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allthatissim's review against another edition
4.0
Full review on: Flipping Through the Pages
[b:The Beauty of the Moment|35526671|The Beauty of the Moment|Tanaz Bhathena|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1537665555s/35526671.jpg|56945532] was such an interesting and delightful tale. Initially, I thought this to be a simple YA contemporary romance novel but once I dived into it, it proved to be way more than that. [a:Tanaz Bhathena|15066301|Tanaz Bhathena|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1488711722p2/15066301.jpg] has handled all the different themes in the story quite well and I fell in love with it.
WONDERFUL MAIN CHARACTERS
This book has a wonderful set of characters. Our main characters are truly likeable and relatable, though they are complex ones.
Susan Thomas is an Indian Girl who moves from Saudi Arabia to Canada for her final year of high school. She faces all kind of challenges while trying to fit into her new school and the new culture. She always had been the perfect daughter – achieving the highest scores in all subjects and always tried to meet her parents’ expectations. Her parents wanted her to be a doctor or engineer, but secretly she wished to be an artist. Malcolm Vakil is a Parsi boy dealing with his own problems and reputations. He is trying to come out of his bad reputation which he got because of his indulgence in drugs and alcohol after his mom died. He also has a father who has been abusive to him in the past and now they have a tough relationship.
There are many amazing side characters too. I adored Mahtab, Malcolm’s younger sister. She always took care of Malcolm as if she was his elder sister instead of another way around. Alisha, Susan’s best friend back in Saudi Arabia, is the BFF we all want in our lives. Though now she and Susan were countries apart, their relationship also got affected but I loved how the author has handled this change. Susan’s mother was quite a strict one and to some level, she showed the strictness of a typical Indian woman. She wanted to live her unfulfilled dreams through her. Malcolm’s uncle, Mancher, certainly was a favourite character. He was funny and gave some really good advice to Malcolm about love and life.
IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE AND DIVERSITY
The immigrant experience has been handled quite well by the author. Susan lived in Saudi Arabia till now and suddenly when she moves to Canada, she struggles to fit in the new culture. She constantly compares her life in Saudi Arabia with Canada, how her school was different, how the courses and teachers were different, how girls were not allowed to do certain things.
These lines are really impactful. Though I don’t have any immigration experience, I was totally able to relate to it. In India, it’s not just about the country. Even with the different states, we often get to hear this thing.
I am really happy to see the number of diverse characters YA books have these days. This book too has almost all the diverse characters and it makes the story more relatable to me. Susan is an Indian Christian, Malcolm is an Indian Parsi. Malcolm’s friends are also from different religions. Having all these different religions in a single story truly represents my country which is so diverse.
COMING-OF-AGE ELEMENT
This story is definitely a coming-of-age story. I loved the character growth of both Susan and Malcolm. Susan wanted to be an artist but always was afraid to talk about this to her parents. But the differences between her parents’ relationship finally make her realise what she wants to really do and stand out in front of her parents. She learned to accept herself. She learned to make new friends and finally understood the fact that nothing in the world is guaranteed.
Malcolm’s journey was quite amazing too. After he met with Susan, he started seeing things differently and tried to be mature. He started working harder towards achieving his goals. I loved the way he tried to improve his relationship with his step-mother and father. That really gave him the push he needed for appreciating himself more.
BEAUTIFUL ROMANCE
I totally adored the romance between Susan and Malcolm. It was not the typical high-school romance. It was amazing to see how they both proved to be a good influence on each other. They made each other strong and made each other realise their own worth. Within each other’s company, they tried to be better and encouraged each other to achieve the goals they wanted to.
The author has beautifully shown the hard way of love too. She showed that love is not always easy and it doesn’t necessarily give you what you always want. Rather it’s a difficult path to follow. And I loved the way the author has played out the ending of the story.
