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A review by tesslw
Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
TW; suicide, substance abuse
Gold Diggers holds a fascinating premise; an Indian-American coming of age tale, seeped in magical realism, and cross cultural myths and legends. Neil Narayan, our central protagonist doesn’t share his parents drive to achieve - he doesn’t particularly care about conquering academia, he just wants and easy life; and Anita, his neighbour and classmate. HOwever, when he discovers that Anita’s mother has a penchant for alchemy, and can brew a potion made from stolen gold that claims to harness the ambition of the original owner… Well, then things get interesting.
In theory, anyway. In reality, this book really did not do it for me. I’m finding it hard to pin down what exactly it was that meant it really didn’t hit home for me. I love magical realism, I loved the idea of exploring the Indian-American experience and learning more about the cultural heritage and mythology of many Asian immigrants, along with the divide between the younger generation’s approach to life, wellbeing and parenting as opposed to their parents and grandparents. All of these things were present as themes in Gold Diggers but somehow it still just felt slow, convoluted and frankly, boring for a large portion of the book.
As soon as we left the section in which both main characters are in high school and skipped forwards, I felt that all pacing and momentum had been lost; so much so that even the promise of a heist could barely drive me to continue turning the pages (well, metaphorically because by this time I had switched to audiobook so that I could listen and not have to make myself focus so hard on not getting distracted). I did enjoy the writing, and there were many really lovely descriptions - however it just wasn’t enough to sustain my interest unfortunately. However I have seen plenty of glowing reviews for this and there a certainly some really interesting elements so check it out if you’re interested!
Gold Diggers holds a fascinating premise; an Indian-American coming of age tale, seeped in magical realism, and cross cultural myths and legends. Neil Narayan, our central protagonist doesn’t share his parents drive to achieve - he doesn’t particularly care about conquering academia, he just wants and easy life; and Anita, his neighbour and classmate. HOwever, when he discovers that Anita’s mother has a penchant for alchemy, and can brew a potion made from stolen gold that claims to harness the ambition of the original owner… Well, then things get interesting.
In theory, anyway. In reality, this book really did not do it for me. I’m finding it hard to pin down what exactly it was that meant it really didn’t hit home for me. I love magical realism, I loved the idea of exploring the Indian-American experience and learning more about the cultural heritage and mythology of many Asian immigrants, along with the divide between the younger generation’s approach to life, wellbeing and parenting as opposed to their parents and grandparents. All of these things were present as themes in Gold Diggers but somehow it still just felt slow, convoluted and frankly, boring for a large portion of the book.
As soon as we left the section in which both main characters are in high school and skipped forwards, I felt that all pacing and momentum had been lost; so much so that even the promise of a heist could barely drive me to continue turning the pages (well, metaphorically because by this time I had switched to audiobook so that I could listen and not have to make myself focus so hard on not getting distracted). I did enjoy the writing, and there were many really lovely descriptions - however it just wasn’t enough to sustain my interest unfortunately. However I have seen plenty of glowing reviews for this and there a certainly some really interesting elements so check it out if you’re interested!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use and Suicide