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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
Actually a very well written book, but the YA romance just isn’t up my alley. This book follows 4 sisters and their love stories through the 4 seasons of the year and culminates at their father’s wedding. This book has beautifully-written PNW scenery and flowed really well between all 5 (including the father’s overarching) love stories. None of the stories themselves were very deep given that they only take up about ~25% of the book, and I think some of the detail I usually crave was lost due to that. I really appreciated the structure of this book and the wedding finale tied all the elements of the book together well. But, overall, I just couldn’t get myself hooked and finished it more out of obligation that interest. Would recommend to romance lovers though!
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
4.5, rounded up. I loved this sweet book and would happily read more about the Singh family (or a book about another family written in a similar style). Maya Prasad has a cozy, lovely way of describing the islands and the romances that play out. The sisters are all unique and have depth (even if I wanted to strangle Avani at times), and the queer South Asian rep with Sirisha and her dad is great.
Read this if you want more multicultural love stories and appreciate Cozy Season in addition to (or instead of) Spooky Season.
4.5, rounded up. I loved this sweet book and would happily read more about the Singh family (or a book about another family written in a similar style). Maya Prasad has a cozy, lovely way of describing the islands and the romances that play out. The sisters are all unique and have depth (even if I wanted to strangle Avani at times), and the queer South Asian rep with Sirisha and her dad is great.
Read this if you want more multicultural love stories and appreciate Cozy Season in addition to (or instead of) Spooky Season.
Absolutely loved this one! Fans of Jenny Han will devour this. I actually read a physical copy and at each part when we switched povs I was disappointed to be leaving the last one. All four sisters were complex characters and their family made for a fantastic story.
This book was a sweet reminder of those first feelings of love we all get as teenagers. I thought the Singh sisters were each complex and lovable in their own way, and seeing their relationships with each other from each sisters perspective was intriguing. As an older sister, reading a younger siblings perspective of a know it all older sister was eye opening, and I hope that I can take some of the lesson Nidhi learned in this story and apply them to my own life.
I hate to low rate this, but I really didn’t like it. It’s very very young YA. I feel like this is best for maybe a 13-15 year old reader. Just wasn’t my cup of tea at all. But I love the setting and the diversity of the character for this genre.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
I love the setting of the cozy inn set on an island in the pnw! There were so many cozy wholesome scenes that I just loved. It’s actually hard to find a book that has that and I was so pleasantly surprised. Every time the inn was described it just seems like such a nice relaxing place, I love that it has a wrap around porch and a big field in the back. I liked how this follows 4 sisters and their individual stories but how they all connect since they live together and run the inn together. I think the author does a good job of writing each sisters part from start to finish it feels like a complete little story, but I just always wanted a little bit more of the sister bonding and learning more about each sister through each of their eyes. In each story it focuses on that character’s passion and their romance. I really loved seeing Nidhi’s passion for baking and Sirisha’s passion for photography! Out of all of the parts I loved the first half of part one but not the second half, and in the second part I enjoyed it and loved the romance. In the 3rd, I liked how it focused more on the passion for photography rather than the romance like the first 2 parts had done. And in part 4, I was disappointed by the first half and enjoyed the second half. This book is definitely one of my favorite contemporary romance books, it was so different and enjoyable. Especially since I loved the setting so much and if I love a setting then I’m likely to enjoy the book more, but I really enjoyed the stories and all of the themes the author was able to show.
