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A review by onthesamepage
The Arctic Curry Club by Dani Redd
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
3.0
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Maya leaves her entire world behind to accompany her boyfriend to the Arctic. But it's a harsh environment, especially in the winter, and Maya finds herself struggling. After a trip to Bangalore for her father's wedding and a less than warm welcome back to the Arctic, Maya finds refuge in her mother's old recipe book, and decides to prove to everyone that she can thrive, even in this hostile environment.
So this was a bit of a heavier read than I was anticipating, but I think that is actually a good thing. Don't be fooled by the cover: I know it screams "cute wintery romance" but that's really not what this is. I appreciated that there was more to this story than a simple, light-hearted romance. There is a lot of exploration of mental health and the way anxiety and depression can be affected by your environment. Maya also doesn't have any childhood memories, something which has been chalked up to trauma due to immigrating as a child. But returning to Bangalore unexpectedly forces her to confront the gaps in her mind. I liked the journey she went on, and how we as readers discovered her story alongside her.
I found some of Maya's reasoning highly suspect (like following your boyfriend to the coldest place on Earth, or inviting a friend to the Arctic "for the weekend"--it's a 37-40 HOURS FLIGHT), but ignoring that, she's a pretty relatable and likeable character. The thing that bothered me the most is probably all the lists; Maya calls it her way of coping with anxiety, but I was really not interested in lists of all the times this or that happened to her and ended up skipping a couple of the longer ones because I couldn't be bothered.
On the upside, this book has plenty of mouth-watering descriptions of Indian cuisine, although I think I'll stick to chicken as a main protein rather than reindeer.
Maya leaves her entire world behind to accompany her boyfriend to the Arctic. But it's a harsh environment, especially in the winter, and Maya finds herself struggling. After a trip to Bangalore for her father's wedding and a less than warm welcome back to the Arctic, Maya finds refuge in her mother's old recipe book, and decides to prove to everyone that she can thrive, even in this hostile environment.
So this was a bit of a heavier read than I was anticipating, but I think that is actually a good thing. Don't be fooled by the cover: I know it screams "cute wintery romance" but that's really not what this is. I appreciated that there was more to this story than a simple, light-hearted romance. There is a lot of exploration of mental health and the way anxiety and depression can be affected by your environment. Maya also doesn't have any childhood memories, something which has been chalked up to trauma due to immigrating as a child. But returning to Bangalore unexpectedly forces her to confront the gaps in her mind. I liked the journey she went on, and how we as readers discovered her story alongside her.
I found some of Maya's reasoning highly suspect (like following your boyfriend to the coldest place on Earth, or inviting a friend to the Arctic "for the weekend"--it's a 37-40 HOURS FLIGHT), but ignoring that, she's a pretty relatable and likeable character. The thing that bothered me the most is probably all the lists; Maya calls it her way of coping with anxiety, but I was really not interested in lists of all the times this or that happened to her and ended up skipping a couple of the longer ones because I couldn't be bothered.
On the upside, this book has plenty of mouth-watering descriptions of Indian cuisine, although I think I'll stick to chicken as a main protein rather than reindeer.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Fatphobia
Minor: Suicide and Sexual assault