kyndallkay's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
3.0
myjourneywithbooks's review against another edition
4.0
4.5⭐️
Neil Narayan is a second generation Indian American teenager whose parents moved to the US for a better life. They have high expectations for Neil and, with a perfect older sister setting the bar, Neil can feel the pressure. Then he stumbles across a secret that his neighbour and crush, Anita Dayal, is harbouring. Anita seems to have it all, the brains and the beauty. But it turns out that this is thanks to an ancient alchemical potion Anita and her mom have been brewing in their basement, the main ingredient of which is stolen gold which is used to leech the ambition and success of its original owner. Neil convinces them to let him join and is basking in the benefits the potion brings him...until tragedy strikes.
The second part of the book takes place years later, when Neil and Anita, now adults, have lost touch with each other. Anita contacts Neil out of the blue, requesting for help in a gold heist for a final potion that is the only thing that will be able to save her mother.
A fascinating and original story that uses magical realism to tell a very convincing story of the immigrant experience. From community gossip to societal pressure to the competitiveness and ambition children sometimes have to take on to fulfill the roles expected of them, the book examines the reality of the American dream, but there is also much for anyone to relate to, even if you're not the offspring of immigrants looking for a better life.
The thing with some magical realism is that the magical part is so out of this world that you definitely know its fictitious. But in this case, it is incorporated into the story in such a manner that has you believing it could be possible.
The combination of the flawless prose and the flawed characters will draw you in and keep a firm grip on your interest. The satire and the subtle social commentary is spot on and though the two parts of the story had slightly different tones, I enjoyed both in different ways.
Neil Narayan is a second generation Indian American teenager whose parents moved to the US for a better life. They have high expectations for Neil and, with a perfect older sister setting the bar, Neil can feel the pressure. Then he stumbles across a secret that his neighbour and crush, Anita Dayal, is harbouring. Anita seems to have it all, the brains and the beauty. But it turns out that this is thanks to an ancient alchemical potion Anita and her mom have been brewing in their basement, the main ingredient of which is stolen gold which is used to leech the ambition and success of its original owner. Neil convinces them to let him join and is basking in the benefits the potion brings him...until tragedy strikes.
The second part of the book takes place years later, when Neil and Anita, now adults, have lost touch with each other. Anita contacts Neil out of the blue, requesting for help in a gold heist for a final potion that is the only thing that will be able to save her mother.
A fascinating and original story that uses magical realism to tell a very convincing story of the immigrant experience. From community gossip to societal pressure to the competitiveness and ambition children sometimes have to take on to fulfill the roles expected of them, the book examines the reality of the American dream, but there is also much for anyone to relate to, even if you're not the offspring of immigrants looking for a better life.
The thing with some magical realism is that the magical part is so out of this world that you definitely know its fictitious. But in this case, it is incorporated into the story in such a manner that has you believing it could be possible.
The combination of the flawless prose and the flawed characters will draw you in and keep a firm grip on your interest. The satire and the subtle social commentary is spot on and though the two parts of the story had slightly different tones, I enjoyed both in different ways.
steph_comfortinreading's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
j0shsm1th's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
hulttio's review against another edition
4.0
‘I had been waiting to arrive somewhere for so long, and now that I was here, I wanted only to roll backward in time, to swim upstream until I sat at the font of something, to avoid ending up as this unbearable me.’
‘We were both conceptual orphans. Perhaps that is the condition of any second generation. In the space between us and the rest of adulthood lay a great expanse of the unknown. We had not grown up imbibing stories that implicitly conveyed answers to the basic questions of being: What did it feel like to fall in love in America, to take oneself for granted in America? Starved as we were for clues about how to live, we would grip like mad on to anything that lent a possible way of being.’
Reading this book after She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan was an interesting choice. This was a book club read for March 2022. I devoured the first half of this book in less than a day or so, and read the remainder over the rest of the week while struggling to stay focused on an impending term paper. (…That I still need to finish. Sigh.) I mention that book because both novels deal primarily with the theme of ambition and feature flawed characters. However, Gold Diggers was a much more engaging read for me because of Sathian’s engaging writing style and her deft handling of the characters and themes. (Her writing pedigree certainly speaks volumes! Kudos on the debut novel.)
Of course, the biggest theme is all over the place: gold. Gold digging, the California Gold Rush, ‘Gold Digger’ by Kanye… it’s all there. Gold is like a familiar landmark throughout the novel, anchoring you every time it makes an appearance. It is closely intertwined with the major theme, ambition—particularly in the second-generation immigrant experience. But Sathian weaves it into the narrative perfectly, almost seamlessly; it doesn’t feel repetitive or overdone. In general, her writing impressed me a ton. Moreover, the theme of ambition is ever present; and unlike my previous read, here Sathian actually plots the consequences and costs of ambition throughout the narrative—as you go along Neil’s story, you see exactly what cost he has borne by virtue of his ambition as he attempts to achieve his familial expectations.
Now, full confession: I went into this book expecting to hate it. (Maybe that’s the trick—just have low expectations and books will automatically seem better.) I don’t really read stories about the Indian-American experience, because I expect it to be cringe and reside in that weirdly familiar but off-putting uncanny valley territory—like looking into a mirror but seeing some other face there. I’m not someone who has spent a lot of time thinking about my own identity in these terms. Growing up, none of my friends were the same ethnicity as me, and even now, surprisingly, I have very few friends who are Indian. (Surprising because there are just so many of us, scattered everywhere!) I shock people when I tell them I hate most Indian food because my spice tolerance is at jalapenos-are-spicy level. In other words, I’m a coconut—and so is Neil, the protagonist of this novel. I felt ‘seen’ by this book, and it was a novel and exciting experience.
