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mamacalidad's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- 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
I bawled like a baby. So good.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Pregnancy, Suicide, and Rape
milesandmiles's review
Do not judge this book by its cover or synopsis. It's not a cute romance.
A good chunk of the book is written from the MC's mother's POV. There's a tremendous amount of toxic family dynamics that are a huge part of the book but are not mentioned in the summary. From the ~1/3 I read, the emotional neglect and at times abuse within the MC's family is handled poorly.
This book couldn't decide if it wanted to be a romance or a family saga about intergenerational trauma and I quit when I got tried of yelling at the book to get the MC a therapist.
A good chunk of the book is written from the MC's mother's POV. There's a tremendous amount of toxic family dynamics that are a huge part of the book but are not mentioned in the summary. From the ~1/3 I read, the emotional neglect and at times abuse within the MC's family is handled poorly.
This book couldn't decide if it wanted to be a romance or a family saga about intergenerational trauma and I quit when I got tried of yelling at the book to get the MC a therapist.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse
Moderate: Suicide, Death of parent, Misogyny, Bullying, Abandonment, and Alcoholism
rdubs15's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
I wanted to love this book. I wanted to love it so hard. If it was the book that was described in the summary on the back of the book, I think I would have loved it.
But this book is not that book. It is not a “fresh, fun, and enchanting romantic comedy” as described. It is full of dark, triggering content. The real focus of the story (Shobi, her choices, how they impacted Ashna, and their mother-daughter relationship) isn’t mentioned at all in the summary. This book was the worst kind of bait and switch. I wouldn’t have picked it up if the summary was reliable because I was looking for a light hearted romance, not a heavy book with personally triggering content.
Even more upsetting is that I think both stories this book tries to tell had a real chance to be great.
Ashna’s exes to lovers story with Rico had the chance to be really sweet. The framework is there and the times that the book focuses on them is actually really fun - they have a cute dynamic! But their story, allegedly the focus of the novel, is pushed to the background and never given the room it needs to grow well. It is overshadowed by Shobi’s plot and, as a result, is under developed, suffers from really funky timing, and has an ending that doesn’t feel deserved.
Shobi’s forced marriage story has the potential to be a nuanced, heartbreaking, and fascinating story, but it has no business being in this novel. She is set up to be such an unsympathetic character at the beginning that the bulk of the novel is spent justifying her choices and attempting to redeem her, to the detriment of both her story and the alleged a-plot. And because we have to go back to the alleged a-plot romance, Shobi’s story suffers from horrible tone shifts (discussing the horrors of her marriage and then switching to Ashna and Rico having a conversation is whip lash inducing and negatively impacts both stories) and has to rely on stereotype to fast track story telling. Her story should have been its own book, then it could’ve been given the care and space it needed to be a fully developed story told the way it should be told. As it is, the plot has all the subtlety of a baseball bat and feels uncomfortable and out of place in what is billed as a fun and lighthearted rom com.
Separating out the two stories would result in a fun, sweet romance and a thoughtful, devastating look at the some of horrors that women face. Putting them in the same novel cheapens both stories, resulting in a muddled narrative that suffers from focus and pacing issues. The ending in particular is rushed and feels unearned, with more importance given to a happily ever after and tying everything up in a bow than actually addressing the consequences of the narrative.
I haven’t read Persuasion, so I can’t speak to how much inspiration it actually pulls from the book, but I spent a lot of the book going “this can’t be what Persuasion is about.”
The only reasons this book didn’t get zero stars from me is the strength of the writing - Sonali Dev writes beautifully - and the strength of the narration. Soneela Nankani did a fantastic job narrating this book. Her pacing was great, character voices easy to follow, and interpretation of the text engaging. I will definitely be looking for more books narrated by her.
Final thoughts: With an honest summary, this book would be much better. As it is, this book presents a deep tragedy and an exploration of generational trauma and violence towards women instead of the funky, fun, lighthearted romance that is promised but never delivered.
