A review by sai_g
Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma

lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Being an Indian, I picked this book hoping to find bits and pieces to relate to. Boy was I wrong😒.

This book has a few good things which I would like to discuss first before ranting my head off. I think it described the feelings of children of immigrant Indians pretty well (the internal colonialism and the need to become successful not for themselves but to make their parents' struggles worthwhile) and the romance was considerably good.  

Note: I can't talk for the immigrant Indians because I am not one of them.

I also like that Kareena was so sure of what she wanted and didn't want. She never settled for less and I am going to take up that lesson.

Now onto the bad parts: This felt like a very bad bollywood movie where everything was stereotypical and unrelatable. 

The cringy writing made it difficult to read. The dialogues and character interactions were so unrealistic and made no sense. I had to stop reading for a few moments everytime something like that happened. My thoughts went like "Is that how anyone would react at that point? "

And there was this one scene where the main character (Kareena) tells her dad and grandma that they were being "shitty". WHAT?! So this was going to be a murder mystery where the prime suspects would be her grandma and dad? 
No. That scene ended there. And she was alive and well. The story was still a desi romance. 

"The Aunties" trope in desi books is honestly starting to ick me. I have loved stereotyped characters in desi books before, but i guess even the easy to please reader in me has a limit. 

Overall, not a good read. Maybe my expectations were in the wrong place. I didn't enjoy it and will not be reading the next books.