Hilarious novel, packed with laughs and swoons, along with a couple of unbearably embarrassing moments. Well, for me, at least. Shamim Sarif is an accomplished author, and truly knows her way with words. Her passionate descriptions, of, well, everything, left a definite taste on my tongue, as did her well-crafted personalities and plot-line. A couple of things though: The mother characters in this book seem so one-dimensional, both with close-minded, I-need-to-set-my-daughter-straight-with-marriage (no pun intended) goals, while the fathers are both the flexible, more or less understanding/neutral figures in the family structure. Perhaps this is a cultural comment, or maybe it serves to create a more humorous, dynamic storyline. Unfortunately, I just found the parents to be too shallow.Also, the whole entire relationship in this book is based upon approximately a week's worth of infatuation. Going off such a short period of time, the relationship, in my opinion, may very well not last. Perhaps this is not necessarily an issue of discussion in this novel, but it does render the story a tad unrealistic for me.Lastly, the constant jumping of perspectives. Written in the third person, Sarif frequently jumps from the perspective of one character to another. For one paragraph, the mother will be the center of attention - then another will have the maid, then Leyla, and then maybe in another chapter it will be Tala. Although this tool does serve to heighten the reader's understanding of each character's perspective, feelings, as well as humor, it did confuse me quite a bit. Luckily, this is probably more of a personal issue (oh, my poor reading skills) than a literary one.Regardless, I heartily enjoyed this novel, blazing through all of it's laughs and squeals and what ever else it has in store in it's short 200 or so pages, and I am definitely looking forward to seeing the film. I've recently started reading a lot of lesbian fiction, and, before this book, I had read some interesting books, with a good plot, nice grammar, but they all felt written a little too amateurish, not really what I woudl expect from a published novel.With this book, that wasn't the case. It was beautifully written, reminding me of Jane Austen, at times, and funny, but not because it was describing funny situations, but rather because the description of the situations was funny. I particularly liked Leyla's mom description.A must read for any fans of lesbian-fiction, very endearing and realistic. I just wish we'd got to see a little of how their relationship was when they finally got together, at the end.
What do You think about Mitten Ins Herz (2012)?
LOVE this book. Shamim Sarif is an amazing writer!
—makboy