But this book is not that book. It is not a “fresh, fun, and enchanting romantic comedy” as described. It is full of dark, triggering content. The real focus of the story (Shobi, her choices, how they impacted Ashna, and their mother-daughter relationship) isn’t mentioned at all in the summary. This book was the worst kind of bait and switch. I wouldn’t have picked it up if the summary was reliable because I was looking for a light hearted romance, not a heavy book with personally triggering content.
Even more upsetting is that I think both stories this book tries to tell had a real chance to be great.
Ashna’s exes to lovers story with Rico had the chance to be really sweet. The framework is there and the times that the book focuses on them is actually really fun - they have a cute dynamic! But their story, allegedly the focus of the novel, is pushed to the background and never given the room it needs to grow well. It is overshadowed by Shobi’s plot and, as a result, is under developed, suffers from really funky timing, and has an ending that doesn’t feel deserved.
Shobi’s forced marriage story has the potential to be a nuanced, heartbreaking, and fascinating story, but it has no business being in this novel. She is set up to be such an unsympathetic character at the beginning that the bulk of the novel is spent justifying her choices and attempting to redeem her, to the detriment of both her story and the alleged a-plot. And because we have to go back to the alleged a-plot romance, Shobi’s story suffers from horrible tone shifts (discussing the horrors of her marriage and then switching to Ashna and Rico having a conversation is whip lash inducing and negatively impacts both stories) and has to rely on stereotype to fast track story telling. Her story should have been its own book, then it could’ve been given the care and space it needed to be a fully developed story told the way it should be told. As it is, the plot has all the subtlety of a baseball bat and feels uncomfortable and out of place in what is billed as a fun and lighthearted rom com.
Separating out the two stories would result in a fun, sweet romance and a thoughtful, devastating look at the some of horrors that women face. Putting them in the same novel cheapens both stories, resulting in a muddled narrative that suffers from focus and pacing issues. The ending in particular is rushed and feels unearned, with more importance given to a happily ever after and tying everything up in a bow than actually addressing the consequences of the narrative.
I haven’t read Persuasion, so I can’t speak to how much inspiration it actually pulls from the book, but I spent a lot of the book going “this can’t be what Persuasion is about.”
The only reasons this book didn’t get zero stars from me is the strength of the writing - Sonali Dev writes beautifully - and the strength of the narration. Soneela Nankani did a fantastic job narrating this book. Her pacing was great, character voices easy to follow, and interpretation of the text engaging. I will definitely be looking for more books narrated by her.
Final thoughts: With an honest summary, this book would be much better. As it is, this book presents a deep tragedy and an exploration of generational trauma and violence towards women instead of the funky, fun, lighthearted romance that is promised but never delivered.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Rape, and Suicide
Moderate: Misogyny and Emotional abuse
Minor: Abortion
seaschells's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Suicide, and Rape
kaleys23's review
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Blood, Physical abuse, Rape, and Emotional abuse
harperhoney's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
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
taibreakfast's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
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
4.0
I liked this even better than the first in the series! This one deepened the story of Persuasion by adding a multigenerational element and adding the [familial] love story between the protagonist and her mom. And that actually is just as important as or even more important than the primary romance story, although that is still good! I also appreciate that the Louisa subplot didn't carry out entirely faithfully to the original because that is truly so rough every time!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide
Moderate: Death of parent, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Blood
Minor: Confinement, Abortion, Infidelity, and Vomit
megmu18's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment and Suicide
ajahde's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This book was branded as a romantic comedy, but it really is not because it deals with a lot of dark and difficult topics. I was hoping for a much more lighthearted read, which is why I think I didn’t enjoy this very much. I also really wanted more scenes set on the cooking show because I thought that sounded like a fun setting, but it was not featured that often.
I also just could not get into the romance between Ashna and Rico. For most of the book, it felt like they were unnecessarily rude to each other and only started being nice at the very end. I wish there was more development to their relationship because it was kinda hard to see why they even liked each other.
I also just could not get into the romance between Ashna and Rico. For most of the book, it felt like they were unnecessarily rude to each other and only started being nice at the very end. I wish there was more development to their relationship because it was kinda hard to see why they even liked each other.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment and Death of parent
Moderate: Suicide, Sexual assault, Rape, Alcoholism, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders
chelsearosales's review against another edition
emotional
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment