Reviews with content warning for Hate crime - Incense and Sensibility

As a Sense & Sensibility megafan, I can speak more clearly on this story as an adaptation than any of the other Austen spins in the series. The Dashwood sisters are the heart of the story, and their characterization and conflict here felt true to the spirit of the original. China, the Marianne of this story, takes on new dimensions as a Black lesbian, so her overpowering feelings for a famous closeted K-drama actress are more complex but no less fierce than in the original. India's Elinor energy is also going strong, and she manages the feelings and well-being of everyone around her with competence and empathy as she crumbles on the inside. An adjustment that I thought worked well is a shift with their mother. India is acting as caregiver due to a new diagnosis in her mother's life, not general incompetence. She is a fully-fledged person more than comedic ineptitude. Yash's white knight mode was not my favorite even though I would love a politician like him to represent me. The way his family and supporters fawned over his every move may have contributed to my reaction.

The romance was less dazzling for me than the characters. I enjoyed Yash's story of fake dating gone wrong. Instead of following the trajectory romance books teach us to expect, a pact between best friends goes sour when one wants out of the bargain, tired of the lies. His true love story with India is second chance and all angst. Paired with instalove, it was an unideal pairing in terms of what tropes I favor. The angst comes from both internal and external pressures keeping them apart, starting with Yash's past traumas and ending with the current ones including an assassination attempt and the PR demands as his gubernatorial election fast approaches. Except for pining, the love story feels like it takes a backseat to the campaign and family and other relationships. Second chance doesn't help matters because the bedrock of their infatuation is one day spent together ten years ago when they both fell head over heels. Now, Yash's fake relationship stands in their way.

As an adaptation, I think this is a strong work. Be aware that heavy topics are on the table here, including gun violence and resulting panic attacks, rape and blackmail, car accident injuries and a hepatitis diagnosis. While I particularly liked the Dashwoods, I wasn't sold on the central romance. And since it's a bleak outlook for them during most of the story, it became a bit torturous for me as a lukewarm supporter in the best of times. If you like your romance with many dimensions and not only a romantic plot, plenty of pining, and a second chance story with a lot of obstacles, this might be up your alley.

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izmc's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

I think this might be my favorite book in the whole series. I loved it so much, and I completely see myself rereading it again and again.

Two points of note:

1. I absolutely hated how a majority of the characters treated Yash’s rape. In fact, I don’t think they actually used the word rape. I truly loathed how it was handled, I wish that there would have been a bit more insight into how the character’s dismissal of the sexual assault truly impacted Yash.

2. This point also has to do with how the other characters dismissed the sexual assault. This quote left me reeling:

“"This is how you treat your friend? I've been here for you, Yash, always. I've taken care of you. Have you forgotten what happened when you trusted another woman? You ended up drugged and caught on tape
fucking an underage intern. Even then I was there for you. I didn't bat an eyelid. Through all your trust issues I was there making sure you were okay, working around it, tiptoeing around all your physical issues.”

This complete and utter dismissal of the trauma he went through was horrific. What’s worse is that it is never addressed again. That would be moderately okay if Nisha and her words were written in a more negative light. However, I just looked and she is going to be the heroine in the next book in the series. I honestly think that because of this quote I won’t be able to read the next book at all. I have loved this series so much, but I just don’t think I can tolerate reading and attempting to root for a character like that.

Overall, I loved the book.

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lilysbooks's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

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carlyoc's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

This book stands alone even if you haven't read the two preceding volumes in the series, although I'm sure they would add some context for several supporting characters whose stories were told in those installments.
A slow start, lots of tension in the middle, and big rush of action at the end.
India Dashwood is a yoga instructor and incense maker. Ten years ago, she shared a magical moment with Yash Raje, who then ghosted her and left her heartbroken. Now, he suddenly turns back up in her life.
Yash is campaigning for governor of California. But when his bodyguard gets shot by a white-supremacist targeting Yash for bring South Asian, he finds himself unable to go back onstage to finish out his campaign. His family urges him to try yoga with India Dashwood, but he knows he wronged her many years ago.

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apoppyinthewind's review against another edition

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emotional 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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bookwormbullet's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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

5.0

This book may have restored my cold dead heart. I absolutely loved following Yash and India’s story in Incense and Sensibility. It felt so nice to return to the world of The Rajes after loving Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors and Recipe for Persuasion (which still remains my number one adult contemporary of all time). And I’m officially declaring now that Sonali Dev is literally the BEST at writing second chance romances. I don’t even know if Incense and Sensibility counts as a second chance romance considering Yash and India only shared a kiss and nothing more--there was no official relationship between them--but the amount of tension Sonali Dev can create between the two after TEN years and only one kiss was incredible. Every single lingering look and touch between the two made my heart feel like it was going to burst.

This also has the “seeing each other’s scars” trope, which is such an underrated trope, and oh my god it was so good. Seeing Yash grow from being super closed off and trying to seem put together all the time to growing comfortable with being vulnerable was really heartwarming as well. I feel like this book was so refreshing when considering how young Indian-American boys are raised--to always be stoic and strong all the time. Seeing Yash admit that he’s not comfortable being intimate, and seeing him learning how to live with his anxiety and PTSD when mental health is barely discussed in the South Asian community was so great.

I also really just love the Rajes siblings so much. As much as each of them have their own faults, they are so united against any obstacle that comes in any of their ways and they have such adoring love and support for one another no matter the circumstance, and it’s just really beautiful to see. It was one of the reasons I loved jumping back into the world of The Rajes--seeing all the cameos from the different siblings and how their dynamics have developed and how their relationships have grown since Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors was so sweet. As a sibling myself, I have so much respect for them for standing up for one another, especially when they stand united against HRH. It’s reflective of how many young Indian-Americans promise to make positive change regarding some of the toxic issues within the older generations of the South Asian community.

Lastly, I have to talk about all the plot twists in this book. Incense and Sensibility starts and ends with a huge bang (and I kinda mean that literally) and I totally was not expecting the plot twists that popped up in this book. You can always count on Sonali to drop a bombshell of a plot twist in this series and it definitely did not disappoint here.

I easily gave this 5 stars and I will ALWAYS recommend this series. If you are an Austen fan, a South Asian-American reader, or anyone looking for a beautiful romance balanced with contemporary issues, I highly recommend The Rajes!

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now_booking's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

It is hard to capture my adoration of this book in words except to say that it is currently my favourite book of any genre I’ve read this year out of the 113 I’ve read so far. It is not exactly shocking that I loved this book. I’m a huge fan of this authors The Rajes series- the first book in this series of standalones, “Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavours,” was my number 1 favourite read of 2019, and Book 2, “Recipe for Persuasion,” was a top 10 read of 2020 for me. This author for me, really knows how to tell a compelling, angsty absolutely gorgeous story that breaks your heart to pieces but puts you back together and delivers the most amazing characters.

In this 3rd book in the series, we get to know perfect older brother and politician side character from previous books, Yash Raje, better. Yash, is the perfect politician- suave, passionate about the issues, responsible and caring but also honest maybe to a fault, and his perfectly curated world is about to be shaken when after a tragic incident he needs the help of the only woman who has ever been able to destabilize him, yoga instructor and stress coach, India Dashwood. India has already been let down by Yash in the past but can’t help caring about what happens to the aspiring California governor.

I’ve explained the book really drily. Take my word for it that from chapter 1 you will be sucked into a well of angst and emotion and you will fall in love with these characters. Thematically, this is a political love story about an Indian-American man seeking to be the first POC governor of California- it’s about running for office for the right reasons and the real meanings of public service. This novel explains lies and truth within the context of politics and public life in a way that really calls to mind narratives around truth and service that came into acceptance leading up to the 2020 US elections. But inasmuch as this is a political book since the themes of truth and selflessness can’t help but bring to mind what truth because in US politics between 2016 and 2020 when the concept of truth and “alternate truth” entered public discourse, this is not a political book in the sense of being partisan. It is not a book about any particular candidate or any particular party. It is also a story about family and friendship and resilience- a beautiful beautiful love story about understanding and a responsible sort of love that serves others more than self.

Jane Austen’s “Sense and Sensibility” has never been my favourite of her books- I have too little patience with the characters. But after reading this book, after recognizing the Marianne and Elinor characters, I have infinitely more understanding and compassion for these sisters. Even the Willoughby character is less irredeemable villain and more “it be like dat sometimes” f-boy (or f-girl in this case). If you’re familiar with the original story, you will recognize the major players and think of them differently as long as you remember this is an adaptation not a retelling. If you’ve never read Austen and have no intention of doing so, it won’t signify because this book is MORE THAN ENOUGH on its own.

I have to flag content warnings of rape (male victim) and trauma related to that, anxiety, gun violence, familial pressure and loneliness. Perhaps a bit more time could have been spent dealing with theses traumas but for me, I loved how vulnerable this author allowed Yash to be and how much in sync he and India were. The secondary characters were absolutely delightful- most of them we already knew from previous books in the series. Tara Dashwood, India’s mother and her gory stories, was a particular treat in this book providing some needed comic relief with her predictably gross yet compellingly delightful stories. If I have one minor niggle, it would be that perhaps India is perhaps too nice, but so was Elinor… perhaps she didn’t have as much growth as Yash or change as him… but even then, I didn’t feel like this book did her a disservice. She too had to also had to find herself and find how to live with her responsibilities in this book. And I adored her as much as I did Yash. Perhaps, I also craved more of a resolution for Yash and Naina, but then what more resolution could there have been? When all seemed lost like there was no solution, this author managed to create the most gorgeous conclusion to this amazingly beautiful, angsty book.

I am soooo blown away by this book. I could speak or write about it forever. I can absolutely not recommend this enough. It stands alone really well but there’s a reward of feeling like part of the Raje family if you read the other books in order first. This author has done it again in this series!

I received an advanced copy of this book from William Morrow Books.

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