Amarbel by Umera Ahmed 

About Author 

Umera Ahmed is one of the most widely-read and popular Urdu fiction novelist and screenplay writer of this era. 

She completed her Masters in English Literature from Murray College, Sialkot. Later she became an English language lecturer for the students of O and A levels at Army Public College, Sialkot. However she left the job a few years back in order to devote her full attention to writing.

She began her writing career in 1998 at a quite young age. Her initial stories were published in monthly urdu digests and later came out in the form of books. She has written about 16 books , comprising of complete novels and compilations of short stories. However it was her novel “Peer-e-Kaamil (S.A.W.W)” which became her identity.

Amarbel

I am reading this book for the third time and this review is probably going to summarize the feelings I have had over the years about this story. 

Why I picked this book?

1. Because I wanted to read it.
2. Because I wanted to read it before travelling to Pune.
3. Because I didn’t want to carry this thick book with me. I already have a ton of things to carry with me this time. My flat is rented and therefore bare. I have to carry curtains, bedsheets etc.

Timeline

Started: 1-August-2026

Finished: 3-August-2026

Background

First Read

Amar Bail was published in episodic form in Shuaa Digest from March 2000 to March 2003.

And that’s when I read it the first time. Correction: I read when it was being published in Pakeezah Aanchal in episodic form, which is roughly the same time.

Amarbel hit hard. Everything hits hard when you read it in episodic form, this one in particular had cliffhangers, loads of them.

Second Read

3-Nov-2018: Reread. Promised to write a detailed review but never did. I was hyper-active on Goodreads in 2018 and added a long list of books to my “read” shelf and wrote short reviews but somehow, some of those reviews weren’t saved. So, I don’t really have a record of my feelings about Amarbel back then.

Third read

Which brings us to this re-read. Let’s look at my notes.

Notes

Day 1: August 1, 2026

Dad is still reading the book, and I couldn’t wait to get started so I borrowed it while Dad was at masjid for Isha and read it till dad finished dinner.

Chapter 4

Aleezah is a spoiled girl who intentionally tries to hurt Omar. Why? Not that Omar is a saint or anything (I know that from future chapters, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m reading it for the third time), but she was wrong first; if that makes any sense.

I have come to realize that Umera Ahmed’s protagonists aren’t always likeable.

Chapter 14

The long argument/dispute between Omar and Jehangir made me restless back when I read the book for the first time, and it still has the same impact. Umera rights thak-thak-thak confrontations very well. And we have already established that her stories and characters are extreme. Aitedaal naam hi chiz nahin hoti kabhi. Bahot nekbaaz ya bahot gunehgaar… Take Mann-o-Salwa as example, whats-her-name FMC was most pious and then she turned bad and how.

But I digress.

PS:vI’m on 187 and he’s on 387. It’s his turn now. I’ll probably finish it tonight, because I DON’T SLEEP.

Day 2: August 2, 2026

Finished reading the book. Wasn’t feeling good and stayed awake through the night, I’m sure this doesn’t surprise anyone who has visited my blog earlier. I wanted to finish the book before leaving for Pune. This book is 850 pages, I can’t take this with me when I travel.

Ever since I reached 500 page mark, I was ready for the big twist, not knowing when it is coming. Then spoke to my sister, upon whose insistence I bought the physical copy. She said the twist comes very late. I was so prepared, so very prepared for it. I was also determined, so very determined to not cry this time.

And I didn’t.

Not even one teardrop, not even blinking eyes, not even that tight feeling in my chest. And soon it ended, leaving me questioning myself: have I turned into a stone or something?

I remember back when Umera Ahmed started writing, we (the sisters) would discuss how extreme her characters are, and this writer doesn’t necessarily aim for “happily ever after”, and she does break the readers’ heart, killing the darlings, so to speak. This was most evident in this book. 

The title

I have recently become more curious, about knowing things, meanings, processes. It helps that there are many avenues to learn things. With AI, almost all the questions I have are instantly answered by AI. I have talked to ChatGPT so much, it probably knows me, my curiosities and my insecurities better than any living human being. In my defense, I never read the title of the story back when I was starting with Urdu fiction. Just open the book and read it. That’s one reason that I have read all Ibn-e-Safi books but recall the titles of only a few. It took me 4-5 reads of Zameen Ke Baadal Jasoosi Duniya #75 to remember that this is the story that brings Ali Imran and Ahmad Kamal Faridi together.

So, after finishing the hook, I was like, why this title? Google said English word is mistletoe and I know that word only in one context: Christmas and kisses.

Then I read some more and then I learned the meaning of Amarbel.

A leafless, parasitic yellow climbing vine that wraps around host trees and plants.

and I realized how aptly titled it was. Omer used to call Aleezah a parasite. 

 

MIND.IS.BLOWN.

Coming back to the story itself…

Lately, I have been watching a lot of book tubers, I could never be one, don’t have the time, patience or skills but a girl can watch others and enjoy, right? So, apart from noticing that all the booktubers, booktagrammers read the SAME SET OF BOOKS, I have noticed that they all love “A Little Life” by , also mention that it is depressing AF. Whenever I hear about it, this book comes to my mind. Because it does trigger the reader when… when something happens, not going to spoil it for ya, even though the book is quite old and probably everyone knows what happened. I remember when the drama Hum Kahan Kay Sachhay Thhay was announced and I did a spoiler-filled book review and some people came after me with scathing comments. I was like: live a little life, leave me alone. Since then, I try not to spoil things. If I do, I mention it. And I probably have learned to not care what haters say.

 

How do others feel about this book? Comment, let’s start a discussion.

~~~

Shabana Mukhtar