4.08 AVERAGE

medium-paced
adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring fast-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: Complicated
adventurous hopeful inspiring mysterious slow-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: No
adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
sweinstein's profile picture

sweinstein's review

3.75
adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

1/5 stars: This is Dev's stand-alone which is a BIPOC Romance that follows an Illinois woman who finds herself alone on her New York engagement trip as she unexpectedly teams up with a journalist to reunite a lost ring with its owner and ends up discovering herself along the way. Dev's writing and character work are nicely done; the characters are well-rounded, complex and yet remain likable. Dev does takes on some very serious subjects; so take care and check the CWs. Unfortunately, this just wasn't a book for me; leading me to DNF it at 11%.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.
adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

 
This is my third book by this author and I really like her.  Mira is almost 30 and (gasp!) not married.  But she’s finally fulfilling her role and marrying a surgeon and her parents are so proud.  Mira loves Druv.  He’s a really good guy and she and her family can’t believe how lucky she is to have landed him.
But then Druv has to back out of their engagement trip to New York and she decides to go by herself.  It’s the first time she’s ever really done anything by herself and she’s excited about it.  Her parents forbid her to see her “unnatural” brother Rumi while she’s there but she knows she’ll see her twin anyway and his boyfriend too, whether her brother wants to see her or not.
She gets knocked over by a kid on the sidewalk and finds a beautiful ring.  And she decides she has to find it’s owner.  And then she goes on a great adventure.  While she’s searching for the ring’s owner, she also starts to find herself.
I’m always amazed by how universal family stories are.  As a first generation immigrant’s daughter, Mira has the world on her shoulders and so many things to live up to that she never really stops to consider what she wants for herself.  Her sense of duty and avoidance of conflict have led her to live a very sheltered life.  But has she really been living at all? 
This one covers being from an immigrant family, LGBTQ family battles, women’s guilt over things that really aren’t our fault, and finding a way to be who you are and to love that person.  I didn’t expect to cry at this one, but I did find myself reaching for a tissue.  I really liked it a lot. 
adventurous emotional fast-paced
adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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: N/A

Sonali Dev has written another gorgeous novel that made me think about family, expectations, prejudice, and so much more. Mira's struggle to figure out whether the seemingly perfect life she's fallen into is truly what she wants is so relatable. She must grapple with competing expectations from her parents, her twin brother, and her fiancé in this beautiful story.

When Mira happens upon a unique gold ring during her solo trip to New York City, she's intrigued and seized with an insatiable urge to find out who the ring's rightful owner is. What follows is a fascinating journey with plenty of unexpected consequences, some more dangerous than others.

I bawled through the end of this book and absolutely loved every moment.

 
emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced