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A review by discarded_dust_jacket
Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev
Did not finish book. Stopped at 26%.
I know that the beginning of P&P is meant to lean into the characters’ flaws, but I found both protagonists to be deeply unlikeable and it made it hard to want to watch them fall in love.
I also thought it was overwritten. For every piece of dialogue or action, it felt like there was a disproportionate amount of internal exposition, which made it feel like a chore to push through.
And lastly, I wasn’t comfortable with this story involving the manipulation or coercion of a terminally ill person into undergoing treatment they are unwilling to, even if it means saving their life. When Trisha remarks to her boss that since her patients didn’t go through medical school like her, they aren’t properly equipped to make decisions about their own treatment, it made me viscerally angry. And maybe her gross opinions about her patients’ bodily autonomy are meant to be something that change as the story progresses—like maybe that’s how she grows as a character—but it still didn’t sit right with me, and I didn’t want to continue.
I also thought it was overwritten. For every piece of dialogue or action, it felt like there was a disproportionate amount of internal exposition, which made it feel like a chore to push through.
And lastly, I wasn’t comfortable with this story involving the manipulation or coercion of a terminally ill person into undergoing treatment they are unwilling to, even if it means saving their life. When Trisha remarks to her boss that since her patients didn’t go through medical school like her, they aren’t properly equipped to make decisions about their own treatment, it made me viscerally angry. And maybe her gross opinions about her patients’ bodily autonomy are meant to be something that change as the story progresses—like maybe that’s how she grows as a character—but it still didn’t sit right with me, and I didn’t want to continue.