A review by azagee
Enter Title Here by Naomi Kanakia
3.0
I had no idea what to expect going into this book and, honestly, I was just as confused coming out of it.
Reshma Kapoor is the kind of character I live to adore. Unreliable narrators always hold a special place in my heart, and Reshma had the added bonus of reminding me of a personal favourite flawed heroine-- Emma Woodhouse.
The similarities to Jane Austen's Emma were what drew me in, I'll admit. The idea of a modern Emma, one who takes herself and her talents seriously, was endlessly appealing. And, in that respect, I wasn't disappointed. There were definitely parallels, right down to the misguided quest for a friend and the love interest with a level head and a healthy outlook on life.
He was even named George.
As I read, though, I stopped thinking of Reshma as a the newest iteration of my old love, and instead, she became a person in her own right. Everything about her screamed to be given its due, and with every chapter she became more and more real to me. Slowly, I was even finding pieces of myself in a character who had once seemed my opposite in every way.
No matter what I have to say about the book, I will always love Reshma.
Sadly, though, the story didn't live up to its leading lady.
While the plot definitely had potential, the execution was severely lacking. The pacing was clunky and uneven, the secondary characters were flat and unappealing, and the interpersonal relationships didn't develop so much as they suddenly pivoted in a new direction with no forewarning. While some of this might have been intentional. as this is the diary of a girl who is both self-centered and deep in denial, it made for a wholly unpleasant reading experience. Most of it was tolerable (and, honestly, par for the course for a YA contemporary), the way the plots and subplots are handled left the book a tangled, unorganized mess.
The most egregious example is Reshma's therapy plotline: While the author manages to 'slip in' the fact that Reshma has bipolar disorder, it's really only recognizable to those already familiar with the disorder. The only other purpose the subplot seems to serve (and, indeed, perhaps its chief function) is hamfistedly dishing out both meta and comic relief in ways that made me deeply uncomfortable. In a novel that otherwise presented its characters with the utmost seriousness, having mental illness be represented by a caricature was actually kind of shocking... in the worst way. This couldn't even be explained away as an examination of thing that are actually wrong with the treatment of the neurodivergent, it was just awkward and, honestly, a chore to read.
However, the book handled the subjects of addiction and White Saviour racism so well, I could almost forgive it--
And that is precisely the problem. Enter Title Here offers the wonderful and the terrible in equal measures. The result is something hard to describe and a mess of emotions you won't know what to do with. Would I recommend it? I honestly don't know. Maybe on a case by case basis, depending on what the reader found important and wanted from their next read.
But in general, I'm still just as lost as everyone who hasn't read it.
Reshma Kapoor is the kind of character I live to adore. Unreliable narrators always hold a special place in my heart, and Reshma had the added bonus of reminding me of a personal favourite flawed heroine-- Emma Woodhouse.
The similarities to Jane Austen's Emma were what drew me in, I'll admit. The idea of a modern Emma, one who takes herself and her talents seriously, was endlessly appealing. And, in that respect, I wasn't disappointed. There were definitely parallels, right down to the misguided quest for a friend and the love interest with a level head and a healthy outlook on life.
He was even named George.
As I read, though, I stopped thinking of Reshma as a the newest iteration of my old love, and instead, she became a person in her own right. Everything about her screamed to be given its due, and with every chapter she became more and more real to me. Slowly, I was even finding pieces of myself in a character who had once seemed my opposite in every way.
No matter what I have to say about the book, I will always love Reshma.
Sadly, though, the story didn't live up to its leading lady.
While the plot definitely had potential, the execution was severely lacking. The pacing was clunky and uneven, the secondary characters were flat and unappealing, and the interpersonal relationships didn't develop so much as they suddenly pivoted in a new direction with no forewarning. While some of this might have been intentional. as this is the diary of a girl who is both self-centered and deep in denial, it made for a wholly unpleasant reading experience. Most of it was tolerable (and, honestly, par for the course for a YA contemporary), the way the plots and subplots are handled left the book a tangled, unorganized mess.
The most egregious example is Reshma's therapy plotline: While the author manages to 'slip in' the fact that Reshma has bipolar disorder, it's really only recognizable to those already familiar with the disorder. The only other purpose the subplot seems to serve (and, indeed, perhaps its chief function) is hamfistedly dishing out both meta and comic relief in ways that made me deeply uncomfortable. In a novel that otherwise presented its characters with the utmost seriousness, having mental illness be represented by a caricature was actually kind of shocking... in the worst way. This couldn't even be explained away as an examination of thing that are actually wrong with the treatment of the neurodivergent, it was just awkward and, honestly, a chore to read.
However, the book handled the subjects of addiction and White Saviour racism so well, I could almost forgive it--
And that is precisely the problem. Enter Title Here offers the wonderful and the terrible in equal measures. The result is something hard to describe and a mess of emotions you won't know what to do with. Would I recommend it? I honestly don't know. Maybe on a case by case basis, depending on what the reader found important and wanted from their next read.
But in general, I'm still just as lost as everyone who hasn't read it.