I've finally read this!
Soon Aunty V's oldest son Deven comes to the picture. After not seeing Jay for a long time, he makes remarks about how 'grown up' she is and later he makes some more creepy comment including calling Jay's legs sexy at some point.
Deven sexually assaults Jay at one point and eventually raped her which put Jay into a deep depression.
Healing is an important topic and a new character called Sita was introduced later on. I really liked her because she was so welcoming and simply a lovely person.
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| image source: Amazon Uk |
Savita Kalhan
Contemporary
Jay's creative writing exercise is to write a fairy tale, to end with 'they lived happily ever after'. But the way her life is panning out she's not sure it will ever reach that stage. A powerful moving gripping story which explores themes of family, loyalty and culture clash but is ultimately about hope and understanding.
(Taken from Goodreads)
Intermission: I got a signed review copy from the author and this have not influenced my review in any way.Thank you.
This book features a prologue that I found quite long at first but when I reached the right part that was connected to the prologue, it made much sense.
I really appreciated the representation. This is an #OwnVoices Indian novel and the protagonists come from a lower socio-economic background after previously being wealthy before. Her father's business failed and passed away soon afterwards.
This book does include the subject of rape and how Jay struggled to cope afterwards.
I could relate to Jay when it came to her having strict family members. Though I never lived with any of my aunts (or distant relatives) except on holiday, I am fully away of what it feels like to be restricted. However Jay didn't even have good wifi access so that's a completely different story. Fortunately, she likes reading books as well.
Though I definitely didn't dislike them, I wasn't the biggest fan of Jay's friends Chloe and Matt. I felt like they were just the white friends/characters who didn't understand the strict upbringings that certain POC would have. I didn't see why Matt was so appealing to Jay other than the fact that he was nice. <spoiler: And Chloe was Jay's friend as well but for a lot of time she was mentioned, it was because Jay was jealous about she and Matt hanging out without her because she's attracted to him>
I liked Ash who was Aunty V's younger son. He's two years older than Jay and he is brilliant but I didn't get to know more about him other than the fact that he's pretty shy and has nice friends. Then again, there is some distance between him and Jay.
Soon Aunty V's oldest son Deven comes to the picture. After not seeing Jay for a long time, he makes remarks about how 'grown up' she is and later he makes some more creepy comment including calling Jay's legs sexy at some point.
Deven sexually assaults Jay at one point and eventually raped her which put Jay into a deep depression.
Healing is an important topic and a new character called Sita was introduced later on. I really liked her because she was so welcoming and simply a lovely person.
"You are not dead, Jay. You are very much alive, and therefore you can heal."
As expected, she has an absolutely lovely personality but I would have liked more interactions with Sita and Jay's mum friendship and more conversations about Indian recipes.
Overall a very intriguing read with good writing but I wanted more from the side characters.
