A debut novel from Niloufar Lamakan, this mix of Bridget Jones’s Diary and How Stella Got Her Groove Back highlights that age is nothing but a number and life is what you make of it. While this book may not be for everyone, it certainly pays homage to women in their late fifties and early sixties who find themselves post-breakup, post-divorce, and unexpectedly back in the world of dating. It’s messy, it’s scary, and, in some cases, it’s downright hilarious!

Sixty is the new fifty – maybe even the new forty? Either way, Sophia Stone couldn’t care less. As long as she’s breathing, living her best life, and savoring her newfound freedom after a trip to recover from “The Traitor” who shattered her heart, she couldn’t ask for more. She’s perfectly content being single – or so she thought. At a New Year’s party, Sophia suddenly realizes that something’s missing. While she isn’t necessarily looking for a relationship, she’s definitely craving some adventure and excitement with the opposite sex. Enter the Dating Challenge, a brainchild of her best friend Leila. But this isn’t about finding love – Sophia is determined to date a new guy every week for the entire year. How hard could it be, right?

This book started out with plenty of promise. Written as a series of journal entries, we quickly learn that Sophia is recovering from a broken heart. Fresh off a trip around the world, and encouraged by her serial monogamist friend Leila to give love another shot, she embarks on a bold adventure: dating a new guy every single week for an entire year. As this is written as a journal, we’re also given glimpses into her relationships with friends, family, and her career. 

While this method of writing has been a tried-and-true style in the past, one persistent issue throughout the book was the way characters were introduced. Since Sophia is writing in her own journal, new individuals often appear haphazardly, leaving the reader momentarily confused. For instance, a character named “Joy” suddenly shows up at Sophia’s house. “Who is Joy?” It’s only later that you discover she’s the cleaning woman. This pattern repeats often with friends, making it difficult to keep track of who’s who until they start having defining moments that help you differentiate them. For a while, I thought the “Traitor” and her ex-husband were one and the same; but, as Sophia shared more about her past, the timeline didn’t quite add up – until she finally clarified and clearly distinguished between the two.

I absolutely loved each of Sophia’s dating endeavors. While they became less funny and slightly more bizarre as the story progressed, the initial poems recounting her exploits were thoroughly entertaining. What stood out the most, however, was the way we were given a glimpse into her parents’ lives – a touching reminder that even at 80, it’s never too late to try something new, embrace adventure, follow your dreams, and love with your whole heart.

Niloufar did a fantastic job using the secondary characters to reflect the diverse challenges faced by others in the same age group. From Grace’s battle with breast cancer to Leila navigating her fourth marriage with an unfaithful husband, from Ace rediscovering his career passion and starting over after divorce to the deeply embedded trauma faced by Sophia’s sister Sara and her unhealthy ways of coping with it – each story thought-provoking and relatable. Niloufar created a narrative where anyone in this age demographic can find a character to connect with, following their journeys through Sophia’s perspective.

With that being said, when Sophia mentioned she was going to go on a date a week, I didn’t realize we’d be getting daily (or semi-daily) updates on practically every aspect of her life. While it provided incredible insight into her personality and relationships, it made the overall story feel unnecessarily long. It also sent mixed messages about who Sophia really is.

Around the 67% mark, the story took a turn for the worse. I get that we all have our moments, but somewhere along the way, Sophia seemed to regress from 60 to 17. She couldn’t understand why the man who broke up with her didn’t text to check if she was okay. She got drunk and made a pass at one of her good friends. And in the middle of a fight with another friend – while they weren’t even on speaking terms – she sent a text expecting to be consoled. It felt like watching a major disaster unfold in real time. You’re horrified, but you can’t stop looking. The secondhand embarrassment from that point on was palpable.

By then, I found myself running out of patience and had to skip to the end just to see where it was all heading. Thankfully, the ending saved it. It took the book from a three-star read to four stars for me. The nonsense finally subsided, fractured relationships were mended, feelings were revealed, and you could at last see what all of this chaos had been leading to. It made the remainder of the story enjoyable and worth finishing.

This book pushed the boundaries of being steamy without crossing over into spicy territory. There were plenty of “horizontal” moments, and while some were vividly described, they were still presented in a cleaner, more refined manner compared to the explicit detail found in spicier books.

Aged to Perfection serves as a powerful reminder to women that being menopausal doesn’t mean they are any less attractive, sexual, or desirable. Throughout the story, we see Sophia struggle with this concept. One moment, she’s confident in her looks, her body, and her age; the next, she’s self-conscious and overly mindful of her actions. Adding to her internal battle is the constant judgment from those around her, who seem fixated on her age – believing that being in her sixties should dictate how she dresses, how she dates, and who she is as a person. I applaud that she constantly fought back against the box she was being forced into, but I found myself falling into the same narrow-minded judgment when some of her behaviors felt more adolescent, thinking to myself, “How old are you?!”

Overall, this book is likely to be a hit or miss. Women who can directly identify with Sophia – whether they’re in the same age group or have faced similar experiences – will probably adore it. Others may struggle to connect, as Sophia’s conflicting views and values can make her difficult to understand at times. You have to squint a bit to see the true growth in her character. It’s there, but with how often she flip-flops on her views of herself, love, and life, it’s hard to tell if she’s genuinely grown or simply reverted to who she was before her heart was broken.

That said, it’s always refreshing to see authors step away from the typical twenty- or thirty-something protagonists and venture into the “mature-age” realm. Dating, love, and heartache happen at any age – and it’s about time we celebrate that.