#sonali dev

Just Finished: Recipe for Persuasion (The Rajes #2)

Louis Sachar, Holes

An example of kintsukuroi (via)

Tom Atkins’ commentary on his poem, The Fixing of Broken Things

Lauren Oliver, Pandemonium

Coldplay, Fix You

Amy Licence, Catherine of Aragon: An Intimate Life of Henry VIII’s True Wife

An example of kintsukuroi (via)

Our July romance roundup is here, full of political intrigue, pulse-pounding peril ... and AIRSHIP PIRATES. Check it out here if you need a little something-something to shake off the late-July torpor!

Austen retellings are my kryptonite. Some would say "it is a truth universally acknowledged." And this one sounded promising with its Indian American twist and its gender-swapped Emma and Knightley stand-in protagonists, Naina and Vansh. However, while I loved the contemporary soul of the story with its humanitarian project focus and its doting yet interfering family dynamics, I had a hard time connecting with the characters. They fell flat, failed to draw me in. Naina and Vansh's romance didn't entice overmuch either, unfortunately. Their friends with benefits arrangement felt stilted and strange, not because I dislike that trope, it's one of my favorites, but because I think it was hard for me to imagine Emma and Knightley as two no-feelings-but-horny-for-each-other all the time childhood friends. It didn't work for me. Their banter was fun, though. Believable for a pair of people who have known each other their whole lives. I chuckled a few times during their exchanges. This was a miss for me. I think a lot of Austen-loving contemporary romance fans will find much to love from this book, but it wasn't my cup of tea. Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Harper and Voyager for the ARC in exchange for my review.

2/5 stars

#OwnVoices novels often deal with serious social issues and these stories are no exception. 

But they're really funny, too.

[ID: Six book covers, listed below, with the hashtag Own Voices between the top three and the bottom three /ID]

(Editor’s note: Own Voices books are books with minority/marginalized characters written by authors who share that aspect of their characters’ identity.)

You Had Me at Hola by Alexis Daria

Rendered the subject of tabloid gossip by a messy public breakup, soap star Jasmine takes a part in a new bilingual comedy at the side of a telenovela costar who would revitalize his career.

Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert

Emerging from a life-threatening illness, a fiercely organized but unfulfilled computer geek recruits a mysterious artist to help her establish meaning in her life, before finding herself engaged in reckless but thrilling activities.

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

After accidentally causing the death of a blind date, Meddy is persuaded by her meddlesome Chinese-Indonesian mother and aunts to dispose of the body, which upends a billionaire’s wedding and Meddy’s reunion with a former flame.

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev

A neurosurgeon from a politically ambitious immigrant family clashes with a talented dessert chef looking to prove he is more than his pedigree.

Written in the Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

A lighthearted romance depicts the experiences of a free-spirited social media astrologer who agrees to a fake relationship with a no-nonsense actuary to appease their respective families.

Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall

When his rock-star father’s comeback leads to unwanted attention, Luc fabricates a respectable relationship with a man with whom he shares nothing in common. But his publicity-friendly dates become complicated by all-too-real feelings.

(All summaries provided by @novelistra​!)

~ books read in 2021 ~

#18: Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev