I wanted to love this book so much. And I did kind of love it. But I also kind of hated it. A modern romance novel featuring a complicated and impossible love affair, three complicated families, and a Bollywood tie-in? Sign me up for that. Unfortunately the execution left me wanting more and not in a good way.
Mili Rathod was married off in tears when she was just 4 years old to 12-year-old Virat Rathod. A few years after their marriage, Virat, his mother, and brother move away from their small village in northern India to a larger city. She spends her entire childhood and young adult preparing herself to be the perfect air force officer’s wife. Mili and her naani (grandmother) give money and valuables to Virat’s grandfather to help save Virat’s ancestral home, Mili learns how to cook and run a home, and she also convinces her naani that she should be educated lest her husband find her stupid and unsophisticated. She spends years preparing herself for her husband’s return, but he never comes for her. Turns out that he hasn’t come for her because he doesn’t consider themselves actually married and has a wife and baby on the way. Events conspire and Virat sends his brother Samir to find Mili and conclusively make sure there are no legal ties or obligations between the couple. Wouldn’t want Virat’s baby to be a bastard. Things get complicated when Mili and Samir become friends and then fall in love.
This book isn’t without its strengths. Dev’s writing style is good and propels you forward. She does a great job creating many wonderful supporting characters, she’s funny, and she really brings all the settings and culture to life for the reader. Her descriptions of Indian food were delicious and I found myself craving samosas, daal, and curry for days. But where this book really let me down was in the main characters’ personalities and growth as people. This novel felt like a departure from traditional romance novels, but the characters hewed too close to traditional romance characters from years ago for my personal tastes. Samir is a good old-fashioned rake. He’s a big shot Bollywood director who sleeps with his actresses for weeks or months expecting them not to form any sort of emotional attachment with him and then gets cold and angry when they do. He lies and manipulates Mili throughout the entire book to the point where I couldn’t help but root for her to ditch his ass and find someone worthy of her. He uses his tragic backstory as an excuse for his bad behavior instead of experiencing character growth and taking responsibility for his poor choices. Mili is more likable, but she’s so similar to the traditional heroines of classic romantic comedies that I couldn’t help rolling my eyes every few pages. Tell me if you’ve seen this character before: a tiny woman who has GOALS, is smart, kind, and going places but is so klutzy that she can barely walk a staircase without dying and loves food so much that she practically makes love to it. And let’s not forget about Little Sam, aka Samir’s penis (yes really). Little Sam is practically the third protagonist in A Bollywood Affair. Let’s just say Little Sam loooovvvvvved any scene involving Mili and food.
I definitely have mixed feelings about this book. I guess I would recommend reading it if you’re looking for something new in romance or don’t care about ridiculous main characters. But if you’re like me and your love of a romance book really hinges on how much you like the characters, you might want to stay away.
There is nothing I hate more than the “too clumsy to live” thing. Where does that come from? Do women like this exist? Everybody I know seems to have mastered the technique of “climbing stairs” without issue. Why do heroines have to be incapable of walking?
Also is there a name for this? I think of it as the Bella Swan effect but it likely predates her…
I have never met this “too clumsy to live” character in real life, but too many times in literature and on the screen. I read somewhere that many writers use it as a way to give their characters a fault or seem more relatable without having to do some real characterization that might turn off some readers. Tv tropes calls it the Cute Clumsy Girl trope.
So many reviewers all over the internet have raved about this book, and I bought it in an e-book sale a while back. It’s interesting to read an articulate and thoughtful exploration of a book from someone who didn’t like it as much. I may move it further down my TBR list for now.
I think we read the same reviews, lol. But maybe if I had had lower expectations going in…
I think I’ll still pick up the next book by Dev when it comes out, just to give it a try. Maybe some of these issues will be gone since she’ll want to make the next book/characters different. She is a pretty good writer, so there’s hope!
That’s how I felt. I didn’t lovelove it, but I would like to read another book by her.
I *just* read this after the author was recommended on NPR! I really liked it and I really didn’t, but I guess I’ll have to save that for the review I need to get around to writing. Yours is so spot on I suspect mine will be redundant.
Did you hear about it on Pop Culture Happy Hour: Romance Edition too? That was such a good show! But I’m glad I’m not the only one who was iffy about this novel.