Reviews with content warning for Colonisation - A Holly Jolly Diwali

Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

A Holly Jolly Diwali by Sonya Lalli

8 reviews

hmetwade's review against another edition

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lighthearted fast-paced

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? It's complicated

3.25

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blakeandbooks's review

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

This was a cute romance! I loved the flirty banter between Niki and Sam 🫶🏻 they seemed to immediately connect, even if Niki had no intention of getting together with anyone during her trip to India. The texts between them were funny, and I overall enjoyed it. I did think the story and characters fleshed out a bit more, but it was definitely a good read.

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annelihghh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

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onegalonelife27's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

Niki has always done the right thing, getting a steady job, never getting wild, going out with nice enough guys. Yet Niki is let go from her job makes her ponder her good girl life, leading her to go on a trip to India to attend her best friend Diya’s wedding at the last minute. There she meets Sam, a musician and certainly not the type of guy she’d go out with before, but she ponders if it’s time to change that and other things in her life…

I do relate to Niki quite a bit, trying so hard to do what society, if not her parents, tell her is right by getting a stable job and living modestly. And it does feel like a real slap in the face when you do the right thing but then the universe says ha ha and you end up flat on your face. I know I’ve been there a few times. Of course, I’ve never been impulsive enough to go on a trip by myself…well anywhere let alone on another continent. Maybe that’s what I need in my life.

I did think that some more description should have been given at times, like not describing all the delicious sounding food served at times or giving a description of Nikki’s swimsuit chapters after they were introduced at a beach so thus having to do a mental rewrite on what she’s wearing. There’s also one scene towards the end that adds a new action that supposedly happened in the past, but was not present while Nikki was living it at the time. Like it says a picture was taken and we are shown the picture, but that wasn’t a scene in the book before. I do hope other books by the author have some more description and in appropriate places too.

Overall, the story is very sweet, sometimes spicy about one woman realizing her worth, what she wants and deserves in both career and in love. It also talks about topics such as privilege and how it can affect one's life in different ways, which I enjoyed. I’ll definitely consider picking up another book by the author.

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sariereads's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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zombiezami's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

4.75

I think the author did a really good job of demonstrating all kinds of love, not just romantic love: love of self, love of family, love of friends, love of community.

My one complaint is that there weren’t 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.

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thereadinghammock's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

As someone relatively unfamiliar with south Asian cultural and religious celebrations, I was looking forward to maybe learning a few things about Diwali and its celebrations through the story. And while it gave a bit of insight into a celebration, I still feel about as lost as Nicki did as she asked several people early in the book as to what the Diwali holiday and celebrations meant. I suppose much like many other western holidays, the meaning can change from person to person, but I was expecting a bit more cultural context on that front. I also thought the holiday might have been a bigger part of the story, given the title, but really Diya's wedding was the star of the show on that plot front too.

I enjoyed Nicki and Sam--I loved Diya and kind of wished we'd gotten a bit more of her, btu totally understand why she was off page a bit more. Weddings are hard enough--let along a wedding with 1,500 guests!!! Nicki's struggle to be the "perfect Indian daughter" was relatable enough (again, not speaking as a south Asian person, but as a woman who was raised with high expectations even when your parents didn't actually enforce those kinds of expectations). It's like holding the weight of the world on your shoulders and when you finally start dismantling the yoke you've given yourself, the weightlessness is freeing, but the freedom is overwhelming too.

Nicki still has a lot of growing up to do, and by the end she was starting to come down from her head in the clouds a bit, but she still felt a bit immature for being almost 30. I'm glad she and Sam were able to work it out and were seeing where things led.

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rjsthumbelina's review against another edition

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emotional funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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