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readingwithhippos's review
4.0
If you’ve avoided novellas because you think they will be underdeveloped, you should pick up Bollywood and the Beast and see what’s possible in under 200 pages. Suleikha Snyder has clearly mastered the form, as this novella boasts a secondary romance between two side characters in addition to the central relationship. Rocky is an American born Bollywood actress who is treated as an outsider in the business, a status which she solidifies by speaking a little too honestly in an interview. When she goes to Delhi for filming, she ends up staying at the home of her costar, which would be fine except for the presence of his brother Taj, who has lived as a recluse since a catastrophic injury ended his own acting career. Taj is a menace, hiding behind his scars and trying to keep Rocky at a distance with rudeness, but Rocky isn’t the type to shrink away. In the meantime, Taj’s brother has some demons of his own to face and finds strength in a friend who might be more. This is the third in a series and I didn’t feel like I missed anything not having read the first two books, but I enjoyed this one so much I’m definitely going back to catch up on the others!
kblincoln's review
4.0
3.5 stars, actually.
I wanted to like this one so much, it would have taken very little to please me: Bollywood? Beauty & the Beast retelling? Biracial/Bicultural desi heroine who doesn't shy away from calling out racial and cultural issues she's facing as an actress? Love. All of that is exactly my cup of tea.
This book wasn't quite my cup of tea, however. I've been thinking about the problem and I think it has to do with my expectations of how much time we spend with the hero and the heroine together.
In this book, we get a lot of Taj thinking his grumbly, self-hating thoughts, and we get a lot of Rakhee thinking about how she has to prove herself to everyone, but we don't see alot of them together. We don't get alot of excellent banter or experience the falling-in-love parts I enjoy so much because we're stuck in their heads a lot of the time without each other. And also stuck in Taj's brother's head, Ashu, who has some life revelations of his own going on.
I thought I would love the Hindi phrases that are consistently used throughout, but after a while I felt some of them, while adding to the authentic feeling of Bollywood's bilingual culture, was a bit distancing for those of us who don't speak it. Which is weird for me to say because usually I'm all over uses of other languages in American fiction. I think the author could have done a slightly more self-conscious job of "teaching" certain phrases to us.
So there's a lot of emotional trauma, and a few scenes where Taj and Rakhee come together are great, but the overall flow of the story never drew me in, which is a shame, because there's so much here that's good in pieces.
I wanted to like this one so much, it would have taken very little to please me: Bollywood? Beauty & the Beast retelling? Biracial/Bicultural desi heroine who doesn't shy away from calling out racial and cultural issues she's facing as an actress? Love. All of that is exactly my cup of tea.
This book wasn't quite my cup of tea, however. I've been thinking about the problem and I think it has to do with my expectations of how much time we spend with the hero and the heroine together.
In this book, we get a lot of Taj thinking his grumbly, self-hating thoughts, and we get a lot of Rakhee thinking about how she has to prove herself to everyone, but we don't see alot of them together. We don't get alot of excellent banter or experience the falling-in-love parts I enjoy so much because we're stuck in their heads a lot of the time without each other. And also stuck in Taj's brother's head, Ashu, who has some life revelations of his own going on.
I thought I would love the Hindi phrases that are consistently used throughout, but after a while I felt some of them, while adding to the authentic feeling of Bollywood's bilingual culture, was a bit distancing for those of us who don't speak it. Which is weird for me to say because usually I'm all over uses of other languages in American fiction. I think the author could have done a slightly more self-conscious job of "teaching" certain phrases to us.