OVERALL
I totally loved this story and I applaud the author for including so many important things in the story. This is a fantastic story about first love, loss, relationships and achieving your dreams and to grow up in that process. I would definitely recommend this if you love YA contemporaries 🙂
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[b:The Beauty of the Moment|35526671|The Beauty of the Moment|Tanaz Bhathena|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1537665555s/35526671.jpg|56945532] was such an interesting and delightful tale. Initially, I thought this to be a simple YA contemporary romance novel but once I dived into it, it proved to be way more than that. [a:Tanaz Bhathena|15066301|Tanaz Bhathena|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1488711722p2/15066301.jpg] has handled all the different themes in the story quite well and I fell in love with it.
WONDERFUL MAIN CHARACTERS
This book has a wonderful set of characters. Our main characters are truly likeable and relatable, though they are complex ones.
Susan Thomas is an Indian Girl who moves from Saudi Arabia to Canada for her final year of high school. She faces all kind of challenges while trying to fit into her new school and the new culture. She always had been the perfect daughter – achieving the highest scores in all subjects and always tried to meet her parents’ expectations. Her parents wanted her to be a doctor or engineer, but secretly she wished to be an artist. Malcolm Vakil is a Parsi boy dealing with his own problems and reputations. He is trying to come out of his bad reputation which he got because of his indulgence in drugs and alcohol after his mom died. He also has a father who has been abusive to him in the past and now they have a tough relationship.
There are many amazing side characters too. I adored Mahtab, Malcolm’s younger sister. She always took care of Malcolm as if she was his elder sister instead of another way around. Alisha, Susan’s best friend back in Saudi Arabia, is the BFF we all want in our lives. Though now she and Susan were countries apart, their relationship also got affected but I loved how the author has handled this change. Susan’s mother was quite a strict one and to some level, she showed the strictness of a typical Indian woman. She wanted to live her unfulfilled dreams through her. Malcolm’s uncle, Mancher, certainly was a favourite character. He was funny and gave some really good advice to Malcolm about love and life.
IMMIGRANT EXPERIENCE AND DIVERSITY
The immigrant experience has been handled quite well by the author. Susan lived in Saudi Arabia till now and suddenly when she moves to Canada, she struggles to fit in the new culture. She constantly compares her life in Saudi Arabia with Canada, how her school was different, how the courses and teachers were different, how girls were not allowed to do certain things.
“I have been called too Saudi for India even though I don’t have a passport from the Kingdom, and too Indian for Saudi Arabia even though in my birth country I am treated like a foreigner.”
These lines are really impactful. Though I don’t have any immigration experience, I was totally able to relate to it. In India, it’s not just about the country. Even with the different states, we often get to hear this thing.
I am really happy to see the number of diverse characters YA books have these days. This book too has almost all the diverse characters and it makes the story more relatable to me. Susan is an Indian Christian, Malcolm is an Indian Parsi. Malcolm’s friends are also from different religions. Having all these different religions in a single story truly represents my country which is so diverse.
COMING-OF-AGE ELEMENT
This story is definitely a coming-of-age story. I loved the character growth of both Susan and Malcolm. Susan wanted to be an artist but always was afraid to talk about this to her parents. But the differences between her parents’ relationship finally make her realise what she wants to really do and stand out in front of her parents. She learned to accept herself. She learned to make new friends and finally understood the fact that nothing in the world is guaranteed.
Malcolm’s journey was quite amazing too. After he met with Susan, he started seeing things differently and tried to be mature. He started working harder towards achieving his goals. I loved the way he tried to improve his relationship with his step-mother and father. That really gave him the push he needed for appreciating himself more.
BEAUTIFUL ROMANCE
I totally adored the romance between Susan and Malcolm. It was not the typical high-school romance. It was amazing to see how they both proved to be a good influence on each other. They made each other strong and made each other realise their own worth. Within each other’s company, they tried to be better and encouraged each other to achieve the goals they wanted to.
The author has beautifully shown the hard way of love too. She showed that love is not always easy and it doesn’t necessarily give you what you always want. Rather it’s a difficult path to follow. And I loved the way the author has played out the ending of the story.
OVERALL
I totally loved this story and I applaud the author for including so many important things in the story. This is a fantastic story about first love, loss, relationships and achieving your dreams and to grow up in that process. I would definitely recommend this if you love YA contemporaries 🙂
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vickycbooks's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars
This book managed to tick every single box on a romance list that I had no idea I even had. It was sweet and endearing yet spicy and a bit forbidden and wonderfully balanced with real life.
