Reviews with content warning for Rape - A Holly Jolly Diwali

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

A Holly Jolly Diwali by Sonya Lalli

6 reviews

blakeandbooks's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted 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

3.5

This was a cute romance! I loved the flirty banter between Niki and Sam 🫶🏻 they seemed to immediately connect, even if Niki had no intention of getting together with anyone during her trip to India. The texts between them were funny, and I overall enjoyed it. I did think the story and characters fleshed out a bit more, but it was definitely a good read.

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onegalonelife27's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted 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

3.5

Niki has always done the right thing, getting a steady job, never getting wild, going out with nice enough guys. Yet Niki is let go from her job makes her ponder her good girl life, leading her to go on a trip to India to attend her best friend Diya’s wedding at the last minute. There she meets Sam, a musician and certainly not the type of guy she’d go out with before, but she ponders if it’s time to change that and other things in her life…

I do relate to Niki quite a bit, trying so hard to do what society, if not her parents, tell her is right by getting a stable job and living modestly. And it does feel like a real slap in the face when you do the right thing but then the universe says ha ha and you end up flat on your face. I know I’ve been there a few times. Of course, I’ve never been impulsive enough to go on a trip by myself…well anywhere let alone on another continent. Maybe that’s what I need in my life.

I did think that some more description should have been given at times, like not describing all the delicious sounding food served at times or giving a description of Nikki’s swimsuit chapters after they were introduced at a beach so thus having to do a mental rewrite on what she’s wearing. There’s also one scene towards the end that adds a new action that supposedly happened in the past, but was not present while Nikki was living it at the time. Like it says a picture was taken and we are shown the picture, but that wasn’t a scene in the book before. I do hope other books by the author have some more description and in appropriate places too.

Overall, the story is very sweet, sometimes spicy about one woman realizing her worth, what she wants and deserves in both career and in love. It also talks about topics such as privilege and how it can affect one's life in different ways, which I enjoyed. I’ll definitely consider picking up another book by the author.

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zombiezami's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

4.75

I think the author did a really good job of demonstrating all kinds of love, not just romantic love: love of self, love of family, love of friends, love of community.

My one complaint is that there weren’t any detailed scenes of the protagonist meeting her extended family in India. We just hear a summary after she returns to the US. I would have liked that to be more fleshed out.

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kylieqrada's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

4.0

Yesssssss! This was a good-a$$ time! I loved learning more about Diwali and different South Asian cultural traditions. I am definitely going to read more from Sonya Lalli, especially Jasmine's spin-off book.

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rotatinglibrary's review

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funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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jasleencheema19's review

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adventurous lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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