Sorry It’s A Girl; an insightful read

It was both the title and the cover of this novel that caught my eye, but when I read the plot description, I definitely wanted to read this book.

This is a book portraying the modern role of women in Pakistani culture. Set mainly in Lahore in 2018, Sorry It’s A Girl follows the lives of five different women. At times using dry humour, it explores the social hierarchy, hypocrisy and political immorality in a world where image and tradition seem to be everything. It is a world where gossip thrives and envy dominates. It is also a world where the need for social acceptance drowns out any hope of empathy and family unity.

Written by A.A Khan when she was pursuing her studies abroad and was thrown some life-changing challenges, Sorry It’s A Girl is an insightful yet at times, shocking and uncomfortable read.

I found it interesting as I followed the opulent, rich lives of Maya, Ariyana, Arzoo and Laila alongside the life of Fehranaz, a house servant beaten by her mistress. Many of the challenges faced by the characters are upsetting to read as the novel explores harrowing issues. For me it was Laila and Fehranaz that I particularly empathised with. As soon as I was introduced to Fehranaz as a reader, my heart broke for her.

Each chapter in the novel is titled, with titles including Body Blitz, Bitches and Sluts and When You Are Caught Sexting. I have to say that I particularly enjoyed the chapter titled The Queen’s Court. This is quite a lengthy chapter full of sardonic wit as it explores women and political immorality. Believe me, its really insightful and quite funny.

As I say I found Sorry It’s A Girl interesting and quite enjoyed it, but at times I did struggle with it as it seemed to go off on a tangent. This made it difficult for me to hold my interest at times and also empathise with some of the characters. But when my interest was caught, I was intrigued, full of empathy and wanted to know more.

Sorry It’s A Girl was published in June 2020. Thank you to Anne Cater from Random Things Tours for inviting me to be part of the blog tour. To read the book reviews from my fellow bloggers also on the blog tour, please see below.