In short, this is one of my favorite romances ever.
I just–the new girl/bad boy trope has so much potential to flop given all the bad tries from the late 2000s, early 2010s. From aggressive to almost abusive love interests to just plain bad to trashy and cliche, there’s a lot of ways to go wrong.
Yet Bhathena did such an amazing job of getting it all right? It feels like it suits 2019 with its diverse characters (YESSS) and a romance that’s sweet and gentle yet balanced with life and forbidden-ness and so much more.
The romance was definitely my favorite part, and since it’s February, I was in the best mood to read this book and swoon over Susan and Malcom.
Ugh. Adorable.
The dual POVs were so awesome, and I loved reading both Sarah and Malcom’s side of the story and found them to be so well balanced.
And even more than that, they’re their own people. The whole ending solidifies that (though I promise you a happily ever after) and they have agency and weren’t just made to be the other person’s other half.
Susan has things going on with her mom & dad’s marriage, as well as art and potentially going to art school instead of engineering.
Malcom has a lot to handle and unpack with his dad and his relationship with his sister and friends.
It was all very well balanced, and that’s another highlight of this book. How well Bhathena juggled romance and real life problems for all the characters.
I took of the .5 star ultimately because . . . I wanted more. So much more. I wanted to devour 5 books of just Malcom and Susan.
And also because I feel like there could have been a little more exploration of Malcom and his father, but also we don’t want a 400 page contemporary so it’s still cool.
But yeah!!! I want so many more contemporary romances from Tanaz Bhathena and I also really really loved the Easter Eggs she left in the story about characters from A Girl Like That. (You don’t have to read A Girl Like That to read this, though.)
Basically, I had a really fantastic time reading and just got all the fluffy, happy, feel-good feels from this book. I was in the perfect mood for this and devoured the whole thing in less than a day.
I would definitely recommend The Beauty of the Moment if you like
- fresh takes on classic tropes
- adorable couples who have agency
- diverse casts and West Asian rep!
- a lighthearted read that will make you swoon
- artists! also gorgeous covers!
Overall, I had the most fantastic time reading, and this feels like one of the rare books that I’ll be rereading in a time of need. So yeah. Please read it, so you can gush with me about it after!
Thank you so much to Macmillan and The FFBC for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
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This book managed to tick every single box on a romance list that I had no idea I even had. It was sweet and endearing yet spicy and a bit forbidden and wonderfully balanced with real life.
In short, this is one of my favorite romances ever.
I just–the new girl/bad boy trope has so much potential to flop given all the bad tries from the late 2000s, early 2010s. From aggressive to almost abusive love interests to just plain bad to trashy and cliche, there’s a lot of ways to go wrong.
Yet Bhathena did such an amazing job of getting it all right? It feels like it suits 2019 with its diverse characters (YESSS) and a romance that’s sweet and gentle yet balanced with life and forbidden-ness and so much more.
The romance was definitely my favorite part, and since it’s February, I was in the best mood to read this book and swoon over Susan and Malcom.
Ugh. Adorable.
The dual POVs were so awesome, and I loved reading both Sarah and Malcom’s side of the story and found them to be so well balanced.
And even more than that, they’re their own people. The whole ending solidifies that (though I promise you a happily ever after) and they have agency and weren’t just made to be the other person’s other half.
Susan has things going on with her mom & dad’s marriage, as well as art and potentially going to art school instead of engineering.
Malcom has a lot to handle and unpack with his dad and his relationship with his sister and friends.
It was all very well balanced, and that’s another highlight of this book. How well Bhathena juggled romance and real life problems for all the characters.
I took of the .5 star ultimately because . . . I wanted more. So much more. I wanted to devour 5 books of just Malcom and Susan.
And also because I feel like there could have been a little more exploration of Malcom and his father, but also we don’t want a 400 page contemporary so it’s still cool.
But yeah!!! I want so many more contemporary romances from Tanaz Bhathena and I also really really loved the Easter Eggs she left in the story about characters from A Girl Like That. (You don’t have to read A Girl Like That to read this, though.)
