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3.26 AVERAGE
3.26 AVERAGE
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I received an advance copy of this book through NetGalley, and would like to thank the author and publisher for the opportunity to read and review this.
In the beginning, Tina, her best friend, her divorced parents, and her mom’s boyfriend fly to India to attend a family wedding. The bride and groom have decided not to follow the traditional Indian wedding format, leaving the guests lots of time to pursue outside activities.
I enjoyed this book, but it took me a lot longer than usual to read. The plot felt a little disjointed to me, with characters (a BIG cast of characters) coming and going in all directions, sometimes meeting up, sometimes not. The chapter headings didn’t have anything to do with what was in the chapters, and some of the characters seemed simply there to hold space, as we never heard much about them again. There did not seem to be much resolution for some of the characters, and other storylines seemed like their arcs were rushed to a conclusion. I really expected to like this one more than I did, but I never felt like I wouldn’t finish it.
In the beginning, Tina, her best friend, her divorced parents, and her mom’s boyfriend fly to India to attend a family wedding. The bride and groom have decided not to follow the traditional Indian wedding format, leaving the guests lots of time to pursue outside activities.
I enjoyed this book, but it took me a lot longer than usual to read. The plot felt a little disjointed to me, with characters (a BIG cast of characters) coming and going in all directions, sometimes meeting up, sometimes not. The chapter headings didn’t have anything to do with what was in the chapters, and some of the characters seemed simply there to hold space, as we never heard much about them again. There did not seem to be much resolution for some of the characters, and other storylines seemed like their arcs were rushed to a conclusion. I really expected to like this one more than I did, but I never felt like I wouldn’t finish it.
This is OK! I was hoping it would be more of a romp but found the constantly switching POVs to be really distracting to the point of taking away from main character development. By the end, I liked Tina's parents and their storylines the most. The tone was hard to pin down - is it fun? Is it satire? Is it melodrama? I love the concept and general trajectory but think it would have been stronger with fine tuning of the characters and more focus on the main characters' development, rather than trying to express every thought of every passing character who came in and out of the story.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
OWN VOICE REVIEW!🥻
I am so excited to finally post an #ownvoices review, so hello and take a seat!
Tina, a wannabe documentary filmmaker, is stagnated in career and romance. When her cousin Shefali throws a lavish wedding in India, she gets her friend Marianne to leave her boyfriend for a week to attend with her. Relaxation is out the window when her divorced parents each bring along their own plus one. Layer on top the fact that this is all their first time back to India in a decade - the country they are returning to is not the one they knew. What was supposed to be a reprieve becomes a (hilarious) week of soul-searching in new territory, where no one really fits in. The India of today is in a tug of war with itself, and so are Tina and her parents' relationships.
This book may seem like a frothy rom com, but it had a subtle exploration of Indian classism, colorism, casteism, and fatphobia within a light-hearted writing style. The jokes in the books were hilarious and irreverent, depicting ignorant and selfish characters in a Gossip Girl-ish way.
I am not sure if everyone would pick up on this, but as an #ownvoicereviewer of this book, I was obsessed with Basu’s reconstruction of subtle things that are SO INDIAN but hard to describe to outsiders. For example, Rajesh, a butler, constantly gives Tina unwarranted advice, like how to effectively moisturize her elbows. I don’t know how to describe why that is so Indian, but it's a way people show love and care in India, even if it is also low-key insulting.
Basu wrote through the perspective of her characters' inner thoughts, which was hilarious (given that everyone was so catty), but also so much fun to connect with. One unique thing about the book was that none of the characters were in the traditional marriageable age range, but all had the chance to explore love.
Obviously, this is the tip of the iceberg of Indian culture, and I hope most ppl traveling to India are not actually as ignorant as Tina and Marianne, but I was so happy to find this book!
Read if you like: Netflix’s Indian Match-making, rich porn books, a huge cast of hotties
⭐⭐⭐⭐💫/5
Source: library!!!
I am so excited to finally post an #ownvoices review, so hello and take a seat!
Tina, a wannabe documentary filmmaker, is stagnated in career and romance. When her cousin Shefali throws a lavish wedding in India, she gets her friend Marianne to leave her boyfriend for a week to attend with her. Relaxation is out the window when her divorced parents each bring along their own plus one. Layer on top the fact that this is all their first time back to India in a decade - the country they are returning to is not the one they knew. What was supposed to be a reprieve becomes a (hilarious) week of soul-searching in new territory, where no one really fits in. The India of today is in a tug of war with itself, and so are Tina and her parents' relationships.
This book may seem like a frothy rom com, but it had a subtle exploration of Indian classism, colorism, casteism, and fatphobia within a light-hearted writing style. The jokes in the books were hilarious and irreverent, depicting ignorant and selfish characters in a Gossip Girl-ish way.
I am not sure if everyone would pick up on this, but as an #ownvoicereviewer of this book, I was obsessed with Basu’s reconstruction of subtle things that are SO INDIAN but hard to describe to outsiders. For example, Rajesh, a butler, constantly gives Tina unwarranted advice, like how to effectively moisturize her elbows. I don’t know how to describe why that is so Indian, but it's a way people show love and care in India, even if it is also low-key insulting.
Basu wrote through the perspective of her characters' inner thoughts, which was hilarious (given that everyone was so catty), but also so much fun to connect with. One unique thing about the book was that none of the characters were in the traditional marriageable age range, but all had the chance to explore love.
Obviously, this is the tip of the iceberg of Indian culture, and I hope most ppl traveling to India are not actually as ignorant as Tina and Marianne, but I was so happy to find this book!
Read if you like: Netflix’s Indian Match-making, rich porn books, a huge cast of hotties
⭐⭐⭐⭐💫/5
Source: library!!!
Family drama is always fun in books. Add a wedding and the book is quite entertaining. Destination Wedding is a contemporary fiction novel that centers on American born Tina and her divorced parents attending the destination wedding of a cousin in India.
This was my first read by the author. Her writing style is very witty with a subtle sense of humor. Often times she writes the characters making sly comments that takes the reader a moment to catch. Since the wedding occurs in India, the author does give a glimpse into Indian culture, rituals and society.
Those who love family drama, multiple characters, and international travel will thoroughly enjoy this novel.
I was sent an advanced readers copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.
This was my first read by the author. Her writing style is very witty with a subtle sense of humor. Often times she writes the characters making sly comments that takes the reader a moment to catch. Since the wedding occurs in India, the author does give a glimpse into Indian culture, rituals and society.
Those who love family drama, multiple characters, and international travel will thoroughly enjoy this novel.
I was sent an advanced readers copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.
Definitely more of a 3.5 than a 4 but I have to roundup here.
Literary fiction is not my genre at all and I usually run away from such books, but it’s hard to resist when it’s by an Indian author, set in India but also being published internationally. And I thought the author’s previous book The Windfall was a fascinating enough read, so I wanted to read this as well. And this was fascinating too but I’m still processing my thoughts on it.
One thing I can say about the writing style is that it’s very very engaging and hooks us right from the beginning, and I never wanted to put it down. I literally read it cover to cover in just a couple of hours at a time when I thought I was going into a reading slump, and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. But the main theme of the book is about each of the main characters trying to find themselves and their own happiness, so the plot actually meanders without any general direction, except that it takes place at a desi destination wedding at a posh country club. That doesn’t mean it gets boring, because the author keeps us entertained with all the gossip and drama during a desi wedding and it’s all very relatable because our weddings are mayhem. I also don’t get to read a lot of books set in India, so that was a nice change, and I could actually empathize with some of the characters’ reactions to how India has changed.
However, it’s the characters about whom I’m not sure how to feel. The story mainly centers around the Das family, Neel, Radha and their daughter Tina alongwith Tina’s best friend Marianne. I really liked following the stories of both Neel and Radha, divorced but still friends and even partners in some ways. There’s a great understanding between them and I liked that they were able to make peace with each other, and also encourage each other to find future happiness. Radha’s relationship with David is sweet and I admired how self aware she was about what she wanted in life; Neel on the other hand is pretty skeptical about how to start dating again but it was a delight watching him try to navigate the idea of new love with Jyoti. Jyoti was another character who I thought was wonderful, sure of what she wants and what works for her and never letting anyone else dictate her choices. There is quite an ensemble cast too that left an impression on me, especially the wedding planner Bubbles and the groom’s grandma Nona who were both just hoots.
But it was the two young women Tina and Marianne who infuriated me. Tina is about my age, single and totally unmotivated in her work. I could really understand her desire to find both happiness in her personal life as well the drive to do more meaningful work; but when she started her rants about racism, privilege, poverty etc etc, it all felt very performative bullshit because she herself is extremely privileged coming from a rich family, an Ivy League education and having a job that affords her the luxury to live alone in a two bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. I also felt like she was fetishizing India’s poverty in the way she interacted with some of the characters and patted herself on the back when she thought she had helped someone. And while she does realize what she wants to do with her life, she is still the same person and I didn’t see much deeper changes in her.
