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A review by starryeyedenigma
Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon
4.0
A desi/Indian re-telling of one of my favorite fairy tales- Beauty and the Beast, by a soon turning out to be a go-to author for romances with Indian protagonists - Sandhya Menon. It was all that I had expected and more :)
I've only read one other book by Sandhya - When Dimple met Rishi, but now Im thinking I should quickly read all her books.
What I liked the most about both the books I've read by her, is her apt representation of the Indian Young Adult. Although, Im not a young adult anymore, there are many cultural references and themes that I'm sure every Indian girl can relate to, from her stories. The romances in her stories are real, the kind you can relate to, not far fetched or impossible sounding. Even if its a fairy tale retelling with Princesses and Dukes, I could still believe that this story could be anyone's love story really.
She does her protagonists well - both the books I read had elder/older siblings as the protagonists and oh my gosh, could I relate to that 'I need to be the perfect daughter for my parents, or I need to stand up for their values syndrome', that she writes about in both her books! We're all about being perpetually torn between keeping up with the times and trying to salvage our culture and show our love and respect towards our parents by almost letting them dictate our lives :)
But even more than the protagonists, I like the supporting cast in her books. The parents are like my parents, strict but loving at the same time. The siblings are like mine - wild and lovable. The friends are like the people I know, unsure, but having each other's backs and being extremely funny. In this book, I loved Rahul's character, he cracked me up! I liked the way Jaya doesn't shun or judge the school Diva Catarina or Daphne for their choices. That takes a lot of character.
This is going to be a series of romances from the St Rosetta Academy and I'm curious to see which story is going to be next. I liked how this time the author played out a mixed race romance featuring an Indian and a Britisher :)
So all in all, keeping in tune with her usual light hearted writing style with great characters and story setting, I enjoyed reading this YA romance :)
I've only read one other book by Sandhya - When Dimple met Rishi, but now Im thinking I should quickly read all her books.
What I liked the most about both the books I've read by her, is her apt representation of the Indian Young Adult. Although, Im not a young adult anymore, there are many cultural references and themes that I'm sure every Indian girl can relate to, from her stories. The romances in her stories are real, the kind you can relate to, not far fetched or impossible sounding. Even if its a fairy tale retelling with Princesses and Dukes, I could still believe that this story could be anyone's love story really.
She does her protagonists well - both the books I read had elder/older siblings as the protagonists and oh my gosh, could I relate to that 'I need to be the perfect daughter for my parents, or I need to stand up for their values syndrome', that she writes about in both her books! We're all about being perpetually torn between keeping up with the times and trying to salvage our culture and show our love and respect towards our parents by almost letting them dictate our lives :)
But even more than the protagonists, I like the supporting cast in her books. The parents are like my parents, strict but loving at the same time. The siblings are like mine - wild and lovable. The friends are like the people I know, unsure, but having each other's backs and being extremely funny. In this book, I loved Rahul's character, he cracked me up! I liked the way Jaya doesn't shun or judge the school Diva Catarina or Daphne for their choices. That takes a lot of character.
This is going to be a series of romances from the St Rosetta Academy and I'm curious to see which story is going to be next. I liked how this time the author played out a mixed race romance featuring an Indian and a Britisher :)
So all in all, keeping in tune with her usual light hearted writing style with great characters and story setting, I enjoyed reading this YA romance :)