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sarah984's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Really enjoyed this. The main character was great, and the flashbacks were really well integrated into the story, illustrating why things were happening in certain ways without feeling like the character is hiding things from the reader. I loved the themes about who gets to tell and interpret your story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Gaslighting, Grief, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, and Racism
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Trafficking, Ableism, Confinement, Mental illness, and Rape
leitmotiffs's review
3.0
I loved the story told in this book. It's complicated and messy, and so are the characters. They have good intentions, they use each other, they help each other, they fight, they hang out and have fun and judge each other. It's exactly how real people would interact with each other in the real world. If you love books with messy people, this is definitely for you. They also grow up throughout the novel, and I felt that I got to hear about many different points of view that were portrayed in an equally respectful and understanding manner.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Suicide and Rape
nicoledean's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.0
Thank you @randomhouse @netgalley for my review copy!
đź“–Rakhi is a young woman, living in a Mumbai slum and working as an office assistant for a human rights organization. As a child, she lived on the streets until an incident separated her and her best friend. When her past and present collide, Rakhi must decide what her future will look like.
đź’This was a very interesting read set in India. It touched on topics such as classism and social injustice. I definitely felt transported when reading which was one of the things I liked best about this book. I was rooting for Rakhi and I couldn’t help but be invested in her story.
đź“šRead this if you enjoy books with political/social injustice themes, if you want to be transported to another place, or if you enjoy books with characters you want to root for.
đź“–Rakhi is a young woman, living in a Mumbai slum and working as an office assistant for a human rights organization. As a child, she lived on the streets until an incident separated her and her best friend. When her past and present collide, Rakhi must decide what her future will look like.
đź’This was a very interesting read set in India. It touched on topics such as classism and social injustice. I definitely felt transported when reading which was one of the things I liked best about this book. I was rooting for Rakhi and I couldn’t help but be invested in her story.
đź“šRead this if you enjoy books with political/social injustice themes, if you want to be transported to another place, or if you enjoy books with characters you want to root for.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape
savvyrosereads's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
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
4.0
Out today (May 10, 2022)! [Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!]
Rating: 4/5 stars
Such Big Dreams is the story of a young Indian woman who has found her way off the streets after a difficult childhood—but risks her life being derailed once again when she makes an unusual arrangement with a Canadian graduate student interning at the human rights law office where she works.
This book is a bit outside my usual kind of read, but I’m glad I took a step outside my comfort zone for it! This is a story that is part coming-of-age novel and Patel handled those aspects perfectly, crafting an absolutely wonderful and lovable main character. Although I found the first several chapters long and a bit slow, the story and characters dragged me in, and the last few chapters had me on the edge of my seat (I was up until 2am reading because I just had to know what happened!)
One of the primary themes of Such Big Dreams is autonomy—over oneself and one’s life, even when faced with outside forces who claim to know better and to “only want to help”—and how that can sometimes be in tension with the paternalism of charity organizations or the “experts” who try to “fix” developing countries. As a former political science/global politics student, it was fascinating to see these themes explored in fiction, and I’d definitely love to see more reads like this in the future—and will be checking out whatever Patel does next!
Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: stories set in non-Western countries/cultures; mixed character-and-plot driven narratives; feminism through a non-white/non-Western lens.
CW: Death of a parent; child abuse/exploitation; sexual assault/rape; fire/fire injury; government corruption/abuse.
Rating: 4/5 stars
Such Big Dreams is the story of a young Indian woman who has found her way off the streets after a difficult childhood—but risks her life being derailed once again when she makes an unusual arrangement with a Canadian graduate student interning at the human rights law office where she works.
This book is a bit outside my usual kind of read, but I’m glad I took a step outside my comfort zone for it! This is a story that is part coming-of-age novel and Patel handled those aspects perfectly, crafting an absolutely wonderful and lovable main character. Although I found the first several chapters long and a bit slow, the story and characters dragged me in, and the last few chapters had me on the edge of my seat (I was up until 2am reading because I just had to know what happened!)
One of the primary themes of Such Big Dreams is autonomy—over oneself and one’s life, even when faced with outside forces who claim to know better and to “only want to help”—and how that can sometimes be in tension with the paternalism of charity organizations or the “experts” who try to “fix” developing countries. As a former political science/global politics student, it was fascinating to see these themes explored in fiction, and I’d definitely love to see more reads like this in the future—and will be checking out whatever Patel does next!
Recommended to anyone, but especially if you like: stories set in non-Western countries/cultures; mixed character-and-plot driven narratives; feminism through a non-white/non-Western lens.
CW: Death of a parent; child abuse/exploitation; sexual assault/rape; fire/fire injury; government corruption/abuse.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Death, and Abandonment
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, and Classism
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