Reviews with content warning for Cancer - That Thing about Bollywood

Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

That Thing about Bollywood by Supriya Kelkar

3 reviews

mezzano's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

3.0

That Thing About Bollywood by Supriya Kelkar is a funny, lighthearted, and heartfelt story about a young Indian-American girl who learns how to communicate her feelings when she learns her parents are separating. Using "filmi magic," suddenly our main character's troubles continue when her life becomes a series of Bollywood numbers! This book is so heartfelt and unapologetic in its representation. This story focuses on the expectations that many Indian-American children face at home and the importance of honesty and personal growth. Kelkar wrote this book based on her own experiences as an Indian-American, back when there weren't any books with characters that looked like her. What she did have were Bollywood films, which have a very important role in this delightful middle grade novel. This is a great story for early middle school students. While I felt that many of the characters were repetitive or were slow to grow, I feel like the pacing and character interactions would work well for its intended audience.

Content Warnings

emileereadsbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny inspiring reflective 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

4.75

Thank you to Simon Audio for the gifted audiobook.

If the TV show Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist was Bollywood and middle grade, it would be this book, and that means that this book is pure magic. When Sonali's world shifts and has a Bollywood makeover, she suddenly can't stop singing and dancing her feelings even though she would prefer to keep all her emotions locked up inside. Sonali has to deal with school, friendships, family, and her parents splitting up in this book and it's a great message about sharing your feelings and about community.

This is an example of a book that is probably spectacular in print, but just SHINES on audio. Hearing all the Indian words pronounced correctly and the emotion and inflection included in the musical numbers were stellar.

I tried finding out if this has been optioned for the screen yet and couldn't find anything. But this would be a SPECTACULAR movie. It would introduce kids not only to the wonderful messages in this story, but a great Indian American main character and the culture of Bollywood.

Content Warnings

leahsbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful fast-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 received a copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I’ve only recently been getting into MG books, and at first I was a little worried that this one was going to read a little young, since the MC is only 11. However, once I read a little further into it, I got completely into the story and forgot all my concerns.

Sonali is Indian-American, and lives in a community surrounded by family members and close friends of the family, who are also referred to as aunts and uncles. While her cultural ties are strong, there’s also a strong push to keep things inside the house private, which causes a lot of issues within her immediate family, especially as Sonali’s parents are experiencing marital difficulties. This has led to Sonali pushing her emotions down, and not really knowing how to express them at all. When their arguing intensifies and her parents decide to separate, neither of the kids take it very well. Ronak, her younger brother, becomes even more emotional, crying a lot. Sonali, on the other hand, becomes even more stoic, leading to a whirlwind of emotions inside that she is unable (and unwilling) to let out.

Overnight, Sonali’s world changes and becomes like one of her beloved Bollywood movies. I loved how she sees so much of her life through the lens of Bollywood films, since that is what she knows best, and it gave me insight into the way Indian-Americans in this story express their culture. It also talked a little about the intersection between Indian-Americans and Pakistani-Americans, and how the experiences and trauma from Partition continued to impact their lives even generations later.

As Sonali sees her family and her social relationships change, she wants to get to the bottom of the Bollywooditis (as she calls it), to make it stop happening and get her life back to normal. But to do so, she’s going to have to make the difficult choice of learning how to manage her emotions in a different way than she’s been trying to do her entire life.

I loved seeing her journey to getting in touch with her emotions and expressing them. Along the way, she sees her family and friends in a new light, and it was such an interesting story. This was a fun, fast-paced, adorable, and sweet story that I truly enjoyed reading. It’ll be released soon, so definitely check it out!

Content Warnings

More...