Written in the Stars is a story full of emotional turmoil and Pakistani traditions and culture. It compares life as a traditionally raised Pakistani as opposed to a child of Pakistani parents raised with the influence and ideas of America. However, after learning of Naila's secret boyfriend her parents plan an immediate trip to Pakistan. While there Naila learns of her parents' plan to arrange a marriage for her. No spoilers, but I will say that I can't hoping things would get better and that she would find a way out of her predicament. However, things kept sliding in an inexorable downhill plummet. I cried so much because this book didn't hold it's punches. It is not a happy fairy tale where the heroine, with lots of luck and strategy, escapes the situation she is faced with. It is a very real tale of a frightened girl trapped in a foreign country with no way to escape. She has so many horrible hardships she experiences, but in the end there is somewhat of a happy conclusion.