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A review by melliferareads
Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian
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.