Marianne on the other hand thinks her wonderful, sweet boyfriend at home in America is boring and wants excitement in life. As she recollects all her past relationships, it’s painfully obvious that she has a thing for exotic men and just wants a rich POC arm candy who will take her on wild trips all across the globe. I didn’t really understand if she realized how immature she was being or just gave up because she couldn’t find a hot rich desi guy interested in her during the wedding, so I can’t even say if there was any character development for her. With both Tina and Marianne, I don’t want to be too judgmental but they really are messy characters and I probably would have liked their depiction more if the author had treated it like a satire but it didn’t feel so. And if it isn’t a satirical take on privilege and the colonial gaze, then the utter lack of character development is pretty dissatisfying.
To conclude, I really enjoyed reading this book even if half the main cast pissed me off, because the other half did make up for it. And one can always rely on some desi drama for making any book entertaining. If you like books about an ensemble of characters and their varied messy relationships, then this book is perfect for you - it’s equal parts funny, dramatic and eye opening. But if you are someone who wants a coherent plot, then this is not for you. The author has a very unique take on the rich community in India and I’m looking forward to more of her works.
Literary fiction is not my genre at all and I usually run away from such books, but it’s hard to resist when it’s by an Indian author, set in India but also being published internationally. And I thought the author’s previous book The Windfall was a fascinating enough read, so I wanted to read this as well. And this was fascinating too but I’m still processing my thoughts on it.
One thing I can say about the writing style is that it’s very very engaging and hooks us right from the beginning, and I never wanted to put it down. I literally read it cover to cover in just a couple of hours at a time when I thought I was going into a reading slump, and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. But the main theme of the book is about each of the main characters trying to find themselves and their own happiness, so the plot actually meanders without any general direction, except that it takes place at a desi destination wedding at a posh country club. That doesn’t mean it gets boring, because the author keeps us entertained with all the gossip and drama during a desi wedding and it’s all very relatable because our weddings are mayhem. I also don’t get to read a lot of books set in India, so that was a nice change, and I could actually empathize with some of the characters’ reactions to how India has changed.
However, it’s the characters about whom I’m not sure how to feel. The story mainly centers around the Das family, Neel, Radha and their daughter Tina alongwith Tina’s best friend Marianne. I really liked following the stories of both Neel and Radha, divorced but still friends and even partners in some ways. There’s a great understanding between them and I liked that they were able to make peace with each other, and also encourage each other to find future happiness. Radha’s relationship with David is sweet and I admired how self aware she was about what she wanted in life; Neel on the other hand is pretty skeptical about how to start dating again but it was a delight watching him try to navigate the idea of new love with Jyoti. Jyoti was another character who I thought was wonderful, sure of what she wants and what works for her and never letting anyone else dictate her choices. There is quite an ensemble cast too that left an impression on me, especially the wedding planner Bubbles and the groom’s grandma Nona who were both just hoots.
But it was the two young women Tina and Marianne who infuriated me. Tina is about my age, single and totally unmotivated in her work. I could really understand her desire to find both happiness in her personal life as well the drive to do more meaningful work; but when she started her rants about racism, privilege, poverty etc etc, it all felt very performative bullshit because she herself is extremely privileged coming from a rich family, an Ivy League education and having a job that affords her the luxury to live alone in a two bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. I also felt like she was fetishizing India’s poverty in the way she interacted with some of the characters and patted herself on the back when she thought she had helped someone. And while she does realize what she wants to do with her life, she is still the same person and I didn’t see much deeper changes in her.
Marianne on the other hand thinks her wonderful, sweet boyfriend at home in America is boring and wants excitement in life. As she recollects all her past relationships, it’s painfully obvious that she has a thing for exotic men and just wants a rich POC arm candy who will take her on wild trips all across the globe. I didn’t really understand if she realized how immature she was being or just gave up because she couldn’t find a hot rich desi guy interested in her during the wedding, so I can’t even say if there was any character development for her. With both Tina and Marianne, I don’t want to be too judgmental but they really are messy characters and I probably would have liked their depiction more if the author had treated it like a satire but it didn’t feel so. And if it isn’t a satirical take on privilege and the colonial gaze, then the utter lack of character development is pretty dissatisfying.
To conclude, I really enjoyed reading this book even if half the main cast pissed me off, because the other half did make up for it. And one can always rely on some desi drama for making any book entertaining. If you like books about an ensemble of characters and their varied messy relationships, then this book is perfect for you - it’s equal parts funny, dramatic and eye opening. But if you are someone who wants a coherent plot, then this is not for you. The author has a very unique take on the rich community in India and I’m looking forward to more of her works.