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ebtdean's review against another edition
2.0
I could have quit this book at any time and been fine with never knowing what happens. Even now, I wish I hadn’t finished this book, it just wasn’t for me. The big events were glossed over quickly, but the smaller tiny moments were drawn out in agonizing detail. It was not a great time.
mo_is_a_moody_readerr's review against another edition
3.0
3 Stars (I'd borrow or rent it, wouldn't recommend buying)
Boy am i glad to be out of neil's head
Boy am i glad to be out of neil's head
justmegger's review against another edition
3.0
Mostly enjoyable but felt a little let down by the resolution of everything. It was just a little too perfect for how chaotic everything else in the book was
selenajournal's review against another edition
2.0
The beginning of this book felt like it was going somewhere interesting. The cut to post-college was the second half of the book and felt extremely disjointed from the first portion of the book.
The character I felt most drawn to and that felt most fully fleshed out - was Anita. However the book is not written from her perspective. She was viewed through another character's lens, a male character.
This was chosen as a book club book - and when I described it in our book club session is that I am glad that I read it, but I would not recommend it to others.
The character I felt most drawn to and that felt most fully fleshed out - was Anita. However the book is not written from her perspective. She was viewed through another character's lens, a male character.
This was chosen as a book club book - and when I described it in our book club session is that I am glad that I read it, but I would not recommend it to others.
aliciaflattt's review against another edition
2.0
Magic realism, a coming of age story that starts like Hasan Minaj's amazing Netflix comedy special, guilt, identity, and the power of secrets.. I should have loved this book. And maybe you will! But I couldn't get into it and just wanted the protagonist to make better choices. I know.. I know.. bad decisions make good TV. It may be the perfect book for someone else!
jsrogers123's review against another edition
5.0
I did cry reading this! Twice in fact! Definitely my favorite book I’ve read that was published this year. Definitely one of my new favorite books of all time
itsmeamethyst's review against another edition
5.0
Simply brilliant! The gossip, hip hop references, magic, and humor balance the heavier themes. It outlines some of the history of alchemy, the Gold Rush, and the Gilded Age (including the xenophobia and capitalism of the eras). It underscores how universal it is to want your children to thrive; and it forces readers to think about the costs and benefits of pressure, ambition, competition, and (gendered) expectations. It challenges if marriage and college are worthy aspirations.
Other themes include love and longing, addiction, aging, Silicon Valley and tech as a new Gold Rush, generational trauma and burdens, and racial identity (especially of immigrants and their children).
Other themes include love and longing, addiction, aging, Silicon Valley and tech as a new Gold Rush, generational trauma and burdens, and racial identity (especially of immigrants and their children).
chloew's review
3.0
I adored the first third of the book, but the middle meanderings and culminating drama fell flat.
tagoreketabkhane31's review against another edition
5.0
An #OwnVoices debut novel that is both a magical realism fiction novel while also being a reflective look at the immigrant experience for the subcontinent diaspora and the Indian community in general. Sathian joins that small group of Desi authors that is able to create a novel that is both Desi and American - one that truly encapsulates, what she even notes in her prose, is an experience that is unique that un-hyphenated Americans and Indians simply won't be able to understand.
The premise of the story is what first caught my attention - Neil (nee Neeraj) lives in the Desi enclave of Hammond Creek and is unmotivated compared to his classmates and members of his community as part of the second generation of Americans, distinct and yet the same as his parents in the first generation. As he struggles to adapt and find his motivation (besides making his parents proud, which doesn't sustain him) he stumbles across the secret that his friend and love interest Anita Dayal has kept hidden about her recent string of success - her mom dabbles in Indian alchemical magic, taking the coveted gold that every Indian family has and melting it down to drink in an elixir, mixed in with lemonade; the concoction allows for the drinker to take on the success, ambition and drive of whomever the gold had originally belonged to or who had been made for.
The story follows from their early and formative teenage years, and resumes when Neil is a graduate student, struggling to focus on his thesis and finding the motivation to deal with his litany of issues - and is reunited with Anita as she calls on him to help him with one monumental task to save her mom.
One of my favorite aspects of the book is how much Sathian unpacks and dismantles the myth of the model minority for the Indian American community - while also showcasing how quickly the first and second generation of immigrants assimilated into the American dream as they made it their way, all the while ignoring or otherizing those that are not able to compete or stay in the ideals of the community.
It's a complex narrative and novel that Sathian is able to execute in a flawless way - because in part, her characters are flawed. Neil and Anita are real people who represent a broad spectrum of the Desi experience in America, and I appreciated that there was a true diversity in the Indian representation that she brought into the novel, a cross section of religions, states and classes for the Indian Americans that she depicted in her novel.
Whether you're looking for a great literary fiction read, something with magical realism or another book about Desi Americans or written by an AAPI author; whatever your motivation might be, I highly recommend Gold Diggers as something to check out and savor.
The premise of the story is what first caught my attention - Neil (nee Neeraj) lives in the Desi enclave of Hammond Creek and is unmotivated compared to his classmates and members of his community as part of the second generation of Americans, distinct and yet the same as his parents in the first generation. As he struggles to adapt and find his motivation (besides making his parents proud, which doesn't sustain him) he stumbles across the secret that his friend and love interest Anita Dayal has kept hidden about her recent string of success - her mom dabbles in Indian alchemical magic, taking the coveted gold that every Indian family has and melting it down to drink in an elixir, mixed in with lemonade; the concoction allows for the drinker to take on the success, ambition and drive of whomever the gold had originally belonged to or who had been made for.
The story follows from their early and formative teenage years, and resumes when Neil is a graduate student, struggling to focus on his thesis and finding the motivation to deal with his litany of issues - and is reunited with Anita as she calls on him to help him with one monumental task to save her mom.
One of my favorite aspects of the book is how much Sathian unpacks and dismantles the myth of the model minority for the Indian American community - while also showcasing how quickly the first and second generation of immigrants assimilated into the American dream as they made it their way, all the while ignoring or otherizing those that are not able to compete or stay in the ideals of the community.
It's a complex narrative and novel that Sathian is able to execute in a flawless way - because in part, her characters are flawed. Neil and Anita are real people who represent a broad spectrum of the Desi experience in America, and I appreciated that there was a true diversity in the Indian representation that she brought into the novel, a cross section of religions, states and classes for the Indian Americans that she depicted in her novel.
Whether you're looking for a great literary fiction read, something with magical realism or another book about Desi Americans or written by an AAPI author; whatever your motivation might be, I highly recommend Gold Diggers as something to check out and savor.
margardenlady's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
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
Described aptly as a classic striver story, this novel follows a youth born to an immigrant family with high expectations. Neil is unfortunately not as ambitious as they would like, but he discovers the key to success in an ancient alchemical process used by his neighbors in Atlanta, while being personally drawn to American gold rush stories, first in GA then in CA. Stinging satire oozes through the prose of this well crafted debut.