Review: Desperate in Dubai by Ameera Al Hakawati

Goodreads rating: 3.58/5

My rating: 3.5

Synopsis: 4 women from different backgrounds reside in Dubai in United Arab Emirates for different reasons. One is on the brink of divorce, one is desperate to settle down with a rich man, another is living life on the edge by sleeping with whomever she fancies without considering the consequences or who she may be affecting and the fourth has come to Dubai to remake herself. 4 women that are somehow connected narrate their stories about what it is like to be desperate in Dubai.

After reading a few reviews, I had an idea of what the book would be like - mediocre at best. I'm not saying it was not a pleasure to read, it was quite fun to discover about these mischievous women, but it seemed to lack originality and the oomph that I was expecting to read about considering that this is book about women living in one of the most luxurious countries in the world.

The story is written from the perspective of each character with each chapter consisting of one of their stories. This reminded me a lot of how 'The Girl on the Train' was written, I have no idea if the formatting was inspired by it. The story begins with an introduction from each character so that's the first 4 chapters giving you a gist of who they are and what you can expect. My favourite character to read about was the only local, Lady Luxe. I'm not fond of her alias but it made sense - she's a luxurious lady. She was scandalous and her fate was quite predictable but it was her scheming and constant rebellion that made her story interesting to me. I don't know a single local female that is like her, however. Yes, they sneak around a lot to do things that they are forbidden to do but I've never heard of any actually putting on wigs, contact lenses and creating a whole new identity. It was crazy. As for the weakest character, it was a tie between Leila, the Lebanese woman close to being considered a spinster, and Sugar, the one running from her past. Leila was portrayed as a typical Lebanese and she's actually exactly how I imagined them to be, her character was not far from reality but her desperation disgusted me. I guess that was the point though, to grasp her desperation. As for Sugar, there was a lot of mystery around why she was in Dubai but the revelation was not tantamount to the suspense built up. I thought it was as bad as her being a prostitute in London or maybe having killed someone but I guess I have my imagination to blame for that. Also, this will sound very very racist but it is very unlikely for an Arab man to be interested in a Desi women, just saying. Speaking of men, what is up with all the men in this story being crazy about the women? There's nothing wrong with any of the men, except for the one that hurt Nadia of course. I just got confused because the author tried to make it seem like it is so difficult for people to find partners in Dubai because of how transient everyone is here but every single man the women met seemed to fall in love with them instantly. Haha!

Also, how small did Ameera make their worlds? Seriously, they were all connected. Even in London that is a much larger place than Dubai, they bumped into each other and get entwined in each other's life. It just was not realistic enough for me. It felt impossible.

Anyway, all the women, except for Leila, are Muslims in this book. I'm a little disappointed with the lack of translations or explanations for some of the Islamic and Muslim phrases. I only understood them because I'm Muslim and grew up in Dubai but if it were someone else who wasn't as familiar with the language, I'm not sure how they were supposed to understand it without doing their research.

Another thing, something a lot of other reviewers pointed out that I agree with is that some of the statements made in the book were quite racist. For example, "...it's because in Dubai, Indians are considered to be second-class citizens. Right down at the bottom of the dung heap alongside the Filipinos and Africans". I'm both Indian and Filipino, how could I not take offence to my race being considered at the bottom of the dung heap? Gosh.

As for the plot, I guessed all the plot twists, except Sugars, unfortunately. It's a real bummer to be right about how things will turn out in the book. Also, some of the scenarios made my eyes roll at how obnoxious they were, mostly the club scenes.

Did I like anything about the book? I guess I liked that it was so easy to read, I just skimmed through most of it and yet, didn't seem to miss anything. Ameera's written language is very simple with little hints of sophistication. I like some of the analogies she came up with, I wish I had saved a quote to show as example. It was not a bad story but it was not great either.

Would I recommend this? I wouldn't suggest it if anyone asked what book they should read but if someone would ask if it was worth reading, I'd say they could if they were looking for a straightforward read and a little glimpse of the life in Dubai, reminding them that it is completely fiction.