#17, 50 PoC Book Review

[brigdh]

17. Kashmira Sheth, Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet

Jeeta, a funny, sarcastic sixteen-year-old living in Mumbai, is the youngest of three sisters. Her mother arranges marriages for her older two sisters, but Jeeta is more interested in meeting a boy for herself and dating, rather than deciding to get married based on a few short meetings. Meanwhile, it's her final year of school, and Jeeta needs to decide if she wants to devote enough time to her studies to go to college and, if so, to study what her family wants ("men like a woman with a science degree") or what she wants (law - since she's so good at arguing).

This book skews a bit younger than what I tend to read, even for YA, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. The descriptions of the sights and scents of Mumbai (and especially the food! I loved that there were so many scenes of people eating and cooking) are vivid and well-described. Jeeta's narrative voice has a very distinct rhythm, which threw me off for the first few pages, but I grew to adore its specific flow and style. I also like that the problems presented in the book are fairly complicated; for instance, while some of the arranged marriages depicted have serious problems and don't work out, others work very well, making the people in them happy. I haven't read much set in modern Mumbai, and I really had fun with this book.

Crossposted to 50books_poc

Comments

[cellophane_ria.livejournal.com]

You keep posting reviews of books I'd love to read:) I have a special wish list on my bookstore account with books you recced/mentioned waiting for better times:) That one especially sounds interesting - the image of modern india in pop culture is so contradictory that I keep looking for different sources in the silly hope that there is somewhere a true one... :)

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Aw, I'm so glad to know my recs are working! I did like this book especially, but so many of them have been good!