A review by sheelal
Well-Behaved Indian Women by Saumya Dave

3.0

The first half of the book really stressed me out. The author, probably unintentionally, conflated Gujarati with Indian American culture. The toxicity of the family dynamics, relationships, and community unfortunately are the norm in highly concentrated homogenous communities, but does not represent the majority of our lives. The second half clarified the extent of the engrained trauma, violence that many hold on to as a point of pride, and how the characters choose to manage that makes the book more enjoyable. I wish that was clearer in the synopsis and set me up, as a reader, to expect that "normalized violence".