Simply put, Playing Games is a masterclass in novels about sisterhood. I love how versatile this author is: from non-fiction to short stories and now a novel, readers are in for a treat. I felt as though I was living in Hana and Mira’s world - the characters jumped off the page - a slamming of a door, an unanswered text, an argument, I devoured this book! Eldest sister Hana has it all going for her; a beautiful house, a husband, a flourishing legal career but without a child, life for her isn’t complete. Her and Samir agreed they’d wait until her training was done, until his business was off the ground, but did he really agree? Is their marriage really picture perfect? Hana’s frustrations and burdens as the eldest sibling find their way into most conversations with her younger sister, Mira. Unable to share her innermost thoughts with either sister or husband made me feel for Hana and Mira’s attempts at breaking down the walls were heartfelt. Meanwhile, Mira is trying to make ends meet and struggling to write this play that she’s been harping on about, Hana finds it difficult to get onboard with her younger sister’s aspirations. But is Mira really the one with the issue? With glimmers of the short story The Wishes plus the underlying themes of love, loneliness, the dissonance that the unspoken can cause in relationships, Huma has crafted an emotional story that deserves all the flowers. I cannot wait for everyone to read it!

Simply put, Playing Games is a masterclass in novels about sisterhood. I love how versatile this author is: from non-fiction to short stories and now a novel, readers are in for a treat. I felt as though I was living in Hana and Mira’s world - the characters jumped off the page - a slamming of a door, an unanswered text, an argument, I devoured this book! Eldest sister Hana has it all going for her; a beautiful house, a husband, a flourishing legal career but without a child, life for her isn’t complete. Her and Samir agreed they’d wait until her training was done, until his business was off the ground, but did he really agree? Is their marriage really picture perfect? Hana’s frustrations and burdens as the eldest sibling find their way into most conversations with her younger sister, Mira. Unable to share her innermost thoughts with either sister or husband made me feel for Hana and Mira’s attempts at breaking down the walls were heartfelt. Meanwhile, Mira is trying to make ends meet and struggling to write this play that she’s been harping on about, Hana finds it difficult to get onboard with her younger sister’s aspirations. But is Mira really the one with the issue? With glimmers of the short story The Wishes plus the underlying themes of love, loneliness, the dissonance that the unspoken can cause in relationships, Huma has crafted an emotional story that deserves all the flowers. I cannot wait for everyone to read it!

Simply put, Playing Games is a masterclass in novels about sisterhood. I love how versatile this author is: from non-fiction to short stories and now a novel, readers are in for a treat. I felt as though I was living in Hana and Mira’s world - the characters jumped off the page - a slamming of a door, an unanswered text, an argument, I devoured this book! Eldest sister Hana has it all going for her; a beautiful house, a husband, a flourishing legal career but without a child, life for her isn’t complete. Her and Samir agreed they’d wait until her training was done, until his business was off the ground, but did he really agree? Is their marriage really picture perfect? Hana’s frustrations and burdens as the eldest sibling find their way into most conversations with her younger sister, Mira. Unable to share her innermost thoughts with either sister or husband made me feel for Hana and Mira’s attempts at breaking down the walls were heartfelt. Meanwhile, Mira is trying to make ends meet and struggling to write this play that she’s been harping on about, Hana finds it difficult to get onboard with her younger sister’s aspirations. But is Mira really the one with the issue? With glimmers of the short story The Wishes plus the underlying themes of love, loneliness, the dissonance that the unspoken can cause in relationships, Huma has crafted an emotional story that deserves all the flowers. I cannot wait for everyone to read it!

Playing Games is about sisters Hana and Mira and what happens when Mira starts writing about an overheard argument between Hana and her husband. The chapters alternate between the perspectives of the sisters, and this dual perspective is done so well that not only does each sister endear herself to us, we tend to be so committed to the one we are reading about that we inevitably become annoyed with the other. Only to reverse and repeat until we’ve become fully involved in their lives, dedicated to both, essentially transforming into the third sister. Some books are hard to review because they are such enjoyable experiences, and this book does not only that but also manages to be emotional and thought-provoking while creating a world we genuinely want to keep going back into. Huma Qureshi is clearly someone who sees people, understands them very well, which felt especially poignant in Hana’s actions and the ways she said things she might not mean to, struggled to show emotion. Hana’s inner conflict was portrayed so well that despite her occasional extreme reactions, she never once came off as unbelievable or overly written. This was also the case for the misunderstandings between the sisters - usually a trope so easy to get wrong, under Qureshi’s pen it felt both natural and frustrating, softly convincing us to just give our siblings a call. My main takeaway is this: Huma Qureshi has that unique writing talent that just makes things feel easy - it’s easy to care about Hana and Mira, easy to be happy for these fictional characters we’ve just met, easy to be terrified they’ll never fix what they cracked. If you haven’t picked this one up yet, could I convince you to add it to your 2024 tbr? Just an fyi that some more sensitive topics discussed include fertility and the loss of a family member. Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion!

I first read Huma Qureshi’s short story collection last year and I couldn’t believe how she was able to capture so much human emotion in such short stories, it became one of my favourite books of 2023. I knew that I needed to read her first novel and my did it not disappoint. I’ve been blown away by this story about 2 very different sisters bound together in life by their grief and love for each other (even if they do not always show it) it’s a story about marriage, motherhood, friendship and so much more. It made me cry, it made me laugh and left me wanting to reach out to my sister and tell her I love her. I would recommend this book to everyone! Huma Qureshi can do no wrong in my eyes and I will read anything she publishes!