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mnboyer 's review for:
A Bollywood Affair
by Sonali Dev
I hardly ever give up on a book, but at 125 pages in I decided I could not keep reading. There are just too many books and so little time. I picked this up wanting it to be a great Indian romance. After all, marginalized groups need to be highlighted in the romance genre, and I will say this is an authentically Indian story. It instantly begins dealing with "child weddings" and that is an issue definitely worthy of discussion. A romance novel is a unique place to have this discussion and I think it starts to touch upon some great theory. The food within the novel is authentically Indian and really leaves you wanting to go eat great Indian food. The family's reaction to young women wanting to follow their heart and marry the 'wrong guy' (the one the family did not pick out) is so authentic (for really any culture, but so great for Indian culture). So, rest assured, there are elements here that should make this a really good, really authentic Indian romance.
Where did it lose me then? Our heroine cannot even walk without falling over, tripping, injuring herself. Barf, honestly, barf. Why does our heroine have to be so helpless? One of the main guys in the story even mentions it in his thoughts -- that is a sign we have an issue! We need a stronger, more independent woman to start with.
Say what you will, the main man is just a jerk. He's constantly doing things that, in real life, you would say "he's an ass" and you'd never deal with him again. Combine these two things and you have such a great world with which to work in good characters and you end up with boring, silly characters. I finally gave up. I wanted to love it but with this damsel in distress (constantly) nonsense, and all of her crying (seriously, get her help, she cries way, way too much!), and the jerk of a leading man, I just could no longer stick through this.
Where did it lose me then? Our heroine cannot even walk without falling over, tripping, injuring herself. Barf, honestly, barf. Why does our heroine have to be so helpless? One of the main guys in the story even mentions it in his thoughts -- that is a sign we have an issue! We need a stronger, more independent woman to start with.
Say what you will, the main man is just a jerk. He's constantly doing things that, in real life, you would say "he's an ass" and you'd never deal with him again. Combine these two things and you have such a great world with which to work in good characters and you end up with boring, silly characters. I finally gave up. I wanted to love it but with this damsel in distress (constantly) nonsense, and all of her crying (seriously, get her help, she cries way, way too much!), and the jerk of a leading man, I just could no longer stick through this.