Doubt

by Sheza Khan

Doubt unwinds how humans can create personas to fit into society and forget to love themselves. The story moves around two people and the choices they question, which were made for them. Best friends stuck with insecurities, but will stand by each other in any circumstances. One has mother issues, whereas the other only has a mother to live for. Not your regular north and south, but definitely not your ice-cream and waffle. One will crack jokes at the most random of times, and the other will not even laugh, but both are suckers for biryani. One might suck at Urdu, and the other only freaks out in it, but both care about one person. One is born in Pakistan, and the other is born in America, but both are Pakistani. One is over-excited, and the other is calm as the wind, but both are socially damaged. One is a creative bird, and the other is the virtual freak, but both hate biology. One is head over heels for Pakistani music, and the other doesn't even understand half the lyrics, but both love Sajjad Ali. One is naïve, whereas the other is silly, but both are mature at the right moment. One reads the ingredients of everything while the other makes his own, but, again, both are Halal oddities in a Haram world. She was Ezzah Mahir, and this her journal.

418 pages, Paperback

Published January 18, 2021

About the author

The author is a writer, a microbiologist, a photographer, and a philosophical nerd. The writer goes by the pen-name of listen-to-the-Khan. The main focus of her writing is promoting self-love and growth. Her mission is to make sure that people can see beyond words and find a home in one of her characters while reaching a milestone of self-awareness.

Reviews

[Akasious · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doubt by Sheza Khan is her debut. Its such a beautifully told tale with amazing picturization of events and circumstances. A novel consisting of her spiritual and philosophical thoughts. The amazing characterization and Khan's art of story telling keeps you hooked. Its an interesting read that takes you out of the frame of time and gives you a new insight towards life, philosophy, and the circumstances. I am not sharing the story for I want people to discover themselves, what the book holds for them. Its indeed a masterpiece.

[Laraib · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have came across many Pakistani writers in the past and i must tell you that most of Pakistani English writers have written garbage. I was so disappointed at the fact that they are not trying to fix what is wrong in our society but instead they are trying to normalize the things that shouldn't be introduced among the public in first place. Anyways i still tried to find any writer who did better than the ones i read and i couldnt find a published writer except one whose work was so much better, apart from her i read a few other pakistani writers online and i found their books to be worth publishing, its not that there aren't any Good writers out there its just that they are deprived of opportunity to come in the spotlight.
So one of them finally got the chance and announced on her page that her book will be published soon and i couldn't be more excited so i decided to buy it. lets move over to the review now.
Doubt is the real image of how Pakistan looks like, it addresses some of real issues that we are facing in our homes or society since a long time,issues that no one addresses or tries to fix. whether they are regarding body shaming or mocking others for their skin colour. In desi homes it's a norm to talk about how people look and how they carry themselves which is very toxic. Then another notion among parents that its okay to hit their child and talk to them however they want to which in my opinion is wrong, hitting your child or shouting at him or her will never solve the problem it will only make it worse. Another issue that has been addressed in the book is sometimes while making decisions we often do what we feel is right at that moment, our vision gets blurred by how the situation might impact us and we end up losing the sight of big picture and then, later on we regret our decisions, Doubt makes us realise that we should choose our poison wisely.
lastly I liked how two people supported each other in the most difficult times of their lives, I feel like people have forgotten the teachings of Prophet PBUH and how he treated his wives. They have forgotten that their spouse is their responsibility and they have to take a stand when they are being wronged, Doubt shows how this toxic mentality in our society where men are ridiculed for supporting their wives is not the normal but it's the otehr way around.
I think this is enough because I don't know what else to write the book has alot more than what i have mentioned, it's an emotional rollercoaster where you will be crying your eyes out and then in the very next minute you'll be laughing like a maniac. I am just so glad that finally some one has voiced out about the toxicity in our society and our messed up unhealthy patterns that we refuse to unlearn. I hope people invest their money in this book and learn something from it, the book is available on amazon, kindle for oversea residents and for pakistanis its available on Auraq publications.