has to herself for two weeks to a barbershop quartet who are preparing for a major competition. Amira really just wants to work but finds herself being drawn into the lives of the four guys in her basement and sparks begin to fly between her and one of the quartet's member, complicating things even more.

I so desperately wanted to like this book. The premise is a great one and I am trying to read more diverse fiction. But I slammed this book down in frustration multiple times. Amira is constantly angry, and while the source of her anger is understandable, it doesn't make for a particularly pleasant reading experience. Also, almost every chapter Amira runs up against an Issue (homophobia, Islamophobia, eating disorders, racism, etc.) to the point where it didn't feel believable. The dialogue was stilted, the regular conflicts between Amira and almost everyone else in the novel felt contrived in spots, and I honestly wasn't sure what the male lead of the novel saw in Amira to be attracted to in the first place. If Heron writes a second novel, I'll try it but I can't recommend this one, which bums me out. ( )