So there's a lot of emotional trauma, and a few scenes where Taj and Rakhee come together are great, but the overall flow of the story never drew me in, which is a shame, because there's so much here that's good in pieces.
ptaradactyl's review
3.0
It was different and lyrical and pulled me in. The characters weren't always my favorite, and I didn't really quite get why Rocky fell for the leading man, but it was still a very enjoyable read.
veethorn's review
4.0
Brilliant romance novel, and bonus queer secondary romance. I loved this so much.
kristenwestfall's review
3.0
Very solid 3+ stars. I wanted a few things to be fleshed out more, but super warm and enjoyable.
ajcousins's review
I'm a Bollywood fan and this mashup of Bolly and the classic fairytale was right up my alley. I loved all the callouts to the Beauty and the Beast. They made me smile, as did the subplot about the hero's brother, for whom I wish a long and happy romance of his own, eventually. Mostly I wallowed in "the beast's" dilapidated castle, his glorious gardens, and his library. Good fun. :)
crystalisreading's review
4.0
Bollywood and the Beast was an enjoyably dark and romantic read. Anything derived from the Beautiy and the Beast fairy tale intrigues me, as does anything Indian and Bollywood, and this story did not disppoint. From the inescapable heat between Rocky and Taj, to the slow and subtle but incredibly strong passion of the secondary romance, this was a sweet, fascinating, engaging book, set in a world that is not familiar to me. I actually found the secondary romance (which I'm not describing at all, due to potential spoilers) to be almost more engaging than Rocky and Taj, with its painfully slow burn that is all the deeper for being potentially taboo. Fiesty, aggressively can-do Rocky and scarred, bitter Taj were engaging too, though. Taj's brother is a sympathetic character too, as is Taj's assistant/ caregiver, and of course the sweet grandmother. It took me time to warm up to Rocky's parents, but I learned to appreciate them too. there were other characters that were briefly encountered that I realized after I was well into the book were characters from previous books in the series. Oops. I didn't really feel like I was missing out on anything essential to understanding the story line, though, by having read the books out of order. The parts that were relevant, from the interview with Sunny to the relationship between Nina and Ashraf, were explained adequately in this book. And while there is the inclusion of lots of Hindi and Urdu names and phrases, as well as the cultural practice of many different variations on a character's name, I didn't have trouble following the story. In fact, I picked up a few of the terms.
Utterly engaging. A feel-good read I didn't want to put down until I was finished. I'll be seeking out the other titles in this series.
Utterly engaging. A feel-good read I didn't want to put down until I was finished. I'll be seeking out the other titles in this series.
jacqueline1989's review
3.0
DOWN & DIRTY QUICKIE REVIEW!
One Sentence Summary:
An Indian-American Bollywood actress hides from the press at her co-star’s brother’s mansion; said bro is a partially scared but full on grumpy bear.
Name That Trope:
* Beauty/Beast Retelling
* Weak Romance, STRONG BOOK
* Dat Diversity, Tho!
* Secondary May/December M/M ship MAKING YA FEEL FEELS
* So Much Woke Shade Throwing
* Toto, I've A Feeling We're Not In Kansas Anymore Cause We In India!
What part made ya fangirl squeal?
The 23,182 times this book smacked me with word art. FO’ REAL, Y’ALL! There was quotetastic dialogue and so much A+ internal character musings that a bitch done ODed on good wordage.
Favorite Character:
Real talk? The hero’s brother. Dude rocked an intense subplot that becomes the main plot, and he slayed me with emotions. I swear, his sexual abuse survival will end ya and save ya. I WANNA SWADDLE HIM IN HUGS & LOVES, DAMMIT!
How smexy was the smex?
Suuuuuuper skimmed over. There is banging, and even a lil scarf bondage play, but it’s all pretty vanilla. The choreography is vague, but the passion is definitely there. If you dislike explicit romance sex, this puppy is all for you, doll!
Whose Line Is It Anyway:
Got any bitching to do?
Sadly, yes. Some readers complain our hero’s bro overtakes the book, and...yes/no? I enjoyed his role, I just wish more OTP scenes could’ve been added. As it stands, you don’t get much of a transition from our couple fighting to fucking to loving. As a result their overall romance fell flat for me.
Visually Depict Yo Book Feels:
Famous Last Words:
I don't think this book works well as a romance. That said, IT IS A PHENOMENAL FUCKING STORY!!! Its messages & themes are unbelievably powerful, plus its characters are vividly emotive. There's honest anguish in all the peeps and the writing says something. Had simply a few more scenes been added of our OTP reflecting on their emotions, rather than just their lust, then I'd have zero ass complaints!
