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A review by lassarina
The Bollywood Bride by Sonali Dev
4.0
If you're looking for intense emotional drama, second-chance romance, so much food porn and clothing porn, delicious sexy scenes, and a look into Indian-American culture, this book is for you.
Unlike many romance novels, this is told solely from Ria's point of view (without being first-person), which leaves us with only Vikram's actions and words to judge him by. Unfortunately, for the first half of the book, that judgment comes up as you're a raging douchenozzle. He makes a point of hurting Ria's feelings, he's cold and harsh and vicious towards her. Granted, he has cause; because of her, he's been physically assaulted and she definitely broke his heart in an especially epic way.
This book focuses not just on Ria and Vikram's relationship, though that would provide plenty of drama in and of itself, but also amid the breakneck pace of preparing for a full, traditional Indian wedding. We get tons of loving detail about the food (oh, the food, I was hungry for most of this book) and the clothes, and everything is a whirl of glorious color and shape and scent and sound. The book is set near Chicago, and so many of the little details ring true--I'm not specifically familiar with the Indian-American community here beyond a few friends, but the setting reads right to me.
There are lots of beautiful little context details about the cultural notes so that someone not familiar with Bollywood or Indian-American communities isn't lost; usually not direct translation, but enough context to bring understanding.
The book is doing a lot of heavy lifting around mental illness and how it impacts Ria's life and also how it's treated by the cultures she's in. I honestly found myself crying for the last twenty percent of it, not in a bad way, but just because I was feeling so emotionally wrapped up in it. This book emphatically does not lack for conflict and that makes it kind of a wild and exhausting ride, but it also makes it feel more like the happy ending is earned.
I think I'll definitely look up other Sonali Dev books, because I really enjoyed this one.
Unlike many romance novels, this is told solely from Ria's point of view (without being first-person), which leaves us with only Vikram's actions and words to judge him by. Unfortunately, for the first half of the book, that judgment comes up as you're a raging douchenozzle. He makes a point of hurting Ria's feelings, he's cold and harsh and vicious towards her. Granted, he has cause; because of her, he's been physically assaulted and she definitely broke his heart in an especially epic way.
This book focuses not just on Ria and Vikram's relationship, though that would provide plenty of drama in and of itself, but also amid the breakneck pace of preparing for a full, traditional Indian wedding. We get tons of loving detail about the food (oh, the food, I was hungry for most of this book) and the clothes, and everything is a whirl of glorious color and shape and scent and sound. The book is set near Chicago, and so many of the little details ring true--I'm not specifically familiar with the Indian-American community here beyond a few friends, but the setting reads right to me.
There are lots of beautiful little context details about the cultural notes so that someone not familiar with Bollywood or Indian-American communities isn't lost; usually not direct translation, but enough context to bring understanding.
The book is doing a lot of heavy lifting around mental illness and how it impacts Ria's life and also how it's treated by the cultures she's in. I honestly found myself crying for the last twenty percent of it, not in a bad way, but just because I was feeling so emotionally wrapped up in it. This book emphatically does not lack for conflict and that makes it kind of a wild and exhausting ride, but it also makes it feel more like the happy ending is earned.
I think I'll definitely look up other Sonali Dev books, because I really enjoyed this one.