Basically, I had a really fantastic time reading and just got all the fluffy, happy, feel-good feels from this book. I was in the perfect mood for this and devoured the whole thing in less than a day.
I would definitely recommend The Beauty of the Moment if you like
- fresh takes on classic tropes
- adorable couples who have agency
- diverse casts and West Asian rep!
- a lighthearted read that will make you swoon
- artists! also gorgeous covers!
Overall, I had the most fantastic time reading, and this feels like one of the rare books that I’ll be rereading in a time of need. So yeah. Please read it, so you can gush with me about it after!
Thank you so much to Macmillan and The FFBC for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
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khepiari's review against another edition
3.0
Susan Thomas has every good quality of that quintessential NRI cousin we grow up hearing about. She is super intelligent, obedient, well mannered and knows her mother tongue and never ever aspires for herself. Also happens to be the new girl for her final year in a Canadian high school after studying in an all-girls school in Saudi Arabia.
Malcolm Vakil, the Canadian born Zorastrian, the borderline depressive-lost-soul-nightmare boy. He smokes, is trying to quit alcohol and drugs, and has had messed up a love affair with a beautiful and impulsive Afrin.
The book has all the tropes a YA romance needs, from first sight attraction to the old charms of slow burn romance to the cut-scene first kiss. It has misunderstanding, homework, peer pressure, messed up parents and of course breakups, and all set against the backdrop of a big event, surprisngly it is not prom but a funraiser for the Syrian Cause. Yet the book has to offer a lot more, the nearly invisible community of Indian Christian and Zoroastrian immigrants. For the first time, we hear narratives from the Zoroastrian community living abroad, and other communities that try to balance between the identity they left behind and the one they try to create in a new land, and the aftermath of this struggle that their children face which is best expressed through the class clown Steve who is not comfortable with his birth name.
Susan grew up in a conservative nation where they secretly celebrated christmas, and her parents have been nothing but stricter, they planned her whole life out. It's interesting how for the final year of her school education they decide to move to Canada as it has more educational opportunities, yet their mind doesn't move beyond the two obvious choices Indian Parents are obsessed with: Engineering and Medicine. Also the constant fear her mother fears that she will lose her touch with her roots, her tradition and become like those western kids makes me question what roots mate?
Susan wanting to pursue Art might be the most clichéd thing about the book, yes the desire to study art creates wonderful narrative conflict, it enhances the frustration of the readers, but we have seen this story a multiple times. What I absolutely enjoyed was the frustration this book generated. Susan is frustrated with her incapability to make new friends, her default setting to study all the time and not indulge in anything that is not contributing to her report card.
Malcolm is irritated with everything, and everyone, he has I am depressed and messed up vibes from his introductory page, which creates half his problems. He hates his father for the pain he caused to his dead mother, he smokes and drinks because he is restless and incapable of doing anything about his situation. He loathes his stepmother, and is incapable of the trusting the adults around him. It's only his sister Mahtab he cares for. It was nice to see him sober up at the end book and trying to give up on the angst he builds up against his English teacher and others.
Susan's lack of interest in anything or anyone beyond her education is a byproduct of her parents always pushing her to be excellent. So when she finally cracks and spills over it is cathartic. She also learns the lesson most kids learn the hard way, parents have absolutely no clue what they are doing to their kids. One word or one action or inaction is all it takes to bring out the truth.
I loved the way the author handled the changing dynamics of friendship between Alisha and Susan. Who were always together, now continents apart and facing the impending reality of growing up. They Skype: where they cry, they fight, they talk boys and discuss life. The girl bonding later in the book Susan forms with Heather and Preeti is what we needed more in the book. Girls supporting girls and talking about boys but just enjoying hitting a punching bag. Despite what Afrin does in the book like a typically popular girl trope character does, I couldn't hate her, she was too developed to be a typecast. There were some genuinely funny parts when Malcolm embarrasses Susan by explaining what Netflix and Chill means, it was beautifully put in. Mahatab when not playing the mature one was cracking some really good comebacks.
