Reviews

The Karma Map by Nisha Sharma

amoodreadersnook's review against another edition

4.0

I Enjoyed this was nice to see Tara point of view and what she went through with her family school friends and social media. 

thisboricuareader's review against another edition

5.0

I'll say I think overall my favorite part of this book is how it touched on religion and personal believes. Especially for kids of parents who lets say give their whole like to religion. It's hard to navigate these areas and questioning religion I feel is normal. 

I loved this book so much. I love how it touched on finding yourself, especially when you 18 and life still feel so new and your still figuring out who you are and what you want. 

Overall, I loved this. 

allyyy09's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny inspiring lighthearted 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

4.5

gracej66's review against another edition

adventurous emotional informative 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

I was really excited to read this book, as it’s about a young woman going on a trip and experiencing personal growth. I really enjoyed the descriptions of the different pilgrimage sites visited, the foods eaten, etc. I enjoyed looking many of them up and learned a lot while reading this book! I also liked the author’s development of Tara freeing herself from her social media addiction. However, the story lacked depth and I couldn’t get myself to empathize with Tara the way I wanted to. I found myself still struggling at the end of the book to understand things like why her parents’ jobs/occupations embarrassed her, but maybe it was me the reader who was lacking cultural sensitivity? On another note, I did really appreciate how Sharma addressed the theme of being a Desi kid in the U.S. and feeling simultaneously disconnected from one’s culture and one’s peers in the U.S. It was beautiful reading about the different characters learning more about and discussing their Indian heritage.

Beyond Tara’s social challenges, I would’ve loved it if the book moved at a slower pace, especially regarding her romance with Silas. At times it felt more like I was reading a summary of moments that I thought would’ve been important to slow down. The premise of the book was really good, so I’m honestly just disappointed that it wasn’t longer and more in-depth!

hollielovesromance's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective 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

5.0

Nisha Sharma has me out here crying and feeling all the feels with this one. A delightful pilgrimage journey following two soon to be college freshman leaning into and better understanding their identity and culture. It was a quick read and I really loved this one. 

luna_rondo's review against another edition

medium-paced

2.0

last_page_ache's review against another edition

4.5

This was such a lovely book and I really liked the topics it tackled. It is focused on a journey of a Desi girl living in the USA going on a religious pilgrimage, a journey she took many times before but this time as a sort of a cleanse after a huge and public blow out with her ex-friends (we all know how those experience in high school kind of do change or shape your life). There is wonderful queer representation in the MMC, the sunshine to her grump, who is bi and is adopted son of two sapphic women. There is a lot of reflection, talks about religion, finding your place as an Indian kind in diaspora and how you're either too Indian or not Indian enough. The effects and power of social media plays a big part too. Even though yes I loved everything I just said, I also just really enjoyed our main characters. I loved their background stories and how they built their relationship. They were the sweetest and most adorable kids ever!! I absolutely loved all the side characters aka the kids Tara and Silas were in charge of as junior guides and every charactet made the story that much more interesting and genuine. 

dkh's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny lighthearted 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction and Bullying

reneeereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

Nisha’s writing is so immersive and had me googling places on India wishing I was there! I loved learning about a different culture in this book and all the food references as always has me so hungry! My only complain is that I wish it was longer and that we had more time with her sister.

megshomelibrary's review against another edition

4.0

Really enjoyed this story! I love how the kids built their own community on a trip that none of them really wanted to be on. There was a lot of self and society reflection, and making some hard decisions once figuring out what was best for the person trying to heal. The epilogue also had a cute surprise!

I want to learn more about the foods and places in this story and come back and reread it so I can enjoy it even more.