Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I'd heard a lot of not-great things about the first two books in the "Is Shakespeare was an Auntie" series, so I really wasn't looking to read this one, but I'm glad I picked this up! The parallels to Twelfth Night were there, woven in subtly, which I absolutely appreciated; I've read a lot of retellings in my time, and sometimes the author's need to match story beats overwhelms the originality of a story, and I liked that Sharma chose to focus on tangible concerns of tense family dynamics and misogyny through Veera's relationship with her father and her resulting trauma. The romance was well-balanced as well, and Veera and Deepak consistently had great chemistry! There's one instance in one of the sex scenes that felt a bit out of place, so I'm still thinking about how that came a little out of nowhere, but since the sex scenes are relatively minimal and the protagonists' chemistry is palpable in other ways throughout, I wasn't too bothered by it. I thoroughly enjoyed the third act (and hurrah for the lack of a contrived breakup! I will never not celebrate this!) and the jeevansathi scene had me cackling because it was very dramatic for no reason (but delightful all the same). Overall, a fan!
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
lighthearted
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
While I still enjoyed the book, I think this one was my least favorite in the series. I just had a really hard time buying into the premise of the book, which is most likely due to my ignorance of the cultural significance of some things, but all the characters kind of kept switching between whether they were fake or really married as well. Also, with some of the spicy scenes, there was some kink stuff involved, which is fine, but I would have liked there to have been some discussion of consent and boundaries between the characters before that happened .