It's also interesting to see how NRI parents are equally conservative, community pleasing a and honour obsessed. In one of the conservation Alisha and Susan have, we learn Alisha's parents in Saudi Arabia have arranged a meeting with a boy Christian Keralaite boy who studies engineering. A seventeen year old is being paraded around for the marriage market despite having excellent grades and talents, her life has been sketched. The rebellious but straight A+ Afrin who has MIT Graduate parents is not spared from the expectations of the community. Her parents want her to date boys from Zorastrian community.
I liked Aruna's character, Susan's mother. What she hoped was a romantic marriage at the age of 21 is crumbling apart. A woman who wanted to be a scientist now is trying to live her dreams through her daughter. For eighteen years she played the hostess, the wife, the mother. Now she is thrown into a country that is not exactly welcoming to her. Mothers are not perfect and Aruna is far from it, she is selfish, suffering and scared, the fear of her losing her husband and now her daughter taking decisions takes a toll on her.
I also loved the disenchantment of the trope: saving enough money and move our of parents when I turn eighteen notion. Malcolm realises that early in the book, that a part-time job is not going to get him a place of his own anytime soon. It is not all rosy and hopeful once you join the university. You carry your baggage and past and hope that life will work out.
Susan and Malcolm's story ended in a way that would make many cry and angry. But I think the ending is the best thing about this book, they have just entered adulthood and they should not cling to each other just because their hearts and bodies crave each other. Though it indicates towards a happily ever after, I would really be happy be if their intense love fades away soon and turns into a decent friendship.
Susan deserves better, Malcolm I fear might not be healthy for her in future as a partner.
Book Trivia: There is a direct reference to the author's previous book A Girl Like that.
Malcolm Vakil, the Canadian born Zorastrian, the borderline depressive-lost-soul-nightmare boy. He smokes, is trying to quit alcohol and drugs, and has had messed up a love affair with a beautiful and impulsive Afrin.
The book has all the tropes a YA romance needs, from first sight attraction to the old charms of slow burn romance to the cut-scene first kiss. It has misunderstanding, homework, peer pressure, messed up parents and of course breakups, and all set against the backdrop of a big event, surprisngly it is not prom but a funraiser for the Syrian Cause. Yet the book has to offer a lot more, the nearly invisible community of Indian Christian and Zoroastrian immigrants. For the first time, we hear narratives from the Zoroastrian community living abroad, and other communities that try to balance between the identity they left behind and the one they try to create in a new land, and the aftermath of this struggle that their children face which is best expressed through the class clown Steve who is not comfortable with his birth name.
Susan grew up in a conservative nation where they secretly celebrated christmas, and her parents have been nothing but stricter, they planned her whole life out. It's interesting how for the final year of her school education they decide to move to Canada as it has more educational opportunities, yet their mind doesn't move beyond the two obvious choices Indian Parents are obsessed with: Engineering and Medicine. Also the constant fear her mother fears that she will lose her touch with her roots, her tradition and become like those western kids makes me question what roots mate?
Susan wanting to pursue Art might be the most clichéd thing about the book, yes the desire to study art creates wonderful narrative conflict, it enhances the frustration of the readers, but we have seen this story a multiple times. What I absolutely enjoyed was the frustration this book generated. Susan is frustrated with her incapability to make new friends, her default setting to study all the time and not indulge in anything that is not contributing to her report card.
Malcolm is irritated with everything, and everyone, he has I am depressed and messed up vibes from his introductory page, which creates half his problems. He hates his father for the pain he caused to his dead mother, he smokes and drinks because he is restless and incapable of doing anything about his situation. He loathes his stepmother, and is incapable of the trusting the adults around him. It's only his sister Mahtab he cares for. It was nice to see him sober up at the end book and trying to give up on the angst he builds up against his English teacher and others.
Susan's lack of interest in anything or anyone beyond her education is a byproduct of her parents always pushing her to be excellent. So when she finally cracks and spills over it is cathartic. She also learns the lesson most kids learn the hard way, parents have absolutely no clue what they are doing to their kids. One word or one action or inaction is all it takes to bring out the truth.
