thestorydragon 's review for:

Payal Mehta's Romance Revenge Plot by Preeti Chhibber

3.75

funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Pros:
✨Identity Exploration
✨Depiction of 1st Love
✨Cultures and Diversity

Cons:
✨Contrived Sub-Plot
 

A striking YA romance, this novel follows Payal Mehta as she sets out to teach her crush about his “baby racisms” (microaggressions), and in turn must analyze her own identity as having Indian heritage, but being 1st generation American. This is definitely a young adult novel, meaning anyone not in high school who picks this up will probably be exasperated by the drama in the sub plots. However, they way this novel approaches themes of prejudice, identity, friendship, culture clash, and first loves, is handled beautifully. Payal is a protagonist any 1st generation American can identify with, and the plot provides an opportunity for multi-generation Americans to learn from.

The way Jon (the white-boy crush) comes across as naive more than outright cruel in his “baby racisms” makes this novel approachable in a teen setting and provides a multitude of teaching moments. My one big beef with the book is the conflict between Neil and Payal. It’s SO contrived, and felt wholly unnecessary. I honest to goodness did not like Neil and, even by the end, didn’t understand his perspective. Maybe if Payal had made no attempt to reach out to him or contact him? But she did everything she could to see her friend, short of showing up at his house and banging on his door. I have no idea what this conflict was meant to add. It was pointless and wasn’t believable, and because it took up such a large chunk of the plot, it did have an impact on my rating.