I relate to Nidhi in the beginning since she loves fall and being cozy inside while a storm is outside. She plans to go to Paris for the summer to be an apprentice baker, I love that too. I really like the way the author writes a cozy and nice setting and the characters passion for baking. “The Songbird's kitchen was beautiful: sunny yellow walls, checkered tile floors, long butcher block counters, and a view of ancient pines and the neighboring lavender farm just beyond. Nidhi always felt perfectly at home there, ready to while away the hours creating delicious concoctions.” I love the descriptions of Nidhi working in the cafe making lattes right after that, there’s just so many things I like about this. The making of coffee and cake and the setting is all just so cozy and nice! The only thing I didn’t like about the beginning was Nidhi planning to go to Paris with her boyfriend months from now but then later in the same day getting butterflies over another guy. If the character in a book starts out having a boyfriend and they seem happy together then why do the authors always have to break them up. There were so many hints about how Nidhi’s bf hasn’t called her beautiful in a while so I guessed they would break up. I just didn’t understand until the end of Nidhi’s part why it’s necessary, especially since they seemed perfectly happy in the beginning, and all of a sudden later in the day she basically implies that since she’s been with him for 2 years their relationship isn’t exciting anymore so she may just ditch him. I hated how prominent & obvious it was that Grayson is turning into the love interest. Matt isn’t even a fleshed out character because the author obviously is just driving a wedge between them. Since Matt isn’t fleshed out and he honestly has some of the weirdest reactions I ended up not caring that much that she breaks up with him. But the author should have fleshed out his character more. Grayson is way more prominent in the beginning than Matt is and has way more scenes and dialogue. I just don’t like the fact that she planned to go to pairs with him and all of a sudden she feels like she’s doing the wrong thing just because she met Grayson and he said he’s going to India. I mean I understand her wanting to go there too but that has nothing to do with her relationship with Matt, the author hinted too much that she would rather be going to India with Grayson and break up with Matt while she’s at it. especially after Matt’s outburst on p 79 I did not like him. We don’t know anything about him, he’s being rude and immature, and I just don’t like his vibes. I was really loving the beginning of the book but then became constantly annoyed. I didn’t know why she all of a sudden is so uncomfortable with Matt & at the beginning of the book she was so passionate about baking and now she’s questioning in her head if she even wants that anymore. Finally she says that the tree almost killing her made her feel different and that’s why she’s acting and thinking differently. Now I get it. But I just really don’t like Matt, his dialogue is so unbelievable. When she had that video call with him right after the tree crashed into her room, he didn’t ask if she was ok. He didn’t ask anything besides oh you don’t have walls now? Like he didn’t really seem that concerned. And then she tells him she feels different now after the tree thing and he just says “I guess that’s understandable” I guess??? He also said earlier “I guess you look really pretty” what is with the I guess?? He just seems like he’s not a real person. If I changed something about my hair my boyfriend would not say ‘I guess you look pretty’ he would just say it looks pretty or you look nice. They also have lack of communication after that which Nidhi actually addresses in her thoughts which is nice. But if she’s addressing it I wish she would fix it but at the same time it’s Matt’s fault. He needs to be the one to fix it and she even thinks is he really going to look worried but do nothing? I don’t get what his problem is. Then she tells him it go home so she can go see Grayson. Ugh. Then after she’s out with him she wants to kiss him?? Oh my god. Why are we promoting cheating?? Seriously just because you meet someone who inspires you to travel and do new things doesn’t mean you just ditch your boyfriend for him after hanging out with him twice. I really don’t like that. If she thinks matt isn’t right for her anymore she needs to talk to him and also we are not even told why she might think that. She’s been irritated by him but we don’t know why and neither does she, that doesn’t mean you just break up with him?? I guess I should be less critical since they are in high school but I’m just thinking about how in my relationship, we’ve been together for 2 and a half years and I wouldn’t do this. I’m sorry my review is so long oh my gosh. I also just feel like the author should write more about the sister dynamics but that really takes the backseat as the relationship drama is the most prominent thing in the second half of part one. When they finally have a scene together again it’s nice. When Nidhi tells Matt she thinks they should break up because she doesn’t think it’s working he says I guess not and just leaves. Oh my gosh that could have been their opportunity to communicate but of course he doesn’t let her talk he just leaves. He hasn’t been letting her talk or asking her how she is and he doesn’t even ask her why or what she wants. I wish he would just let her talk to him. I really did not enjoy the second half of part 1, I was just constantly frustrated. I was literally frowning almost the whole time and that’s just not a good reading experience. I enjoyed all the descriptions of the food and chai, I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with Indian culture and it was nice to read. I also like the way the author describes the weather.
