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A review by mostlyshanti
Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier
4.0
there were a lot of really good things about Born Confused. I loved the diversity, the use of Indian culture, and the relationship between friends. However, the nature of the romance annoyed me, and I don't think that it was, the defining novel for a generation of American immigrants especially Indian ones. I am an Indian- New Zealander who has lived in both places, and I didn't find that I identified with Dimple more than any other character. Maybe my expectations were too high.
This book is diverse. it had a lot of discussion about culture, cultural appropriation, the ownership of culture and the difference between folk and pop culture, and how that matters to young people. It's more than a Human Geography textbook though. As well as the awesome and though provoking discussions between Dimple and particularly Gwyn and Karsh around culture, there was lots of diversity. Firstly, Dimple had a passion, photography. That's not a particularly unusual interest in YA books but this was film photography, with developing rooms and everything, which was really cool. There were also lesbian and transgender characters, and they weren't token, either. This novel was massive, and there was time for each of them to develop. I also loved the parents. Their religion was talked about quite a bit, and that was fascinating- I know lots about Hinduism, living where I do, but I loved how it was incorporated into the story, along with Dimples fabulous, fabulous parents.
The relationships in this book were perfect (almost. Perfectly written at least) I would argue that the central relationship is between Gwyn and Dimple, and the evolution of that relationship was done really well. I think that one of the main reasons this story worked is that Dimple is a deliciously complex character. She has insecurites, and struggles and fears and dreams and she doesn't know quite where she's going. Born Confused certainly fits in the the 'coming of age' category, and in terms of the relationships, that was done fabulously. Her relationship with her parents was great. She loved them to bits but they were also embarrassing and confusing and trying to do a little marriage arrangment and I don't even know how it worked, but it was real Karsh and his complexities were complexly explored too, and so was Kavita "I just want to be a woman who loves Sabina" was a line that almost made me cry.
The plot was fairly typical contemporary' you know 'the whole way I see the world has just changed", but the story still kept me (mostly) interested.
So the place where this book falls short is the romance. It's very will they-won't they, and I got very frustrated of Karsh playing with hearts. he was a perfectly likeable guy, but Dimple just melted when he was around, and the way it turned out was pretty obvious. I seem to just really dislike it when guys get in the way of friendships, and that was certainly a major part of the breakdown between Gwyn and Dimple. At least it was temporary I also didn't really identify. I don't go to parties (it's the boarding school), I don't do the things or think the things that Dimple does, even though she was an interesting character.
Still however, I reccommend this book to anyone who likes complex Heroines, New York City and entertaining discussion of culture.
This book is diverse. it had a lot of discussion about culture, cultural appropriation, the ownership of culture and the difference between folk and pop culture, and how that matters to young people. It's more than a Human Geography textbook though. As well as the awesome and though provoking discussions between Dimple and particularly Gwyn and Karsh around culture, there was lots of diversity. Firstly, Dimple had a passion, photography. That's not a particularly unusual interest in YA books but this was film photography, with developing rooms and everything, which was really cool. There were also lesbian and transgender characters, and they weren't token, either. This novel was massive, and there was time for each of them to develop. I also loved the parents. Their religion was talked about quite a bit, and that was fascinating- I know lots about Hinduism, living where I do, but I loved how it was incorporated into the story, along with Dimples fabulous, fabulous parents.
The relationships in this book were perfect (almost. Perfectly written at least) I would argue that the central relationship is between Gwyn and Dimple, and the evolution of that relationship was done really well. I think that one of the main reasons this story worked is that Dimple is a deliciously complex character. She has insecurites, and struggles and fears and dreams and she doesn't know quite where she's going. Born Confused certainly fits in the the 'coming of age' category, and in terms of the relationships, that was done fabulously. Her relationship with her parents was great. She loved them to bits but they were also embarrassing and confusing and trying to do a little marriage arrangment and I don't even know how it worked, but it was real Karsh and his complexities were complexly explored too, and so was Kavita "I just want to be a woman who loves Sabina" was a line that almost made me cry.
The plot was fairly typical contemporary' you know 'the whole way I see the world has just changed", but the story still kept me (mostly) interested.
So the place where this book falls short is the romance. It's very will they-won't they, and I got very frustrated of Karsh playing with hearts. he was a perfectly likeable guy, but Dimple just melted when he was around, and the way it turned out was pretty obvious. I seem to just really dislike it when guys get in the way of friendships, and that was certainly a major part of the
Still however, I reccommend this book to anyone who likes complex Heroines, New York City and entertaining discussion of culture.