I loved the way the author handled the changing dynamics of friendship between Alisha and Susan. Who were always together, now continents apart and facing the impending reality of growing up. They Skype: where they cry, they fight, they talk boys and discuss life. The girl bonding later in the book Susan forms with Heather and Preeti is what we needed more in the book. Girls supporting girls and talking about boys but just enjoying hitting a punching bag. Despite what Afrin does in the book like a typically popular girl trope character does, I couldn't hate her, she was too developed to be a typecast. There were some genuinely funny parts when Malcolm embarrasses Susan by explaining what Netflix and Chill means, it was beautifully put in. Mahatab when not playing the mature one was cracking some really good comebacks.
It's also interesting to see how NRI parents are equally conservative, community pleasing a and honour obsessed. In one of the conservation Alisha and Susan have, we learn Alisha's parents in Saudi Arabia have arranged a meeting with a boy Christian Keralaite boy who studies engineering. A seventeen year old is being paraded around for the marriage market despite having excellent grades and talents, her life has been sketched. The rebellious but straight A+ Afrin who has MIT Graduate parents is not spared from the expectations of the community. Her parents want her to date boys from Zorastrian community.
I liked Aruna's character, Susan's mother. What she hoped was a romantic marriage at the age of 21 is crumbling apart. A woman who wanted to be a scientist now is trying to live her dreams through her daughter. For eighteen years she played the hostess, the wife, the mother. Now she is thrown into a country that is not exactly welcoming to her. Mothers are not perfect and Aruna is far from it, she is selfish, suffering and scared, the fear of her losing her husband and now her daughter taking decisions takes a toll on her.
I also loved the disenchantment of the trope: saving enough money and move our of parents when I turn eighteen notion. Malcolm realises that early in the book, that a part-time job is not going to get him a place of his own anytime soon. It is not all rosy and hopeful once you join the university. You carry your baggage and past and hope that life will work out.
Susan and Malcolm's story ended in a way that would make many cry and angry. But I think the ending is the best thing about this book, they have just entered adulthood and they should not cling to each other just because their hearts and bodies crave each other. Though it indicates towards a happily ever after, I would really be happy be if their intense love fades away soon and turns into a decent friendship.
Susan deserves better, Malcolm I fear might not be healthy for her in future as a partner.
Book Trivia: There is a direct reference to the author's previous book A Girl Like that.
lisapaige13's review against another edition
4.0
I loved Bhathena's first book A Girl Like That and I couldn't wait to read her new one. Beauty of the Moment is a change of pace from A Girl Like That. It is more lighthearted, while still touching on serious, relevant issues pertaining to teens while set against the backdrop of a sweet, realistic romance.
Susan has just immigrated to Canada from Saudi Arabia with her mom. She has a bit of culture shock as she attends a co-ed high school and starts getting attention from boys. Her parents are demanding and pressure her to do the absolute best in school in the hopes of going to university to become a doctor or an engineer.
Malcolm is the class clown/ bad boy of the school. His mom died from bone cancer years before and his family life has been unstable ever since, including an incident where his father beat him. He has slowly stopped caring about school and parties with friends.
When the two meet, they both start becoming more comfortable with who they are and find comfort in each other. Their romance is somewhat chaste and innocent, but sweet and very realistic. Like most romances, there is a part when they break up and separate. Without spoiling anything, I liked how this was handled and that they didn't rush back together but there was still forgiveness.
The Beauty of the Moment is another great addition to the trend of diverse romances. Although a little more serious than Sandhya Menon and Maurene Goo's books, this will satisfy fans of both. I'm definitely a fan of Bhathena and can't wait to read more from her.
Susan has just immigrated to Canada from Saudi Arabia with her mom. She has a bit of culture shock as she attends a co-ed high school and starts getting attention from boys. Her parents are demanding and pressure her to do the absolute best in school in the hopes of going to university to become a doctor or an engineer.
Malcolm is the class clown/ bad boy of the school. His mom died from bone cancer years before and his family life has been unstable ever since, including an incident where his father beat him. He has slowly stopped caring about school and parties with friends.
