Scan barcode
A review by a_perennial_reader
American Betiya by Anuradha D. Rajurkar
3.0
I have mixed feelings about this book.
I absolutely loved the way the complexity of relationships in an Indian family is portrayed in this book. It was real, relatable and also, so comforting! Rani loves and respects her parents and does not want to hurt them. But she also likes Oliver and wants to explore having a relationship with him. Its like her two worlds have collided once she starts dating Oliver and that was all too relatable and beautifully portrayed.
I loved Rani's relationship with her grandparents. Her Aaji and Aajoba are such sweethearts, and they encourage Rani to chase her dreams and do better.
Kate and Shalini are simply amazing! We need ladies like these two in our girl gang!
The story makes a very important point. If there is any topic or situation that makes them uncomfortable, Indian parents and elders always sweep it under the rug and treat is as a taboo. This was hard hitting. But I am so happy that this was highlighted in the story. It is necessary to discussing topics even if they make us uncomfortable. Ignoring the problem never helps.
There were things that I did not like in this book. The pacing falls off in the middle of the book. There is a lot of Telling rather than Showing and I am not a fan of this narrative.
There is a part in the book where Rani visits India. She is writing a letter to Kate and one of the reasons she is writing a hand written note and not communicating via Internet is because she says that the WiFi is so bad, she cannot even send one email. Now this could be true if we were in rural parts of India. But Rani is in Pune and Pune is a big metropolitan city. Rani not finding good WiFi in Pune is so ridiculous!!
In her letter to Kate, Rani also mentions that she spotted an elephant roaming around the streets in Pune. Again, this part was so ridiculous! You will see cows and stray dogs and cats in the streets in India all the time. But elephant?! Really?!
Western countries have always had this incorrect notion about Indian; that it's underdeveloped and lacking. The above two points just strength those notions.
While on one hand, the story is trying to shed light over microaggressions and racism faced by brown people in US, on other hand, it is strengthening the prejudices against India via the above two points.
These are minor things in terms of the plot and the overall story, but they still affected me.
I would still like to recommend this book to people, because this book sheds light on important issues like racial discrimination and finding one's identity.
I absolutely loved the way the complexity of relationships in an Indian family is portrayed in this book. It was real, relatable and also, so comforting! Rani loves and respects her parents and does not want to hurt them. But she also likes Oliver and wants to explore having a relationship with him. Its like her two worlds have collided once she starts dating Oliver and that was all too relatable and beautifully portrayed.
I loved Rani's relationship with her grandparents. Her Aaji and Aajoba are such sweethearts, and they encourage Rani to chase her dreams and do better.
Kate and Shalini are simply amazing! We need ladies like these two in our girl gang!
The story makes a very important point. If there is any topic or situation that makes them uncomfortable, Indian parents and elders always sweep it under the rug and treat is as a taboo. This was hard hitting. But I am so happy that this was highlighted in the story. It is necessary to discussing topics even if they make us uncomfortable. Ignoring the problem never helps.
There were things that I did not like in this book. The pacing falls off in the middle of the book. There is a lot of Telling rather than Showing and I am not a fan of this narrative.
There is a part in the book where Rani visits India. She is writing a letter to Kate and one of the reasons she is writing a hand written note and not communicating via Internet is because she says that the WiFi is so bad, she cannot even send one email. Now this could be true if we were in rural parts of India. But Rani is in Pune and Pune is a big metropolitan city. Rani not finding good WiFi in Pune is so ridiculous!!
In her letter to Kate, Rani also mentions that she spotted an elephant roaming around the streets in Pune. Again, this part was so ridiculous! You will see cows and stray dogs and cats in the streets in India all the time. But elephant?! Really?!
Western countries have always had this incorrect notion about Indian; that it's underdeveloped and lacking. The above two points just strength those notions.
While on one hand, the story is trying to shed light over microaggressions and racism faced by brown people in US, on other hand, it is strengthening the prejudices against India via the above two points.
These are minor things in terms of the plot and the overall story, but they still affected me.
I would still like to recommend this book to people, because this book sheds light on important issues like racial discrimination and finding one's identity.