Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - Radha and Jai's Recipe for Romance

Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

Radha and Jai's Recipe for Romance by Nisha Sharma

22 reviews

nitya's review against another edition

funny lighthearted relaxing 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

3.5

Somehow I enjoyed this a LOT more than My So-Called Bollywood Life? Maybe it was the dancing theme, or recipes scattered throughout? Or the rich girl/poor boy trope? Anyway, this was cheesy but super fun!!

And the cameos were A++++

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basicnikki's review against another edition

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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

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thetealdeal's review against another edition

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4.5

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tothineshelfbetrue's review against another edition

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emotional 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

3.75

3.75 stars rounded up; CW: panic attacks, emotional manipulation, mentions of infidelity. this was a sweet story with fun, loveable characters. I was rooting for both Radha and Jai as they overcame their fears/challenges and squealing over their romance. despite being a romcom, there were some serious themes touched on here with Radha and her parents that I wish we got to unpack more, both her mom's infidelity and attitude about dance and her dad's distance, but since the focus of the story wasn't on their family relationship, I didn't mind so much. it's mostly not an actual 4 or 5 star because I didn't feel anything special about this. it was good just not a standout but I would definitely read more form Nisha Sharma in the future!

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bookish_afrolatina's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The dance competition for money trope was very popular when I was growing up and I'm happy to write that Sharma gets it just right. She included enough detail for me to picture the dance scenes as well as the cooking ones. The recipes passed down from Radha's grandpa are wonderfully placed throughout the book and I love how they connect to Radha's experiences. Sharma did not write this book with non-Indian folx front and center, so the dishes and references are not watered down for us. We must look up the terminology along the way and I liked that. I got to learn more about other cultures and enjoy the content of the story even more.

Jai and Radha make a very sweet couple. They reminded me of how big every disagreement felt when I was a teen. It felt like all or nothing and sometimes I forget that. This also included the classic problems that teens from immigrant and/or competitive families deal with: feeling like they always have to help and believing that they will never be good enough. Now that I'm an adult, this makes me frustrated but I remember feeling the same way!

Radha & Jai's Recipe for Romance managed to be sweet, enriching, silly, and a bit sad all at the same time. I recommend readers also listen to the audiobook if they are not familiar with the pronunciation of names, dishes, dances, etc. It's very helpful and the narrator, Mayuri Bhandari, has the perfect voice for it.

Verdict:

Radha & Jai's Recipe for Romance is an awesome book for folks who want a sweet romance book with flair. Folx who prefer their romances without sex scenes will love this.

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tenthousandactualbees's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful 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

4.25

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plathandpoetry's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

I definitely didn't *love* this book. It was a decent-paced book with lots of character growth, but there were some holes in the time line that I felt could have used transitions. It was a lighthearted book that was an easy, fun read.

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aoifefiona's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring fast-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

I enjoyed this book! It was written in the second person, which personally wouldn’t be my thing, I prefer books written in the first person but this is just my personal preference. It was fun to read and I loved the romance!

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antonique_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-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

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notabookseller's review against another edition

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emotional funny inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

Thank you to NetGalley and Crown Books for Young Readers for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Radha and Jai’s Recipe for Romance is scheduled for release on July 13th, 2021.

I love me a non-cookbook book that has recipes throughout, so already amazing.

Radha & Jai’s Recipe for Romance is about Radha and Jai, two incredibly talented teenagers who fall in love through dance as Radha choreographs the piece that will take their school’s and Jai’s dance team, the Bollywood Beats, to regionals for the first time in years. But more than that, it’s about each of these characters figuring out what they want and finding their way out of the pitfalls they’ve found themselves in.

Radha is one of the best competitive kathak dancers in the world, but she overhears some truly devastating gossip (that holds at least some truth) that makes her question her entire dance career — in the middle of a major competition, no less.

Jai wants to be a doctor, but his family’s financial situation has convinced him (and only him *eyeroll*) that it’s impossible for him to study medicine without completely abandoning his family. (imma be real, at first i felt for him i really did, but the more he had this conversation with different people the more i got tired of his shit, which leads me into my next point)

Radha and Jai are such well written characters, both individually and as a couple, in my opinion. They both have full, complex personalities and a variety of relationships with other characters and they have amazing chemistry with each other. However, my favorite thing about them is that I was able to empathize with them and want to call them on their shit, which I think is a very important part of the reader/character dynamic.

The book featured a fun cast of characters and I wish we’d gotten to see more of them in the book, but not having that didn’t take away from the story at hand for me. Nisha Sharma’s writing is fun and swoony and makes for a very fast read so I would definitely love to read stories about other characters in this universe in the future, especially Shakti (you know you love her).

In conclusion, 10/10 Jesse’s would say that you should read this book and also, if you make Radha’s thanksgiving samosas I would love to hear about your experiences (i would make them myself but i hate sweet potatoes)

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