pt 2 - I like Avani and how she’s planning a winter ball. I also like Fernando and all the times he shows up. It’s so sweet when he saves the cheese issue. I didn’t like how Nidhi seemed so rude in this part, she didn’t seem that way in her part. Fernando is soo sweet oh my gosh. I wish the sisters would interact a little bit more since this book is about them and all of their stories. But it mostly focuses on the romances. Avani’s chapter made me smile a lot, it did make me anxious at times but I think it was more enjoyable than Nidhi’s because Avani didn’t frustrate me. Avani had challenges but overall it was a nice chapter with lots of feel good moments especially at the end. The romance in this one was so sweet and probably my favorite.
Pt 3 I love doing nature photography so I was very pleased to read Sirisha’s pov. I already was excited to read her part but it was even nicer that I could read about her taking pictures of nature like me. I could also relate to her enjoying theater photography. I did get a little offended that she kept calling her flower photos boring just because a few people weren’t excited about them. I really love all of the cozy scenes of the sisters hanging out and the way the author describes each season in detail. I do wish though that we wouldn’t have to wait until part 4 to learn about Rani. I think all of the parts would feel more connected if we had seen more of her character previously but I didn’t remember anything about her besides that she reads romance books.
Pt 4 I still don’t know anything about Rani so I feel like it needs to start by establishing her character, not immediately setting up her romance. By the end of her part I still felt like I knew her less than the other sisters. But the beginning just focuses on these two guys she goes on dates with in the same day. Okay sometimes in contemporary romance books I get annoyed that we have to wait the whole book for the characters to kiss and be together so this book has been nice that we don’t have to wait that long since we get a romance in each part. But I do think it’s a little too much at this point with Rani dating two guys in the same day, like can we focus a little less on romance now? I expected it to stop but literally every page is her going on dates. For many many many chapters. The author doesn’t write any other scenes besides her dates for like 10 chapters. I really don’t know why her part is so different and not as good as the others. There were also way too many breaks for like the play written parts, they were on almost every single page. That’s way too much. We barely get to know any of Rani’s thoughts or anything about her as a person. Like what does she do besides dating them? What did she do before? What are her goals? I finally started liking her part when Raj talked to her and explained why he hadn’t texted her. It’s nice they went to a bookstore after that and she suggested he read a romance as research. I liked how they just spent hours together. It seems very easy and genuine with them, whereas with the other guys it feels like she’s having to put on a show to impress them. She even thought being with him all day felt fun, easy, and relaxing. And then he tells her he wanted to kiss her last year?! He should have just told her all of this sooner. I love that she gave him another chance. I also liked that after that it focuses more on something else besides dating. The ending of it was really nice and sweet. I just wish Rani’s part had been more fleshed out. Her character felt the least fleshed out compared to the other sisters and at the end when she’s thinking about her sisters in her head I realized again that throughout her part we barely got any of her thoughts about her sisters because it was so focused on boys!
Overall, I’m super glad I read this and I’m excited to read the sequel! I really loved all of the cozy relaxing scenes in here and I enjoyed each sisters journey for the most part. My favorite story was Avanis! The ending was super cute and I love the way the author writes descriptive settings. “The air turned crisp as the evening waned and the Singh sisters' laughter twinkled in the twilight. Music glimmered around them like winking pearls and the rustle of pines played dulcet strains of violin. The breeze danced and voices carried over the roar of the sea, the echoes warm and soothing as Dad's lavender gulab jamun.” Ugh I love it 💌
Also I just love the quality of this paper! More publishers should choose this paper it’s so buttery soft
Such a cute, coming of age story. I loved the overall structure of the story where each sister got their individual stories, yet they worked together to form an interconnected novel. That being said, due to this format, some of the stories didn’t feel as fleshed out as I would have liked.
Four cute and cozy little love stories intertwined! This family is full of love and support for one another