-----------
For a more in depth, LOL-fest discussion on romance novels and romance Asian dramas, HERE BE MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
https://www.youtube.com/fangirlmusings
One Sentence Summary:
An Indian-American Bollywood actress hides from the press at her co-star’s brother’s mansion; said bro is a partially scared but full on grumpy bear.
Name That Trope:
* Beauty/Beast Retelling
* Weak Romance, STRONG BOOK
* Dat Diversity, Tho!
* Secondary May/December M/M ship MAKING YA FEEL FEELS
* So Much Woke Shade Throwing
* Toto, I've A Feeling We're Not In Kansas Anymore Cause We In India!
What part made ya fangirl squeal?
The 23,182 times this book smacked me with word art. FO’ REAL, Y’ALL! There was quotetastic dialogue and so much A+ internal character musings that a bitch done ODed on good wordage.
Favorite Character:
Real talk? The hero’s brother. Dude rocked an intense subplot that becomes the main plot, and he slayed me with emotions. I swear, his sexual abuse survival will end ya and save ya. I WANNA SWADDLE HIM IN HUGS & LOVES, DAMMIT!
How smexy was the smex?
Suuuuuuper skimmed over. There is banging, and even a lil scarf bondage play, but it’s all pretty vanilla. The choreography is vague, but the passion is definitely there. If you dislike explicit romance sex, this puppy is all for you, doll!
Whose Line Is It Anyway:
Hero’s Bro: Are you offended by a pretty girl?
Hero: Offense? She has committed no offense. I offend. My very life is an offense. Perfect people do not belong in this house. Beautiful people do not belong in this house. This is a tomb. Fit only for the dead.
*****
“To speak up, to say what no one else would dare put into words, was a privilege of only the most elite.”
*****
Hero: I live here.
Grandma: No. You stay here. You don't live here. You live with that girl. In her laughter. In her sadness. In her shadow and light.
Got any bitching to do?
Sadly, yes. Some readers complain our hero’s bro overtakes the book, and...yes/no? I enjoyed his role, I just wish more OTP scenes could’ve been added. As it stands, you don’t get much of a transition from our couple fighting to fucking to loving. As a result their overall romance fell flat for me.
Visually Depict Yo Book Feels:
Famous Last Words:
I don't think this book works well as a romance. That said, IT IS A PHENOMENAL FUCKING STORY!!! Its messages & themes are unbelievably powerful, plus its characters are vividly emotive. There's honest anguish in all the peeps and the writing says something. Had simply a few more scenes been added of our OTP reflecting on their emotions, rather than just their lust, then I'd have zero ass complaints!
-----------
For a more in depth, LOL-fest discussion on romance novels and romance Asian dramas, HERE BE MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
https://www.youtube.com/fangirlmusings
kiwicoral's review
3.0
*SBTB Quarterly Challenge - June 4. Juneteenth: Read a diverse romance.
Best Picture Challenge - Slumdog Millionaire: Read a contemporary romance set outside of the U.S*
3.5 stars. This was very soapy, but that worked for it, for the most part. I liked the gruff hero. He could teach Mr Darcy about brooding. But he did have a good heart. I liked the plucky heroine too. But again, other than a sexual connection I didn't really get their romance.
The secondary romance was a nice surprise. I could have used more of it.
It was generally well written and I liked the supporting characters. I could have used some more in depth settings though.
Best Picture Challenge - Slumdog Millionaire: Read a contemporary romance set outside of the U.S*
3.5 stars. This was very soapy, but that worked for it, for the most part. I liked the gruff hero. He could teach Mr Darcy about brooding. But he did have a good heart. I liked the plucky heroine too. But again, other than a sexual connection I didn't really get their romance.
The secondary romance was a nice surprise. I could have used more of it.
It was generally well written and I liked the supporting characters. I could have used some more in depth settings though.