Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating Summary and Study Guide

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Quick Facts

Short Summary

Hani and Ishu are Bengali-Irish students at a Dublin secondary school who seem to have little in common. When Hani comes out as bisexual, her friends Aisling and Dee dismiss her identity because she has never kissed a girl. In a moment of desperation, Hani claims she is dating Ishu. Ishu, who is running for Head Girl and struggling under her parents' high expectations, agrees to the fake relationship in exchange for Hani's social capital. They draft rules in a shared Google Doc and begin performing a romance for their classmates. As the pretense deepens, genuine feelings complicate the arrangement. When Aisling cheats off Ishu's biology test and then falsely accuses Ishu of cheating, the scheme unravels. Ishu's sister Nik helps clear her name, Hani breaks from her toxic friends, and the two girls confront what they actually want—from their families, their futures, and each other.

Full Summary

The novel opens with Ishu (Ishita Dey) studying at home when her older sister Nikhita calls from London, asking to be let into the house the next day. Nik arrives with news that shocks the family: she is taking a year off from medical school to marry Rakesh, an engineer she met in London. Their parents react with shock and anger, and Ishu realizes she must prove herself in her sister's place. When her parents pressure her about her future, Ishu blurts out that she will be Head Girl—a goal she privately doubts she can achieve.

Meanwhile, Hani (Humaira Khan) attends her father's political rally at a mosque with her friends Aisling and Dee. At the cinema, after an awkward setup with a boy named Fionn, Hani comes out as bisexual. Aisling and Dee dismiss her, saying she has never kissed a girl and might be confused. To prove them wrong, Hani claims she is dating Ishu.

Hani calls Ishu and explains the situation, asking her to pretend to be her girlfriend. Ishu initially refuses, but after her parents pressure her about her future, she agrees—she wants to become Head Girl and believes Hani's popularity can help. They create a Google Doc titled Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating with rules: no one can know the truth, and they will break up once Ishu wins Head Girl and Hani's friends accept her. Ishu insists she should be the one to end the relationship.

They begin performing their relationship: a fake date at a halal Middle Eastern restaurant called Seven Wonders, Instagram photos with linked hands, and appearances at parties. At Dee's birthday party, Hani is excluded from a drinking game because she is Muslim and does not drink, and Dee dismisses her religious observance, claiming Hani is not that kind of Muslim because she does not wear a hijab. Ishu's genuine smile helps Hani endure the evening. Their feelings begin to blur the line between performance and reality.

Ishu's sister Nik, meanwhile, struggles with her parents' rejection of her engagement. Ishu and Nik have a tense but gradually warming relationship. When Ishu discovers Nik has access to the fake dating guide, she fears exposure, but Nik insists she will not use it against her. Nik also reveals she never wanted to study medicine and struggled with depression until meeting Rakesh—she used the engagement as an excuse to avoid their parents.

At school, Aisling sits beside Ishu during a biology test and passes a note asking to see Ishu's answers. Ishu lets her look, hoping to improve her social standing. Later, Aisling falsely accuses Ishu of cheating. Principal Gallagher opens an investigation, and Ishu is barred from the Head Girl election. Hani initially doubts Ishu, and they argue. Ishu tells Hani they are not right for each other and leaves.

Nik flies in from London to help. She confronts Aisling in the principal's office, proving through test questions about terms like scramble competition and saprophyte that Aisling cheated and falsely accused Ishu. Ishu's name is cleared, but the school asks to keep the matter discreet, forbidding Ishu from discussing Aisling during her Head Girl presentation.

Hani, meanwhile, confronts Aisling and Dee, who admit they planned to undermine Ishu because they feared losing Hani. Hani tells them that Ishu makes her more herself and that the friendship may not be worth it. She leaves into the rain.

At the Head Girl presentations, Ishu is heckled with cheating accusations. She announces she is withdrawing from the race, realizing she never truly wanted to be Head Girl—she only ran to prove she was different from Nik. Hani rushes up and publicly declares Ishu innocent, accusing Aisling of cheating. The principal dismisses the students and warns Hani.

