The Mismatch Quotes

“It was an odd feeling, being away from home when everything there was changing,”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“Muslim guilt was a funny thing. it came when she least expected it.”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“We shouldn't be changing ourselves to make their lives easier.”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“Some people are radiators, and others are drains.”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“You never want to talk. sometimes you have to, even if it doesn't feel good”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“Yeah. Family is messy sometimes but they're family. You'll do anything for them. I get it”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“Surely, the whole point of families was to be there for each other? Not to disown a young person for falling in love”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“However, it was unsurprising really that his expectations of men's and women's morals were vastly different. He was, after all, a man, no matter how different she'd once thought he was.”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“It was then that she finally learnt she couldn't force Maman to appreciate her, to like her, rather than love her out of obligation Sometimes, obligatory love had to be enough”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“There was something intrinsically special about standing in a well-stocked bookshop. Excitement and longing for all the books there was not enough time to read hung in the air”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“If you need to take something to have a good night, then you're not having a good night, is all I'm saying.”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“It was curious how similar to houseplants humans were. How sunlight could lift you up when you were perilously close to drooping.”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“She couldn't fathom the idea of no longer expanding her brain academically - because, after all, weren't human beings meant to challenge themselves?”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“- but everyone knew an alcoholic nowadays. The damage from alcohol was equally as bad as drug addiction. But no one talked about it.”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“That was the problem with the forbidden love that Soraa relished reading about: it was easy to idealise only if you ignored the wreckage it caused”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“Dogs are needy, but with cats you have to win them over; it makes their love so much more special”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“It was a misconception, Soraya mused, that the baring of one's soul brings relief. In her case, it unravelled further issues, further destructive thoughts”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“Being away from home makes you realise how insignificant you are, in the grand scheme of things”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“It was in that moment she knew she needed to tell her story. Even if just one person read it and could relate, that would be enough. It felt selfish of her not to at least try and make one person feel less alone”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“Once it was done there was no going back. That was the awful thing about losing your virginity: when it was gone, it was gone But what even was virginity? How could something you weren't fully conscious of be so important?”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“It was at moments such as these that she began to understand her dad's addiction. Not that she was addicted, she knew that, but she recognised the great appeal of forgetting yourself - or rather accepting yourself.”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“Marriage was putting yourself into someone else's hands and accepting one future out of many different options. But it was also a great thing. It was the joining of two people, and meant gaining a companion for life.”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“She had always felt jealous of school friends whose parents had divorced because at least then their house was finally quiet. Divorce sometimes affects children negatively, but so does a couple staying with each other when they are both unhappy”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“Then her mum laughed softly though it wasn't real, Soraya knew that. It was a trait she had inherited from her own mum, a nervous tic when silence would be too telling Another thing women needed to stop doing, but did anyway”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“You're young, azizam, marriage is hard, you don't know the other person until you're living with them and then it's too late. There's something not quite right about him - he seems very melancholy, no?”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“Alcohol caused people to make mistakes, ruined lives. She couldn't understand why, despite this, people continued drinking She knew first-hand from her dad's bad moods the morning after that not only did it affect the drinker, but also those around them”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“It was cruel, in a sense, that their relationship had ended before she could find out. Suddenly she could no longer talk to him. And that's what hurt the most. That someone she'd spoken to every day, she would never speak to again. If she contemplated talking to him, sending him a message, friends scolded her.”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“In many ways she felt ashamed to be this directionless, like she was the only person from her university to have no idea what she wanted to do now that she had graduated. In her dark moments, she wondered if there was something wrong with her”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“Soraya's mind whirled from thought to thought. She hated silences; they allowed her mind to run wild, fleeting ideas and troubling memories all vying for her attention. It was even worse when she was with someone, like now, because she was also wondering what they were thinking”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch

“Though she found it odd to enjoy being to cemetery, the reminder of the fragility of life surrounding them. How short it was really, in the grand scheme or things. And how we'd all end up in the same place, no matter who We were No matter where we were from, what religion we were.”
― Sara Jafari, The Mismatch