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3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was such a great character study. So diverse. Love the family. I loooove the ending. I really feel like I have a full circle understanding of all that made Dava tick. She was such a strong character. She had such an interesting life. When I think of what it means to truly live fully I will think of this book.
First impression: The illustration of the woman on the cover of the book totally resembles Rekha, hai na?😆
Dava Shastri is an Indian-American woman (more American than Indian tbh), whose claim to fame is her philanthropy. She amassed a huge fortune, by making some good investments and worked on creating of legacy of giving. A self-made woman, Dava has always worked on reaching her true potential, and refused to be just a footnote on anyone else's story.
In the process, she might not have embraced motherhood in the traditional sense of the word. Something, which are kids never forget to bring up every now and then.
And her kids, oh how I hated them. A bunch of snobby rich adults-behaving-like-children, who never had to struggle for anything in their lives, and all they do is just complain. While reading, I felt like going into the book and smacking them across their faces for all the whining.
I had stretched out this book for over a month and a half, and this slow reading process made me feel like I was actually staying with the Shastri-Perssons in the Beathrix Island. This is something I rarely get to feel as I am always in a hurry to finish off books (because there are so many good ones out there and this lifetime is too short to get through all the books).
Overall, the book was okayish. The constant whining got to me at times. Also, the Indian-ness of Dava was only reflected in her naming of her kids. I would have appreciated if it had reflected in her music taste as well (Dava's life was heavily influenced by music and music is a recurring theme throughout the book).
Apart from this, I really appreciated how Ramisetti navigated through complicated topics of working-mother and the challenges and public perception of a woman for just being herself.
Dava Shastri is an Indian-American woman (more American than Indian tbh), whose claim to fame is her philanthropy. She amassed a huge fortune, by making some good investments and worked on creating of legacy of giving. A self-made woman, Dava has always worked on reaching her true potential, and refused to be just a footnote on anyone else's story.
In the process, she might not have embraced motherhood in the traditional sense of the word. Something, which are kids never forget to bring up every now and then.
And her kids, oh how I hated them. A bunch of snobby rich adults-behaving-like-children, who never had to struggle for anything in their lives, and all they do is just complain. While reading, I felt like going into the book and smacking them across their faces for all the whining.
I had stretched out this book for over a month and a half, and this slow reading process made me feel like I was actually staying with the Shastri-Perssons in the Beathrix Island. This is something I rarely get to feel as I am always in a hurry to finish off books (because there are so many good ones out there and this lifetime is too short to get through all the books).
Overall, the book was okayish. The constant whining got to me at times. Also, the Indian-ness of Dava was only reflected in her naming of her kids. I would have appreciated if it had reflected in her music taste as well (Dava's life was heavily influenced by music and music is a recurring theme throughout the book).
Apart from this, I really appreciated how Ramisetti navigated through complicated topics of working-mother and the challenges and public perception of a woman for just being herself.
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
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
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5 stars.
This was an absolutely pleasant surprise. A well-written contemporary debut that nearly knocked my socks off. The writing is beautiful and has a lovely flow in a way somewhat reminiscent of Taylor Jenkins Reid. The characters were well-crafted with good thought to histories and individual personalities. The result was a balanced family that felt realistic and true to ages, genders, and birth orders.
Dava is a protagonist who becomes increasingly unlikable as the plot progresses and truths are revealed. This was an interesting approach and will likely divide readers. I don't necessarily need to like my protagonist to like the story as a whole, but some will be turned off by Dava's worldview and her tendency toward egocentricity.
The story itself is poignant and thoughtful. There is a lot of consideration of death and legacy, of what should be left behind when someone dies. The book also addresses (in a sideways glance) how life should be lived and what things are really important to being a "good person". Dava herself has a complex character, but there is a lot of selfishness to her that she thought was altruism. Perspective is important. Though she was doing things to benefit the less fortunate, she did so at the expense of healthy relationships with her family. Her legacy will be one thing to the public and quite another to her children. This made for a good thought piece.
The narrative is a bit languid and the pacing could cause problems for some readers. It reads a bit like a mix of contemporary and literary fiction, so there is a lot of slow introspection that could create a bit of a slog for those focused on plot rather than character development. For me, however, I found that this was meticulously crafted and I really enjoyed learning the bits of history and the tangled webs of interaction and destruction Dava had left behind her. She "had it all", but really she was just like everyone else deep down...making mistakes and poor choices, struggling to do things the right way.
I enjoyed this novel quite a bit. I felt like there was a lot of emotional content that caused me to evaluate my own life and the importance of staying focused on the most important things throughout your life...and the understanding that those "important things" may not be the same for each person. An incredibly thought-provoking narrative that will stick with me and a very impressive debut novel.
* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *
This was an absolutely pleasant surprise. A well-written contemporary debut that nearly knocked my socks off. The writing is beautiful and has a lovely flow in a way somewhat reminiscent of Taylor Jenkins Reid. The characters were well-crafted with good thought to histories and individual personalities. The result was a balanced family that felt realistic and true to ages, genders, and birth orders.
Dava is a protagonist who becomes increasingly unlikable as the plot progresses and truths are revealed. This was an interesting approach and will likely divide readers. I don't necessarily need to like my protagonist to like the story as a whole, but some will be turned off by Dava's worldview and her tendency toward egocentricity.
The story itself is poignant and thoughtful. There is a lot of consideration of death and legacy, of what should be left behind when someone dies. The book also addresses (in a sideways glance) how life should be lived and what things are really important to being a "good person". Dava herself has a complex character, but there is a lot of selfishness to her that she thought was altruism. Perspective is important. Though she was doing things to benefit the less fortunate, she did so at the expense of healthy relationships with her family. Her legacy will be one thing to the public and quite another to her children. This made for a good thought piece.
The narrative is a bit languid and the pacing could cause problems for some readers. It reads a bit like a mix of contemporary and literary fiction, so there is a lot of slow introspection that could create a bit of a slog for those focused on plot rather than character development. For me, however, I found that this was meticulously crafted and I really enjoyed learning the bits of history and the tangled webs of interaction and destruction Dava had left behind her. She "had it all", but really she was just like everyone else deep down...making mistakes and poor choices, struggling to do things the right way.
I enjoyed this novel quite a bit. I felt like there was a lot of emotional content that caused me to evaluate my own life and the importance of staying focused on the most important things throughout your life...and the understanding that those "important things" may not be the same for each person. An incredibly thought-provoking narrative that will stick with me and a very impressive debut novel.
* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
inspiring
sad
slow-paced