Afterward, Aisling apologizes to Hani but refuses to apologize to Ishu. Hani says she needs time to decide about their friendship. Ishu, watching from a corner, approaches Hani and comforts her. They kiss in the rain and reconcile.

The novel ends in summer. Hani and Ishu attend a barbecue at the mosque, where Hani comes out to Aisha, Salim Uncle's daughter, and learns that Aisha's brother is also queer. Ishu and Hani explain that they started fake dating six weeks earlier but became a real couple about three weeks ago. Later, Ishu convinces her mother to let her attend Nik's wedding. At Nik's holud ceremony in London, Ishu and Hani help plan the celebration, decorating the sitting room, preparing turmeric paste, mehndi, a playlist, and biryani. Ishu wishes her parents could have attended, but Hani encourages her to focus on celebrating. Ishu feels grateful to share the day with Hani.

Main Characters

• Ishu (Ishita Dey) — An academically driven Bengali-Irish student who agrees to fake date Hani to win the Head Girl election and step out of her sister's shadow, but develops genuine feelings along the way.

• Hani (Humaira Khan) — A popular Bengali-Irish bisexual student who claims she is dating Ishu to prove her identity to dismissive friends, and whose genuine feelings for Ishu grow despite the pretense.

• Nik (Nikhita Dey) — Ishu's older sister who drops out of medical school to marry Rakesh, straining her relationship with her parents, and later helps clear Ishu's name when she is falsely accused of cheating.

• Aisling — Hani's friend who dismisses Hani's bisexuality, cheats off Ishu's biology test, and falsely accuses Ishu of cheating to protect herself.

• Dee (Deirdre) — Hani's other close friend who joins Aisling in dismissing Hani's bisexuality and participates in the plan to undermine Ishu's reputation.

• Ammu (Ishu's mother) — Ishu's mother who holds high expectations for her daughters' academic success and struggles to accept Nik's decision to marry instead of finishing medical school.

Themes

• Performance vs. Authenticity — The novel explores the tension between the identities the protagonists perform for social approval and the genuine feelings that complicate their self-understanding.

• Immigrant Parental Expectations and Conditional Approval — The story traces how parental sacrifice and conditional approval shape the protagonists' ambitions, making them measure their worth through academic success and family loyalty.

• Bisexual Erasure and the Need for Proof — The novel explores biphobia by showing how bisexual identity is dismissed unless it is visibly proven, and how that pressure leads to self-protective deception.

• Cultural Identity and Belonging Between Worlds — The book portrays the struggle of being Bengali and Muslim in predominantly white Irish spaces, where religious observance, names, and community traditions become sites of both connection and exclusion.

• Toxic Friendship and the Cost of Conformity — The narrative shows how friendship groups police belonging through microaggressions and conditional acceptance, and how breaking away becomes necessary for self-respect.

Symbols

• Rain — Recurring rain showers punctuate emotional turning points, from the sisters' reunion to the final reconciliation.

• The Google Doc — The shared Google Doc titled Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating serves as a tangible record of their arrangement and its rules.

• Biryani — Biryani appears as a recurring comfort food that connects family and cultural heritage across key scenes.

• The Mosque — The mosque serves as a recurring setting for community, faith, and political maneuvering, reflecting Hani's family's evolving relationship with Islam.

Ending Overview

The novel's final chapters resolve both the romantic and family arcs. After Ishu withdraws from the Head Girl race and Hani publicly defends her, the two reconcile in the rain outside the school gates. Hani has broken from Aisling and Dee, and Ishu has confronted her own motivations for running. In the summer, they attend a barbecue at the mosque where Hani comes out to Aisha, the daughter of Salim Uncle, and learns that Aisha's brother is also queer—a sign of growing community acceptance. Ishu convinces her mother to let her attend Nik's wedding, and the novel closes at Nik's holud ceremony in London, where Ishu and Hani help plan the celebration. Ishu wishes her parents could have attended, but Hani encourages her to focus on the joy of the day.

For a deeper look at the final chapters, see the ending explained page.

Chapter-by-Chapter Summary

| 36 | Hani confides in her mother;A