A review by vita_s_west
Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier

4.0

This is an engaging and complex read that covers a lot of notable topics entwined with growing up; cultural appropriation, diaspora, life as a second generation immigrant, etc. The book was filled with lively and diverse characters with their own struggles and backstory. The one draw back was that it was a little too long. Born Confused was flush with background, subplots and rich descriptions of setting, so the length had much less to do with poor writing than with poor editing. The author had a clear set up from the beginning and much of the course of the book clear from page 100. However, the results didn't occur for another 300 pages. While this was too many pages to be concise, it does not necessarily mean that they were not well written or enjoyable pages. The voice and the narration were entertaining and the drama was involving. It was just longer than it needed to be.