Name: Somya Verma's review of Sari, Not Sari by Sonya Singh
Item: Sari, Not Sari
Rating: 1.5
Author: Somya Verma

Sonya Singh

This delightful debut rom-com follows the adventures of a woman trying to connect with her South Asian roots and introduces readers to a memorable cast of characters in a veritable feast of food, family traditions, and fun. Manny Dogra is the beautiful young CEO of Breakup, a highly successful company that helps people manage their relationship breakups. As preoccupied as she is with her business, she’s also planning her wedding to handsome architect Adam Jamieson while dealing with the loss of her beloved parents. For reasons Manny has never understood, her mother and father, who were both born in India, always wanted her to become an “All-American” girl. So that’s what she did. She knows next to nothing about her South Asian heritage, and that’s never been a problem—until her parents are no longer around, and an image of Manny that’s been Photoshopped to make her skin look more white appears on a major magazine cover. Suddenly, the woman who built an empire encouraging people to be true to themselves is having her own identity crisis. But when an irritating client named Sammy Patel approaches Manny with an odd breakup request, the perfect solution presents itself: If they both agree to certain terms, he’ll give her a crash course in being “Indian” at his brother’s wedding. What follows is days of dancing and dal, masala and mehndi as Manny meets the lovable, if endlessly interfering, aunties and uncles of the Patel family, and, along the way, discovers much more than she could ever have anticipated.

Sari, Not Sari

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

Ok so I like the concept and it is an overall cutesy story.

There were lots of (intentionally?) problematic moments (Mr. “I don’t see color” for starters but that was the whole point of his character so I’ll let it slide).

Something I’ve noticed with a lot of Indian-American books is that 1. They’re written for non-Indians and 2. The main character is always more “American” than “Indian” as they describe themselves. Both of these trends are fine but it all comes down to how the author narrates this.

In this book,  it’s stereotype after stereotype and Manny is just so extremely on one side of the spectrum that it’s actually incredibly aggravating. For one, the whole “Indian Standard Time”/ POC time, saying “namaste”, etc. I think are widely known concepts so how is it possible she doesn’t know any of these things? Also, work is her family so through at least Anjali she should have previously known that there can be issues in more traditional families when they try to marry outside of their culture. Now I’m not entirely familiar with the demographic in the area where she grew up but I think Sammy did mention assuming she dated Indians because of where she lived so I’m also a little alarmed that she knew absolutely nothing about what they did? Not dating any of them/not having them as friends is fine but the way she was so incredibly separated from it it feels more like an active decision to avoid so I was a bit pissed that she kept blaming her parents for her lack of “Indianness” but like girl did you even ask them anything or look at the other people surrounding you?

I’ll admit I need to be reminded of when Diwali and other festivals are so I completely understand that and the not listening to or knowing any Bollywood movies or songs are completely up to an individuals taste so I actually have no issue with that part at all. But that’s where I would like a bit of middle ground in how extreme authors tend to go to prove how much the MC is struggling with their sense of self.

By the end of it I’m so perplexed how Manny is somehow in love with Sammy when from what was written, she spent majority of the wedding with Manisha and the cousins. And the fight at the end just seems so stupid but don’t worry he does propose (after a week of knowing each other and two of those “in love”

Somya Verma

Ok so I like the concept and it is an overall cutesy story.

There were lots of (intentionally?) problematic moments (Mr. “I don’t see color” for starters but that was the whole point of his character so I’ll let it slide).

Something I’ve noticed with a lot of Indian-American books is that 1. They’re written for non-Indians and 2. The main character is always more “American” than “Indian” as they describe themselves. Both of these trends are fine but it all comes down to how the author narrates this.

In this book,  it’s stereotype after stereotype and Manny is just so extremely on one side of the spectrum that it’s actually incredibly aggravating. For one, the whole “Indian Standard Time”/ POC time, saying “namaste”, etc. I think are widely known concepts so how is it possible she doesn’t know any of these things? Also, work is her family so through at least Anjali she should have previously known that there can be issues in more traditional families when they try to marry outside of their culture. Now I’m not entirely familiar with the demographic in the area where she grew up but I think Sammy did mention assuming she dated Indians because of where she lived so I’m also a little alarmed that she knew absolutely nothing about what they did? Not dating any of them/not having them as friends is fine but the way she was so incredibly separated from it it feels more like an active decision to avoid so I was a bit pissed that she kept blaming her parents for her lack of “Indianness” but like girl did you even ask them anything or look at the other people surrounding you?

I’ll admit I need to be reminded of when Diwali and other festivals are so I completely understand that and the not listening to or knowing any Bollywood movies or songs are completely up to an individuals taste so I actually have no issue with that part at all. But that’s where I would like a bit of middle ground in how extreme authors tend to go to prove how much the MC is struggling with their sense of self.

Spoilerish:

By the end of it I’m so perplexed how Manny is somehow in love with Sammy when from what was written, she spent majority of the wedding with Manisha and the cousins. And the fight at the end just seems so stupid but don’t worry he does propose (after a week of knowing each other and two of those “in love”

sydney

This book is so cute!! I loved seeing Manny discovering a part of herself and falling in love in the process. I do wish there were less priankya chopra references but other than that I loved it.

I received a copy through netgalley.

taryn

Very light and easy read! With all romcoms, there is a suspension of reality that I can get behind, like Manny’s company Breakup - I don’t really think it’d be a viable company, but it’s fun to believe for the romcom world.

Uneven pace, it felt really rushed at the end. I would have loved to not have Manny need to be defined by her love interests, first Adam and then Sammy. I love a happy ending for romance, but a happy ending doesn’t need to be “I love you” and “let’s get married”. It felt like neither of them really ended their previous relationships before being in love with each other. 

For Manny, finding herself after grieving her parents and finding an opportunity to potentially love again with Sammy would have been a better ending for me. But falling in love after only knowing each other a week? While dealing with her own personal life and relationship? The week-long timeline was hard to buy into for me especially since it felt like Manny had more scenes with Sammy’s sister than Sammy himself. Their instant love felt forced and not as developed as it could have been given the forced proximity location. I wanted more yearning for each other, but it was like two kisses and then they were in love. Where is the pining?! The spicy glances?! 

Overall, it was still a fun read with lots of Desi culture and representation (although maybe too many Priyanka Chopra references? even me, a white girl, felt that was a bit too much knowing the amount of talent and beauty that thrives in Bollywood). It was a decent debut romance book that brought some Indian representation to the genre.

Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
Sari, Not Sari by Sonya Singh

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &Sari, Not Sari by Sonya Singh

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
Sari, Not Sari by Sonya Singh