A review by caseythecanadianlesbrarian
All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Mathews

challenging emotional funny hopeful 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? Yes

5.0

I am at a loss for words with this book, which is truly a masterpiece, an incredible success in so many ways it's hard to know where to start. It's one of the best books I've ever read, one of the only books I've read that felt so viscerally real but at the same time so brilliantly crafted as a work of fiction. The sentences frequently stunned me with their sharp insight, exquisite beauty. 

It's an intimate, generous, and honest portrait of Sneha, a woman in her early 20s. Sneha is an aloof, emotionally cautious woman making her way in that daunting post-college period in an American recession as an immigrant from India. Her parents have returned to India, the reason why a slow unfolding as the story inches forward. 

The novel focuses as much on friendship, work, and the practical details of life as it does on Sneha's first major romantic relationship, with a New Jersey dancer named Marina. Her evolving friendship with Tig – a fellow queer person of colour Sneha originally meets on a dating app – is a highlight. Her racist, passive aggressive property manager sent chills down my spine and brought back harsh memories of the brutalities of renting. 

There's an ample amount of food and sex in this book, described so lusciously it almost hurt to read. The constant bearing down of capitalism, the small (and not so small) indignities Sneha endures at work are difficult to endure, painful to read in an entirely different way. I've never read such a millennial book, one that felt written by and for our generation, one that felt so recognizably like my own and my friends' lives. What a gift. 

If you only read one contemporary / lit fic book this year, All This Could Be Different should be it. If you read audiobooks, I definitely recommend that format, majestically performed by Reena Dutt. 

Read Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya's review at Autostraddle for a much more eloquent take on why this novel is so amazing: https://www.autostraddle.com/all-this-could-be-different-review/.

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