Neil is an extremely flawed character. Again, unlike my previous read, he has depth and a complex inner life that endears him somewhat to the reader. He does a lot of weird and embarrassing things, and his obsession with his neighbor, Anita, probably tips over into the unhinged zone a few times. (It definitely made me cringe a little.) Despite that, his experience growing up and wrestling with his sense of self as a second-generation immigrant was incredibly relatable. Sathian’s voice is incredible—I had to double check that this was written by a woman, because I rarely see the teen male perspective written in all its fully awkward and listless glory (or simply as deserving of nuance). Neil’s first-person narration took some getting used to, to be sure, but every time a spot of Hinglish popped up, it felt almost like sliding into my own life. Of course, I didn’t grow up in the suburbs or in an upper middle-class Hindu family; far from it, indeed. But the cultural elements were so familiar. I could imagine my mother saying exactly the things Neil’s mother says.
Some of the other reviews I’ve seen complain that Neil is boring or that the novel should’ve been told from the Dayal women’s perspectives. I do think that the latter would be interesting, but I find it funny that the same reviews that complain about Neil as a character also mention that they know someone just like him in real life. Neil is not necessarily a great guy; I probably wouldn’t want to hang out with him. But Sathian nevertheless depicts him as a complex character, so that you end up sympathizing with him anyway. (Also, it helps that ‘meandering grad student flailing around trying to write a dissertation’ is exactly my life right now, sigh.) So yeah, weirdly enough, I could see a bit of myself in Neil, and that was disconcerting at first, but also fascinating.
The mythology and magical realism of the novel were also well done. Sathian has clearly done her research on the Gold Rush era. I’m not familiar with magical realism, but I liked how the fantastical elements more or less seamlessly blend into the story. The novel isn’t really about the lemonade; it’s about how the characters react and deal with the lemonade, and their obsession for gold. The heist, as promised in the blurb, was also enjoyable. Despite the large time jump in between parts 1 and 2, I didn’t have much trouble reacquainting myself with the plot thread—and it was odd, in a slightly unfamiliar way, to be reading about things like the 2016 election in a novel. It all seems so recent still… and maybe it’s that I don’t often read contemporary lit, but it made it feel all the more tangible.
While I greatly enjoyed this book, of course, it was not a perfect read. Sometimes the plot meandered and Neil’s descriptions got a bit long-winded. Some of the minor characters felt like mere decoration and of little substance. Even some of the actions of Anjali were questionable, and her storyline felt rushed in the last third of the book. But, coming from my recent string of disappointing reads, this was a pleasant surprise—and perhaps for that reason a lot more enjoyable.
beepbopbooks's review against another edition
5.0
So clever and so different. Defo one going down as one of my fave books!!
melliferareads's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5 rounded down to a 3. Would recommend this book for many reasons, but the main character was so unlikeable (maybe that was the point?).
This book starts with Neeraj - aka Neil - and Anita, two Indian-American high schoolers, who are both looking for success in life. Anita's mother, a basement alchemist, has found a way to harness the power of stolen gold in order to make both Anita and Neil successful in their endeavors. Anita participates in Miss Teen India USA, where contestants are supposed to exemplify what it means to be both Indian and American.
When Neil tries alchemy on his own however, it goes horribly wrong. He drops the habit of alchemy and gold and replaces it with aderall, coke and weed (this is where he becomes very unlikeable). Flashforward years in the future and Neil is studying the Gold Rush in America. This is the part of the book I found most interesting. Neil is trying to find evidence of some of the Indian-Americans coming during the Gold Rush, but finds it hard to do so. He instead comes up with his own narrative as an exercise, which I found very entertaining.
I found his obsession with Anita's body hard to read through, especially since he was pretty much on drugs all the time and didn't have ambition. He was a pretty selfish character and I was not rooting for him and Anita to get together. However, the cultural aspect, thehistory and the ever looming question "What does it mean to be both Indian and American?" were much more interesting to read about, and I would recommend it for that reason.
This book starts with Neeraj - aka Neil - and Anita, two Indian-American high schoolers, who are both looking for success in life. Anita's mother, a basement alchemist, has found a way to harness the power of stolen gold in order to make both Anita and Neil successful in their endeavors. Anita participates in Miss Teen India USA, where contestants are supposed to exemplify what it means to be both Indian and American.
When Neil tries alchemy on his own however, it goes horribly wrong. He drops the habit of alchemy and gold and replaces it with aderall, coke and weed (this is where he becomes very unlikeable). Flashforward years in the future and Neil is studying the Gold Rush in America. This is the part of the book I found most interesting. Neil is trying to find evidence of some of the Indian-Americans coming during the Gold Rush, but finds it hard to do so. He instead comes up with his own narrative as an exercise, which I found very entertaining.
I found his obsession with Anita's body hard to read through, especially since he was pretty much on drugs all the time and didn't have ambition. He was a pretty selfish character and I was not rooting for him and Anita to get together. However, the cultural aspect, thehistory and the ever looming question "What does it mean to be both Indian and American?" were much more interesting to read about, and I would recommend it for that reason.
sujata's review against another edition
5.0
Couldn’t put this down. Loved it. Not always sure about magical realism but this worked for me.
teacher2library's review against another edition
4.0
What an interesting debut! 3.5 stars, mostly because I didn't like Neil. Wish we could have heard this fascinating story from the women's perspective and not the purposeless, whiny young man clutching their coattails.