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rosariofacio's review
4.0
Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for approving me for the arc. I just finished and am completely in love with this book. I felt anger,sadness, and love reading this book. The writing just pulled me in. I definitely would recommend this to a friend.
tulscip's review
5.0
Honestly I don't usually rate books set in high school 5 stars that often but I really related to this one. There was a refreshing lack of Indian stereotypes about chai and masala and instead discussed issues/emotions that are more relatable to the daughter of immigrants experience. It was mind boggling to me how I've felt all the emotions of this main character and I've never read a book that I related to in this manner.
So I was able to discount the whole high schoolers in love cringe factor because...well it's YA so conceit of genre.
So I was able to discount the whole high schoolers in love cringe factor because...well it's YA so conceit of genre.
jgilge's review
3.0
This book was great. I had a hard time getting into it because it felt so rushed, there were times I thought I had somehow skipped a bunch of pages. But, I loved the way the author portrayed everything. Heartbreaking and real.
a_perennial_reader's review
3.0
I have mixed feelings about this book.
I absolutely loved the way the complexity of relationships in an Indian family is portrayed in this book. It was real, relatable and also, so comforting! Rani loves and respects her parents and does not want to hurt them. But she also likes Oliver and wants to explore having a relationship with him. Its like her two worlds have collided once she starts dating Oliver and that was all too relatable and beautifully portrayed.
I loved Rani's relationship with her grandparents. Her Aaji and Aajoba are such sweethearts, and they encourage Rani to chase her dreams and do better.
Kate and Shalini are simply amazing! We need ladies like these two in our girl gang!
The story makes a very important point. If there is any topic or situation that makes them uncomfortable, Indian parents and elders always sweep it under the rug and treat is as a taboo. This was hard hitting. But I am so happy that this was highlighted in the story. It is necessary to discussing topics even if they make us uncomfortable. Ignoring the problem never helps.
There were things that I did not like in this book. The pacing falls off in the middle of the book. There is a lot of Telling rather than Showing and I am not a fan of this narrative.
There is a part in the book where Rani visits India. She is writing a letter to Kate and one of the reasons she is writing a hand written note and not communicating via Internet is because she says that the WiFi is so bad, she cannot even send one email. Now this could be true if we were in rural parts of India. But Rani is in Pune and Pune is a big metropolitan city. Rani not finding good WiFi in Pune is so ridiculous!!
In her letter to Kate, Rani also mentions that she spotted an elephant roaming around the streets in Pune. Again, this part was so ridiculous! You will see cows and stray dogs and cats in the streets in India all the time. But elephant?! Really?!
Western countries have always had this incorrect notion about Indian; that it's underdeveloped and lacking. The above two points just strength those notions.
While on one hand, the story is trying to shed light over microaggressions and racism faced by brown people in US, on other hand, it is strengthening the prejudices against India via the above two points.
These are minor things in terms of the plot and the overall story, but they still affected me.
I would still like to recommend this book to people, because this book sheds light on important issues like racial discrimination and finding one's identity.
I absolutely loved the way the complexity of relationships in an Indian family is portrayed in this book. It was real, relatable and also, so comforting! Rani loves and respects her parents and does not want to hurt them. But she also likes Oliver and wants to explore having a relationship with him. Its like her two worlds have collided once she starts dating Oliver and that was all too relatable and beautifully portrayed.
I loved Rani's relationship with her grandparents. Her Aaji and Aajoba are such sweethearts, and they encourage Rani to chase her dreams and do better.
Kate and Shalini are simply amazing! We need ladies like these two in our girl gang!
The story makes a very important point. If there is any topic or situation that makes them uncomfortable, Indian parents and elders always sweep it under the rug and treat is as a taboo. This was hard hitting. But I am so happy that this was highlighted in the story. It is necessary to discussing topics even if they make us uncomfortable. Ignoring the problem never helps.
There were things that I did not like in this book. The pacing falls off in the middle of the book. There is a lot of Telling rather than Showing and I am not a fan of this narrative.
There is a part in the book where Rani visits India. She is writing a letter to Kate and one of the reasons she is writing a hand written note and not communicating via Internet is because she says that the WiFi is so bad, she cannot even send one email. Now this could be true if we were in rural parts of India. But Rani is in Pune and Pune is a big metropolitan city. Rani not finding good WiFi in Pune is so ridiculous!!