When the two meet, they both start becoming more comfortable with who they are and find comfort in each other. Their romance is somewhat chaste and innocent, but sweet and very realistic. Like most romances, there is a part when they break up and separate. Without spoiling anything, I liked how this was handled and that they didn't rush back together but there was still forgiveness.
The Beauty of the Moment is another great addition to the trend of diverse romances. Although a little more serious than Sandhya Menon and Maurene Goo's books, this will satisfy fans of both. I'm definitely a fan of Bhathena and can't wait to read more from her.
mrsbofe's review against another edition
4.0
This book was sweet and had a wonderful story. The characters had depth and continued to grow as the plot progressed. It was a refreshing book with wonderful characters that were enjoyable and fun! Would recommend!
libscote's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this one. It's a contemporary romance with interesting main characters. One is a Malay Christian born in India, raised in Saudi Arabia going to an all girls boarding school, who then immigrates to Canada with her mother while her father stays behind. The other is Zoroastrian Parsi whose mother died of cancer and has a complicated relationship with his father, a troublemaker trying to reform. I would have liked to learn more about what the Zoroastrian religion is like, but maybe it was fine that there wasn't too much, after all, Christianity doesn't affect my life on the regular. Good.
kaliishacole's review against another edition
3.0
This book was definitely an adorable and refreshing contemporary romance filled with tons of diversity and set in Canada! The fact that it takes place in Canada had me geeking out so much! Anyways, back to the actual book, we follow Susan and Malcolm and their intertwining love story as well as family drama. It takes a lot to fall in love against parents wishes or to be the perfect poster child. Sometimes life becomes too stressed out and as the title says we have to live in “the beauty of the moment.” I thought that this book was a very inspiring read and the representation was spot on, I hope even though I’m not Indian or Saudi Arabian. I found that there could have been more added to this and some chapters were pretty slow, but those are just some criticism. Overall, a decent contemporary for romance lovers.
smitz's review against another edition
3.0
A solid 3.5! A tab bit predictable but it has so much heart. The writing is absolutely wonderful and never gets clawing or cheesy, which is excellent. Such a feel good read.
krissyyne's review against another edition
1.0
"What I want to do is smile and wave back. It's what my brain urges me to do. But then Amma calls for me and I remember why this is a bad idea, why dating and boys and marriage have been bad ideas all along. I retreat into the shadows again, waiting for a long moment until I hear the door below open and shut."
I wanted to put this book down when I started it. Right from the get-go, I could tell that this was like every other romance I have ever read. The only thing to differentiate it from stories like [b:Everything, Everything|18692431|Everything, Everything|Nicola Yoon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1450515891l/18692431._SY75_.jpg|26540216] was the fact that Malcolm's dad was abusive and his mom had cancer. Nothing made it stand out.
Bad boy falls in love with sweet, innocent, girl. (1) Girl defies parents to be with said bad boy. (2) Boy kisses/gets kissed by old girlfriend, resulting in the breakup of the two MC's. (3) I can probably name a dozen other similarities, but I don't really feel the need to go on.
There are a lot of things that made me annoyed, too. If I had ever spoken to my parents the way Susan did, I would be in a whole world of hurt. I do understand that her parents were getting divorced and there's more leniency because of that. But honestly? She was being kind of over-the-top rude.
I wanted to put this book down when I started it. Right from the get-go, I could tell that this was like every other romance I have ever read. The only thing to differentiate it from stories like [b:Everything, Everything|18692431|Everything, Everything|Nicola Yoon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1450515891l/18692431._SY75_.jpg|26540216] was the fact that Malcolm's dad was abusive and his mom had cancer. Nothing made it stand out.
Bad boy falls in love with sweet, innocent, girl. (1) Girl defies parents to be with said bad boy. (2) Boy kisses/gets kissed by old girlfriend, resulting in the breakup of the two MC's. (3) I can probably name a dozen other similarities, but I don't really feel the need to go on.
There are a lot of things that made me annoyed, too. If I had ever spoken to my parents the way Susan did, I would be in a whole world of hurt. I do understand that her parents were getting divorced and there's more leniency because of that. But honestly? She was being kind of over-the-top rude.
mminster's review against another edition
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75