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blakeandbooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, and Vomit
Moderate: Cursing, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Rape, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
annelihghh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Cursing, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Grief, Alcohol, and Classism
Minor: Colonisation
onegalonelife27's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Racism and Vomit
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Rape and Colonisation
zombiezami's review against another edition
4.75
My one complaint is that there werenāt any detailed scenes of the protagonist meeting her extended family in India. We just hear a summary after she returns to the US. I would have liked that to be more fleshed out.
Graphic: Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Infertility, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Alcohol
Minor: Death, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Colorism, casteismsaara_ilona_muu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Body shaming and Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, Alcohol, and Classism
maecave15's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
The characters weren't very interesting, rather they had little personality and contributed very little to the overall plot. The main character, Niki, acted much like a 19 year old than the 29 year old she was supposed to be. I found her annoying instead of charming or likeable. She was more like an awkward love sick teenager.
One of the Aunties (Sam's mom) was supposed to be "modern" but it was weird even by American standards that she
The romance was weak at best, with little between the two that would support a lasting relationship. There was hot and heavy lust of course, interspersed with weird awkward moments, and it was kind of a secret for some reason. There were strong feelings that are supposed to make it "seem" like love, but no real encounters that made it read as more than a lusty fling. It just didn't have time to develop, which many cutesy romance stories often lack. It was really an insta-love story and I don't usually like those.
Niki did try to break her shell and pursue things for fun rather than just being the perfect Indian daughter. The book wasn't just a romance novel but also about her finding happiness in her work and life, and learning more about her family's culture.
There were quite a few moments where the author tried to address more serious issues (classism, casteism, sexual assault in India, etc), but they felt kind of thrown in to story. These topics were there without much thought, helpful information, or relation to the plot. If these serious issues had created tension between the main characters, or had disrupted the plot in a meaningful way then it would have made for a more interesting story. Otherwise they were just there to grab your attention for a second before pushing you back into the "romance."
I enjoyed reading the descriptions of the places in India she visited though. And now I have a few things to research such as foods, locations, and differences between Indian subcultures with which I am not familiar at all.
I wish Diwali was a more prominent feature in the book though. It took up very little space at the beginning of the book, so instead of feeling like a romance set during this big celebration (i.e. kind of supposed to be a holiday romance) it just felt like a regular romance novel. Nothing really made it feel like a holiday romance.
Overall, it felt like there was a lot going on in this book so nothing was fleshed out well. The romance was weak, the characters were superficial, Niki's self discovery wasn't interesting, and everything else was just kind of there. Also, there were a lot of pop culture references and text speak during real conversation (characters actually saying LOL or OMFG).
Moderate: Sexual content
kirstym25's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, and Classism
Moderate: Vomit
jazhandz's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Cute book, the obligatory third-act conflict felt rushed and didnāt feel like it was resolved in a satisfactory way but the first two-thirds were delightful.
Graphic: Vomit
Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Sexual content
Colorism (moderate)kibbles15's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Moderate: Cursing and Sexual content
Minor: Alcohol
kbairbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexism, Sexual content, Vomit, and Sexual harassment