In her letter to Kate, Rani also mentions that she spotted an elephant roaming around the streets in Pune. Again, this part was so ridiculous! You will see cows and stray dogs and cats in the streets in India all the time. But elephant?! Really?!
Western countries have always had this incorrect notion about Indian; that it's underdeveloped and lacking. The above two points just strength those notions.
While on one hand, the story is trying to shed light over microaggressions and racism faced by brown people in US, on other hand, it is strengthening the prejudices against India via the above two points.
These are minor things in terms of the plot and the overall story, but they still affected me.
I would still like to recommend this book to people, because this book sheds light on important issues like racial discrimination and finding one's identity.
katizwitchy's review
5.0
SO SO SO GOOD! Made me realize that I am at the point in my life where I feel a parental protection towards high schoolers (or perhaps it's projecting, who's to say), especially when it comes to relationships. This book deals with love, death, and self-acceptance so beautifully, and the ending is SO SATISFYING! Not to mention Rani's relationship with her Indian culture. I learned a lot and sweat on Rani's behalf a lot!
shanipatel's review
5.0
thank u bella for getting me this for Xmas !! when i started this i thought it was going to be a bit of a self pitying diaspora piece but it ended up making my teenage self feel so seen. i loved that rani’s character was the opposite of self pitying ~ 9/10
cossettereads's review
3.0
content/trigger warnings: alcoholism, child abandonment/absent father, drugs, suicide attempt, suicide, death of a friend, pregnancy, racism, misogyny, addiction, abusive parents, death of a grandparent, grief, guilt, gaslighting, manipulation, infidelity, fetishization
i finished this a few hours ago and honestly i'm ... disappointed? i wish i had enjoyed it more. i don't know if i would've enjoyed it more had i known about some of the triggering content prior to reading it, or if my lack of enjoyment was due to things i personally did not ... vibe with ... (such as the strong anti-marijuana perspective) to say the least.
i loved the family dynamics, i loved the supporting characters — unfortunately, i think i was more interested in rani's family & her best friend than i was in ... her. i appreciated how microaggressions were covered, and i really loved how sex-positive this book was. something i also really loved was how rani comes to stand up for herself, how she comes into her own, and how she realizes that someone's past doesn't justify their shitty actions.
overall, i thought this was a fast read and would recommend it along with the list of trigger warnings mentioned above. american betiya was quite difficult to read at times, due to all the red flags between rani and oliver, but a poignant & important read nonetheless.
i finished this a few hours ago and honestly i'm ... disappointed? i wish i had enjoyed it more. i don't know if i would've enjoyed it more had i known about some of the triggering content prior to reading it, or if my lack of enjoyment was due to things i personally did not ... vibe with ... (such as the strong anti-marijuana perspective) to say the least.
i loved the family dynamics, i loved the supporting characters — unfortunately, i think i was more interested in rani's family & her best friend than i was in ... her. i appreciated how microaggressions were covered, and i really loved how sex-positive this book was. something i also really loved was how rani comes to stand up for herself, how she comes into her own, and how she realizes that someone's past doesn't justify their shitty actions.
overall, i thought this was a fast read and would recommend it along with the list of trigger warnings mentioned above. american betiya was quite difficult to read at times, due to all the red flags between rani and oliver, but a poignant & important read nonetheless.
caylieratzlaff's review
5.0
Holy crap, y’all.
“Love doesn’t belittle. It’s not supposed to make you feel broken, empty, addicted, and self-conscious. Or question your sense of self. We can’t romanticize that kind of love that essentially just hurts…”
MY HEART.
This ripped me open. It’s a beautiful look at South/East Asian culture and white male privilege tied with first loves and not healthy relationships ships. Rani finds herself and this book is a breathtaking tale of friendship and family and culture and UGH. SO GOOD.
“Love doesn’t belittle. It’s not supposed to make you feel broken, empty, addicted, and self-conscious. Or question your sense of self. We can’t romanticize that kind of love that essentially just hurts…”
MY HEART.
This ripped me open. It’s a beautiful look at South/East Asian culture and white male privilege tied with first loves and not healthy relationships ships. Rani finds herself and this book is a breathtaking tale of friendship and family and culture and UGH. SO GOOD.
notinjersey's review against another edition
4.0
American Betiya shows us the struggle between family tradition and the teenage desire for love. Rani is Indian American whose family does not allow dating. Oliver, a teen with a difficult home life, does not understand her inability to bring him home to her parents. Oliver has a lot of struggles himself, but the way he fetishizes and manipulates Rani is very cringe worthy. He uses her as an inspiration in his art and although Rani feels uncomfortable by this, as well as the things he says, she doesn’t have the experience to know that what he is doing isn’t right. I listened to this book and it kept my attention throughout. It was a worthwhile listen.
jugglingpup's review
5.0
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
I got an ARC of this book.
