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mamacalidad's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Suicide, and Rape
chloewakham's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
After meeting Ashna in Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors, I was so excited to read her story. Her responsibility for her Father's restaurant, her relationship with her mother, and the rekindling of her love for Rico made for a compelling story. What I love about this series is that Sonali Dev doesn't try to match the Austen novels beat for beat, but rather patterns the characters hurts and motivations after the classic stories.
Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Suicide
Moderate: Classism and Rape
Minor: Pregnancy
instalovewithbooks's review
- 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
4.75
I really loved learning more about Shobi, Ashna's and Rico's backgrounds, I think the only thing I would recommend for Dev to change is putting names on the chapters & it being "before" or "now" kind of thing cause sometimes it was a bit of whiplash.
I knew in book 1 Bram was an awful person, but book 2 solidified it.
I can't wait to see what book 3 brings me!
Moderate: Suicide and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Sexism, Rape, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Pregnancy
harperhoney's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Suicide, Death of parent, and Abandonment
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Addiction, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, and Alcoholism
Minor: Child abuse and Domestic abuse
frantically's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
We start with the typical rom-com elements, second-chance romance, meet-cutes, all the good stuff. When we get introduced to Shobi, I immediately think "Damn, I wish this book was about her." I spoke too early because in some way it did — and thus the rom-com was over.
This is such a heavy (and such a slowww) book. The different plots (Ashna & Rico and Ashna & Shobi and Shobi's past) didn't feel like they fit into the same book, which made the whole thing feel all over the place.
Espically Ashna and Rico's story just didn't make me feel anything (which is bad in a supposed romance book). Most of the time I even thought there was a better love interest for Rico. We didn't have nearly enough development for their relationship.
I loved the first book in the series but after this one, I don't think I'll be continuing — too many surprises for me. I'll leave this at 2.5⭐
Graphic: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Moderate: Infidelity, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Abortion
katemch's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Suicide, Rape, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Death
Moderate: Abortion and Pregnancy
pawntksqueen's review
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Suicide
Moderate: Pregnancy
alycelarsson's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Suicide, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Sexual content and Pregnancy
the_wistful_word_witch's review
- 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
5.0
You don't see a ton of Ashna in the first book, so I was glad to get this deeper look at her life as a Raje cousin determined to save her father's failing restaurant while avoiding her estranged mother. So determined in fact that she makes the wild decision to participate in a reality TV show about cooking.
Which is where her old flame, Rico, comes into play. He's still not over Ashna, and it's clear she's still not over him. But life red-carded them. And they were both so young and so scared to share their secrets that they let those fears rip them apart and send them down completely unexpected paths. But now, he's stepping off the pitch and back into Ashna's life.
I also loved getting peeks into Ashna's and her mother Shoban's pasts, despite how tragic it all was. There are more secrets there, which just reinforces the message about open, honest, clear communication from the first book. Their estrangement really tugged on my heart strings as I am going though something similar, although for vastly different reasons. It helped me connect with Ashna even more.
Of course, my heart melted at the happily-ever-after ending, my tears of sorrow turning to tears of joy. This series just keeps getting better and better...
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Addiction, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Rape, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting
shaipanda's review
- 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
4.75
Literally read it in just over 24 hours lol so so so good but definitely be aware of content warnings because this book may be a romance but it’s really dark and has a lot of heavy topics
Edit: switched it from 5 to 4.75 though bc I just remember like nothing about it lol and I can’t keep something rated 5 stars if i don’t remember anything about it
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Gun violence, Abandonment, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Suicide, Body horror, Rape, and Sexism
Moderate: Classism and Islamophobia
Minor: Abortion