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ellenb3's review
emotional
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Bullying, Racial slurs, Grief, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Hate crime, and Racism
Minor: Rape, Vomit, Miscarriage, and Infertility
danaaliyalevinson's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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
This book truly floored me. It was a meditation on grief but one of the things I loved about it is that it was about a grief familiar to all of us but rarely explored, the grief of might’ve beens. There is Akash, an alcoholic closeted gay man, still deeply affected by the trauma he experienced as a child in the form of homophobic bullying at school, his first love as a teenager, and the fact that he had no space to process that trauma because his family didn’t allow that space for him. Then there is his mother Renu, mourning the loss of her husband and Akash’s father, but even more so, losing herself in the reverie of what might have been if she had fought to stay with her first love, Kareem when she was a young adult and her parents arranged a marriage for her. Both characters lose themselves in regret, and it causes such tension with each other in the present. The denouement of the book and the way these parallel storylines came together was devastatingly beautiful and really got to the essence of the human condition. All of the characters are beautifully drawn. The prose is beautiful. And every single beat of the story felt so incredibly earned. I read this in one sitting. Absolutely loved it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Bullying, Classism, Alcoholism, Racism, Death of parent, Alcohol, Addiction, Homophobia, and Religious bigotry
thecharnelraven's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Homophobia, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Transphobia
taleswithtrix's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a page turner! We get two different perspectives, Akash, a closeted gay Asian American and his widowed mom, Renu who is coping with struggles of her own family/love life, past. The flipping perspective in fairly short chapters kept me super intrigued with cliff hangers left and right; I didn’t want to stop reading.
We don’t see many stories or novels written about Asian Americans in the LGBTQIA community so I really loved that Neel Patel shined a light here. We get all of the Indian-esc perspective living in a predominantly white community in Illinois, plus the LGBT+ perspective within a non-white community.
It had me feeling all sorts of ways because of the homophobia and racism that is throughout but also from the other side. As a white American married to an Indian man, I really enjoyed Jessica (Akash’s white Sister In Law) and Renu’s relationship; the struggle to not feel judged or misunderstood when two culture and races have different expectations, etc. was very relatable for me. Many things Renu felt about white women rubbed me the wrong way. And I also hated how the book club treated Renu. I think had they lived in a more diverse American community things would’ve been different; I’d be interested to see how he would write it differently set somewhere like Boston or DC.
Akash and Renu’s struggles, feelings, experiences were very raw. While I hated Bijal (Akash’s brother) most of the book, I loved how the family grew and came into their own personally as individuals and as a family.
I also loved all the 90s music references and vibes!
This one is definitely worth a read!
We don’t see many stories or novels written about Asian Americans in the LGBTQIA community so I really loved that Neel Patel shined a light here. We get all of the Indian-esc perspective living in a predominantly white community in Illinois, plus the LGBT+ perspective within a non-white community.
It had me feeling all sorts of ways because of the homophobia and racism that is throughout but also from the other side. As a white American married to an Indian man, I really enjoyed Jessica (Akash’s white Sister In Law) and Renu’s relationship; the struggle to not feel judged or misunderstood when two culture and races have different expectations, etc. was very relatable for me. Many things Renu felt about white women rubbed me the wrong way. And I also hated how the book club treated Renu. I think had they lived in a more diverse American community things would’ve been different; I’d be interested to see how he would write it differently set somewhere like Boston or DC.
Akash and Renu’s struggles, feelings, experiences were very raw. While I hated Bijal (Akash’s brother) most of the book, I loved how the family grew and came into their own personally as individuals and as a family.
I also loved all the 90s music references and vibes!
This one is definitely worth a read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Alcoholism, and Homophobia
Moderate: Miscarriage
Minor: Racism
nehaperi's review
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
really did not expect my first read of 2022 to be so heavy, wow.
i really, really loved this. i loved the messiness and the complexity of it. i feel like, for people who haven't lived something similar, it could be frustrating to read about, but to me, it felt normal. it felt like the lived reality of so many first-gen indian kids, dealing with these complicated relationships with family, culture, and the tension between who they want to be and what expectations have been laid out for them.
i liked renu's sections a lot. they gave me a newfound appreciation for my parents' perspectives - there were so many times i didn't agree with what she was saying or wanted to argue, but there was also a humanity to everything, a quiet devastation, that made it much more difficult to see her as an antagonist.
our parents aren't easy. our culture isn't easy, either. there are terrible parts and difficult parts, as there are in any other culture, and what i loved most about this book is how honest it was about those things. not shying away from reality, despite how poorly it could reflect on the characters. i liked these characters getting the opportunity to be flawed and hurt each other and it not all be neatly wrapped up by the end. it felt authentic, and it felt real, and i really appreciated that.
i really, really loved this. i loved the messiness and the complexity of it. i feel like, for people who haven't lived something similar, it could be frustrating to read about, but to me, it felt normal. it felt like the lived reality of so many first-gen indian kids, dealing with these complicated relationships with family, culture, and the tension between who they want to be and what expectations have been laid out for them.
i liked renu's sections a lot. they gave me a newfound appreciation for my parents' perspectives - there were so many times i didn't agree with what she was saying or wanted to argue, but there was also a humanity to everything, a quiet devastation, that made it much more difficult to see her as an antagonist.
our parents aren't easy. our culture isn't easy, either. there are terrible parts and difficult parts, as there are in any other culture, and what i loved most about this book is how honest it was about those things. not shying away from reality, despite how poorly it could reflect on the characters. i liked these characters getting the opportunity to be flawed and hurt each other and it not all be neatly wrapped up by the end. it felt authentic, and it felt real, and i really appreciated that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Racial slurs
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