I don’t even know where to start with this book. It was at times very difficult and heartbreaking, but at others it was lighthearted and loving. Rajurkar was able to navigate incredibly touch and complex topics of identity and abuse. It was impressive.
Rani loves her family, though sometimes she can still be embarrassed by them as any teen is well aware of. I loved how the book started and ended with a very similar scene (I promise this is the closest I will get to a spoiler). The very first scene introduced the idea that Rani was loved and surrounded by a large and extended family. It also went into how her family had auntie-uncles and some of the differences that her family had from the stereotypical white families. I was hooked. They were loud, they were real.
Rani knows she will be a pediatrician. Her family supports this and she even visits with a family member who is a doctor so she can see how things are. No one expects her to date and they think boys are just a distraction from her having a good life. I loved how consistent her family was, how their ideas made sense. All of the ideas did not come out of nowhere. It was just incredible how real and fleshed out every character was. None of the words said or actions taken were without a solid foundation. I never felt like I was surprised by what happened in a bad way.
The romance started so quick, I thought it was going to be a stereotypical YA romance. I can get behind some fluffy romance. But this was anything but fluffy. It was immediately more intense. The way Rani doubted herself and what she remembered, the way that Oliver acted. It was such a great look at how emotional abuse can happen in a relationship. I had never seen racism and fetishization in a relationship covered in a YA book before. I AM HERE FOR IT. Please give me these complex looks at relationships. This is probably the best book I have read about abuse, partially because it is not only about abuse.
Rani’s family is not abusive. They are loving and do whatever they can to support her. They are strong willed, especially her mother. I loved the juxtaposition of the abusive partner to her family. So many people think that artists are going to be the most liberal and not have any issues and that traditional families are constricting and abusive. Rani shows that this is far from the case. I loved how it showed that even “woke” people can be racist and have issues. It is especially gross when they don’t address these issues and then say they are an expert on these areas. I really can’t say enough about the characters of this book.
I highly recommend this book. It is exactly the sort of book I wanted and needed to see.
I got an ARC of this book.
I don’t even know where to start with this book. It was at times very difficult and heartbreaking, but at others it was lighthearted and loving. Rajurkar was able to navigate incredibly touch and complex topics of identity and abuse. It was impressive.
Rani loves her family, though sometimes she can still be embarrassed by them as any teen is well aware of. I loved how the book started and ended with a very similar scene (I promise this is the closest I will get to a spoiler). The very first scene introduced the idea that Rani was loved and surrounded by a large and extended family. It also went into how her family had auntie-uncles and some of the differences that her family had from the stereotypical white families. I was hooked. They were loud, they were real.
Rani knows she will be a pediatrician. Her family supports this and she even visits with a family member who is a doctor so she can see how things are. No one expects her to date and they think boys are just a distraction from her having a good life. I loved how consistent her family was, how their ideas made sense. All of the ideas did not come out of nowhere. It was just incredible how real and fleshed out every character was. None of the words said or actions taken were without a solid foundation. I never felt like I was surprised by what happened in a bad way.
The romance started so quick, I thought it was going to be a stereotypical YA romance. I can get behind some fluffy romance. But this was anything but fluffy. It was immediately more intense. The way Rani doubted herself and what she remembered, the way that Oliver acted. It was such a great look at how emotional abuse can happen in a relationship. I had never seen racism and fetishization in a relationship covered in a YA book before. I AM HERE FOR IT. Please give me these complex looks at relationships. This is probably the best book I have read about abuse, partially because it is not only about abuse.
Rani’s family is not abusive. They are loving and do whatever they can to support her. They are strong willed, especially her mother. I loved the juxtaposition of the abusive partner to her family. So many people think that artists are going to be the most liberal and not have any issues and that traditional families are constricting and abusive. Rani shows that this is far from the case. I loved how it showed that even “woke” people can be racist and have issues. It is especially gross when they don’t address these issues and then say they are an expert on these areas. I really can’t say enough about the characters of this book.
I highly recommend this book. It is exactly the sort of book I wanted and needed to see.