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A review by bluenicorn
American Betiya by Anuradha D. Rajurkar
4.0
As much as this should be lauded for representing Indian American/diverse characters and themes, I hope it doesn't get reduced to "just" that (as important as that is). Because this was a really solid work of young adult fiction, period. Rani is a well-formed, complex character and she finds her first romance to be wonderful, but complicated- as they so often are.
I really appreciated the exploration of micro-aggressions and the discussion of racism; so many books think they have to write about "big racism," but insidious, casual, subtly racist barbs (calling her "Princess Jasmine" (wtf?) are just as important to acknowledge. It's also useful for readers to see that just because someone like Rani "lets" others call her that, it doesn't mean she's okay with it and it doesn't mean it's okay to say. Hopefully it will make readers think and do some self-reflection.
Similarly, her complicated romance explores some issues that I don't see crop up very often, but are very realistic when discussing young/first relationships. There are issues of boundaries being disrespected, codependency, racial fetishizing, and sexual pressure/emotional manipulation. This is the kind of stuff that happens all of the time in new/young relationships, but I don't think it exactly comes up in "the talk" from parents (if you even get that!). I know I certainly acquired most of my (incredibly unrealistic) relationship expectations from magazines, movies, books and tv, so I feel it's really important to start introducing these topics in media young people are consuming.
Even new adults would probably get quite a bit out of this one, if interested in relationships, female empowerment, and Indian-American culture.
I really appreciated the exploration of micro-aggressions and the discussion of racism; so many books think they have to write about "big racism," but insidious, casual, subtly racist barbs (calling her "Princess Jasmine" (wtf?) are just as important to acknowledge. It's also useful for readers to see that just because someone like Rani "lets" others call her that, it doesn't mean she's okay with it and it doesn't mean it's okay to say. Hopefully it will make readers think and do some self-reflection.
Similarly, her complicated romance explores some issues that I don't see crop up very often, but are very realistic when discussing young/first relationships. There are issues of boundaries being disrespected, codependency, racial fetishizing, and sexual pressure/emotional manipulation. This is the kind of stuff that happens all of the time in new/young relationships, but I don't think it exactly comes up in "the talk" from parents (if you even get that!). I know I certainly acquired most of my (incredibly unrealistic) relationship expectations from magazines, movies, books and tv, so I feel it's really important to start introducing these topics in media young people are consuming.
Even new adults would probably get quite a bit out of this one, if interested in relationships, female empowerment, and Indian-American culture.